Evening star., 1944-10-23
Associated Press
Continued From First Page.

reasoning over sother comparable
news-gathering agencies" and:
1T is the belief of these defend.
ants that submission to the public
utility principle = = would be a first
step toward becoming a subservient
instrumentality of the government
Brief Outlines Effect.
The decision had the effect, the
brief continues, "of imposing an OBJ
legation upon the Associated Press
to admit competitors of members in
that it required that any new by
law shall affirmatively declare that
the effect of admission upon the
ability of an applicant to compete
with members shall not be taker
into consideration in passing or
his application"
The District Court also restrained
the Associated Press, until it shoule
revise its membership regulations
from enforcing certain other by.
laws intended to prevent disclosure
of Associated Press news to non.
members, although the latter by.
laws were not held Illegal In them.
selves.
Recalling that the District Court
expressly found" that the Asso-
ciated Press did not "monopolize OF
dominate" the gathering or dis
tribution of news, that other ade-
quate news agencies were available
to newspapers lacking Associated
Press service, and that the Asso-
clated Press never had held itself
out to serve all comers," the briet
asserts:
The majority relied solely upon
q finding that news-unlike other
commodities-is subject to peculiar
public policy which is said to re-
quire the dissemination of news
from as many different sources, and
with as many different facets and
colors, as is possible
This full Illumination cannot be
attained-according to the majority
except by giving every newspaper
immediate and simultaneous ac-
cess-if not to every agency, then
to every agency which is really i'm
portant.
Principle Termed Novel
Such a novel principle, the brief
continues, is "a discriminatory one
applicable only to the press and be-
cause it is the press" and one which
denies to Associated Press members
the rights ordinarily enjoyed by
others-the normal and legitimate
incidents of private enterprise, the
right to select their own business
associates and to keep for them
selves what the court itself described
as the fruits of their foresight, in
dustry and sagacity.'"
Asserting that if the District
Court judgment were affirmed
many questions of the most COM
plex nature would have to be de-
termined" by the court land event.
ually-through direct appeal-by the
Supreme Court itself" the brief
states that any court is "ill-
equipped, for obvious reasons to su-
pervise the application to press
agencies of any doctrine that they
are engaged in a public calling and
bound to admit all on equal terms. -
Moreover, it adds, "the public
policy embodied in the first amend.
ment is that the press should b,
more free-or at least not less free
than other industries. 1t require.
that the press shall not be put IL
leading strings-that, so far a
humanity possible, it shall be FIRE,
from discriminating and compli
Gated administrative or judicia
controls =.
ITO be truly free-to perform it
true function-the press must b.
both bold and fearless. 1t is in
conceivable that true freedom O
the press could exist if the pres
were subjected to such controls"