Evening star., 1943-10-10
-TWENTY-FOUR PAGES.

vealed to the House of Commons recently
much important and interesting mill
tary information, known to reporters but
officially withheld from the American
public, he gave impetus to persistent ef-
forts of virtually all newspapermen and
of small group within the Roosevelt
administration who are trying to break
down the censorship at the source i'm
posed by overly cautious Army and Navy
officers.
A few gains have already been made.
There is evidence that President Roose-
velt's latest press conferences have been
planned so that some military informa-
ton will come to the public through this
outlet. and the recent sessions of 200 in
dustrial, labor and Journalistic leaders
with top military, naval and govern
mental officials for information on and
of the record was another break in the
censorship wall for selected group of
civilians to peek over. There were also
the identification of Battleship X as the
South Dakota almost year after its
famous engagements in the Solomons
and the release of pictures of American
war dead.
These small gains resulted from the
pressure of newspapermen who were irri-
tated by the frequency Of scoops" from
London. either in Churchills speeches
or by leaks" which British officials use
to good advantage. One sector of this
pressure came from the II newspaper
editors and publishers who are the News
paper Advisory Committee of the Office
of War Information, of which Roy A.
Roberts, managing editor of the Kansas
City Star is chairman. This committee.
after conferences with Army, Navy and
owl officials, formally went on record
as convinced that the American people
are not being adequately informed about
the war" The responsibility for this lack
OF information, the committee said,
stemmed from the disinclination on the
part of some high naval and military
authorities to evaluate what is informa-
ton to which the public is entitled"
Reporters Are Critical.
Another blow at the censorship wall
uas symposium of II well-known
Washington correspondents, including
the bureau chiefs of two press associa-
tions, in the current Editor and Publish
er magazine giving critical views of
reporters and commentators who have
had flrst-hand experience with the mill
tary minds that determine what in
formation shall be withheld from the
public. Their expressions ranged from
slurs on President Roosevelt and the
Owl to citations of examples of British
scoops and absurd American censor
ship. The central themes we're that
Prime Minister Churchill was more
candid with his public than President
Roosevelt with the American people and
that the Army and Navy officers in
charge Of public relations necessarily &C
cepted their superiors instructions as to
what information should be withheld on
the grounds of military security"
There can be no doubt that the British
have released more important and timely
information than our Government and
that this has aroused American officials.
including President Roosevelt The
principal reason is Prime Minister
Churchill himself, who sets an example
for British offcialdom.
Owl Director Elmer Davis, speaking
In New York Thursday night, revealed
that Mr.. Churchill had broken an
agreement between American and
British security officers" as to what
news should be released to the public.
But Mr.. Churchill is head> of the
British government Mr.. Davis con-
tinued, and can overrule his own
security officers. Moreover. he is an
old reporter. and a good reporter, and
once in a while he can't resist the temp
tation to give himself few exclusives"
Davis said that the great issue" was
that If there is really a valid matter
of security involved, the standard should
be the same in each country and for
ell officials of however high rank"
Churchill is great reporter as we'll
as one of history's master orators. He
has repeatedly used military informant ton
which had been withheld from the pub
lie. For instance, in his latest address
to Commons, he revealed that at the
very moment he was speaking an Allied
convoy was under attack by U-boats.
Under American censorship rules not
the slightest mention could have been
made of this, on the theory that Berlin
probably had not vet heard from the
U-boats. There was criticism here for
this disclosure until it was learned that
the convoy was entirely British and
Canadian and that no American vessel
was in it.
Due to British System.
The British parliamentary system. of
which Churchill is an ardent defender.
Is also responsible for some of the Brit
1sh news beats. The Prime Minister does
not hold press conferences in England.
such as President Roosevelt holds. The
British equivalent is the question period
in Commons. at which the Prime Min
lister and his government are expected
to answer as fully as possible all in
quiries from members For that reason,
when Roosevelt and Churchill agreed to
release shipping losses and U-boat
deaths simultaneously on the 10th of
every month, an exception was made for
any StdtClllCllb GIlc MlllSIGT IllSnU
have to make to his House
Another Churchillian advantage is
Brendan Bracken, British Minister of In
formation, for whom there is no Amer
ican equivalent because of Bracken's
close political and personal relationship
with the Prime Minister
Bracken has cabinet rank and al
1,e ic