The people's voice. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1939-1969, 1945-11-02
DECLARE MONTANA PRESS SPEAKS
ONLY FOR COMPANIES

1t is common knowledge IN all informed quar-
tiers throughout the nation that the daily neWspa-
pers of Montana, with only two or three excep-
tons, consistently present one-sided picture of
the news that affects the welfare of their readers
The chief cause of this one-sided presentation OF
the news is the fact that most OF the states papers
have large outstanding loans made to them by the
corporations and that direct control of the edlto-
rial and news policies of those papers is under j.
H. Dickey of the Anaconda Copper Mining Com
pany with offices the sixth floor of the Hen
nessey Building in Butte.
There are literally thousands of instances OF
abuse of the freedom of the press in Montana to
prove the bias of the press in favor of Big Bust
ness and against working farmers, working men
and women everywhere and their organizations.
However, the treatment of one current and I'M
mensely important news event by the Montana
press will serve to wildly illustrate the charge.
This is the reporting of news concerning MVA.
The controlled newspapers of Montana have
always protected the Montana Power Co., which
advertises heavily against unfavorable news.
When the company went into court against
group of Montana farmers and claimed owner
shin of all the water in the Missouri river not
word of the case appeared in the press When the
federal circuit court decided in favor of the farm
ers not a word was printed. Yet this one of
the most important court decisions in Montanas
entire history.
Similarly now, when a great national move
Valley give jobs to thousands, including return
ing veterans stop floods create millions of fertile
farm acres and provide cheap electric power to
business, farms and homes, the newspapers OF
Montana and the Associated Press in Montana
are giving their readers almost unbelievably
false picture of the whole situation.
We cite specific example. Within the last
week commission sent by the state legislature
of Missouri to study the Missouri valley toured
Montana. At Helena this commission enter
tanned for an entire day by the Montana MVA
Association. At dinner in the Montana club at
least four prominent speakers gave the commits
sion detailed, masterful presentation of the case
in favor of an MVA Members of the commission
told newspapermen that it was by far the most
the most fair-minded and the most rep
resentative meeting they had encountered on their
entire tour
Yet, for three days the Associated Press sent
out stories from Helena Glasgow and Fort Peck
that were out-and-out editorial harrangues against
MVA And in the three days the Associated Press
dispatches contained but one single sentence,
buried far down in the article, out of all the vol
umes of testimony favoring MVA that the Mis-
souri, commission had heard. Officers of our own
Farmers Union were not too surprised at this,
since at the dinner in Helena they had heard
Associated Press reporter audibly cursing the
speakers stating the case in favor of MVA.
And, while the newspapers of Montana told
their readers only the Power Company side of
MVA, readers of newspapers in st. Louis, Mo-.
were given full accounts of both sides, by report
ers who had been sent with the commission for
that purpose.
Montana newspapers will continue to be biased
while they are rporation-controed, and that
bias is largely detrimental to farmers, merchants
and the working man. We therefore urge
members to read our own Farmers Union publica-
lions; to read the Peoples Voice, and to help it
get new subscribers; to read the unique publica-
Jon, IN FACT; to read other liberal and p~ogres-
sive papers, magazines and books Because only
n this way can the whole truth become known to
u.s. And it is only by knowing the truth that we
IAN grow strong