Evening star., 1946-04-03
Benton Seen Horminq
information Program
Secretary Errs in Attacks on New
Agencies, Writer Holds
By David Laurence

ASSHCICS, fIIteT I1OlQS
By David Laurence
If William Benton. Assistant secre-
tary Of State, had tried to find a way
to disqualify himself as the head of
the Information Service of the State
Department he could have chosen no
better means OF accomplishing that
objective than by making the speech
he delivered in New York City last
Sunday before the newspaperwomen's
club and over Nation wide radio net
work.
Mr.. Benton, having been thwarted
IN minor part of his plan to dis
tribute information to foreign coun-
trleS' now attacks the motives of the
Associated Press - Americas largest
neWs-gathering agency-and accuses
the directors Of that organization of
being against the Government" iust
because they don't want to sell their
news service to be used by our Gov
ernment propaganda stations abroad.
Mr.. Benton ridicules the idea that
II a press association takes money
from the Government it could be cor
rupteo. He says that the Associated
Press and the United Press could prove
their disinterestedness and incorr1,nti-
olnCy IN other ways. But what Mr..
benton does not know is that he is
dealing with condition and. not a
tneory. Whenever news other than its
own announcements is disseminated bv
government such news is viewed
with suspicion abroad
Sequel to Nazi Operations.
somehow or another there are good
many Americans who, while DENYING
Vehemently that the Nazis did anything
"ortnWhlle, are inadvertently initiating
lhe Nazls. The effort here to establish
olg propaganda machine is a curious
sequel to the Nazi operations in foreign
lands
There is pending before Congress an
appropriation bill which would give
funds to the State Department to carry
on Worldwide propaganda When it is
argued that propaganda ought not to
be used by the Government of the
united States, scripts of radio broad
casts or articles to be disseminated are
usually submitted to the critic, who is
asked to find single piece of i'm
proper phraseology. But the fact of
tne matter is that the innocuous words
issued by press associations or news
papers take on an entirely different
slgnlflcance when issued by the Gov
eminent Of the United States,
The whole world is suspicious Of
propaganda, and when the great Gov
eminent of the United States goes into
the propaganda business, liberals everv
where must recognize that the clock is
being turned back
During the war the owl carried on
propaganda and expressed editorial
opinions of its own. Much of it would
not De tolerated in peacetime, and yet
some OF the very statements issued bv
the Owl during the war which had a
bearing on domestic politics were the
subject OF criticism and the usual denial
was made that no intention to influence
poltlcal thought IN this country was in
the minds of the writer's of the scrints
or articles. But the effect was there
just the same.
Jeopardizing Program.
Mr. Benton has big job and there
are many parts of his program that are
notable, such as the furnishing of texts
OF documents and other information to
our own embassies and legations abroad
But he is Jeopardizing the entire pro-
gram by his controversy with the two
press associations.
The experience of the press associa
tlons OF the United States in dealing
Win foreign countries extends over
many years and they know from past
controversies how important it is for
Them not to allow their products to be
mingled with Government propaganda.
Inc speclous argument is made that
they sell their material to other govern
ments which send out their news. But
these other governments know that the
| integrity OF the Associated Press and the
united Press is unblemished, because
noth OF these organizations have stead
lastly refused to allow the Government
OF the United States either directly or
indirectly, to influence them in their
presentation of the news.
There is no reason why the State De-
partment should not issue texts of its
own or statements on it's own authority.
But II 1t attempts, through subterfuee
10 put out information with editorial
expressions of its own and interlace
this with news that it gets from news
agencies, it would be putting out a serv-
ice for which Congress ought not to ap-
| propriate one cent.
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