Evening star., 1949-10-30

found and constructive. They
have made themselves as nearly
indispensable to the average
newspaper of today as, say. want
ads and comics"
Correspondents Role
One Of these columnists, Thorn.
as L. Stokes, Pulitzer Prize win.
ner. gives an able summary of the
facilities and difficulties of cover.
ing Washington today. He assay.
the role of correspondents, point.
ing out that they cannot all bt
Jumped into one general category
for analysis, which Is the mistake
often made. To judge properly
the work OF individual Washing
ton newspaper correspondents" hi
contends, 1T is necessary to know
just what 1t is they, do and are
supposed to do-in short, theil
function in Washington news GOV.
erage."
Mr.. Stokes conclusion is:
There's nothing wrong with
Washington news coverage that
the newspapers themselves cant
cure"
News and the Wars
The story Of the perplexing
problem of the press and the cen
sorship during the two World Wars
Is told by George Creel, chairman
Of the Committee on Public In
formation in World War I; Byron
Price, director of the Office OF
Censorship. and Elmer Davis, di-
rector Of the Office of War In
formation. during World War II
and Mr.. Kinney.
Mr.. Creel discloses that he fav-
ored lifting even the voluntary
censorship under which the press
ran In the first war as it did in the
second. He wanted to let the
papers print what they could find
out. But his suggestion brought
a scream of protest from admi-
rails and generals, and President
Wilson viewed it with equal dis
favor" Even SO, he says, after 81
years he still is convinced that his
argument against any control was
sound.
Mr.. Price reveals what it was
like to sit on the atomic bomb
story until it could be released
The experimental atomic explo-
sion in New Mexico could not be
disclosed until after Hiroshima
three weeks later, but the power
full blast was reported at various
points. and to quell curiosity the
Government called it "an explo-
sion of munitions" That. says
Mr.. Price, was "the literal, exact
truth. but undoubtedly the great
est understatement in the whole
history OF press handouts"
Photographers Included
Mr.. Davis feels that the owl
worked reasonably we'll under all
its difficulties, but suggests that
the Office would have operated
with less lost motion under 9
White House secretary, because
the President was called on tc
resolve so many disputes over
what should be made public.
Bascom N. Timmons, noted cor
respondent. contributes a chapte,
on the old days. circa 1912 and
thereafter. Fletcher Knebel
correspondent of the Cleveland
Plain Dealer, follows with q chap
ter on 'The Placid Twenties.'
Placid? Well, not entirely. The
story of radios development as
a news outlet is told by Theodore
F. Koop, director of public af-
fairs for the Columbia Broadcast
ing System. Mr.. Bourne ano
Howard L. Kany, press radio
representative for the Associated
Press, relate the stirring saga OF
photographers-their rise from
pariahs to something like dicta-
tors. This chapter is well illus
trated.
The Importance and qualifica-
tions of a diplomatic correspond
ent are described by Wallace r.
Deuel., veteran foreign CORE.
spondent. now reporter for the
st. Louis Post-Dispatch. Fred
erick c. Othman of the United
Feature Syndicate writes ironical-
ly of the numerous journalistic
organizations in which Washing
ton newspapermen have en-
meshed themselves. The Press
Club is only the beginning. There
are the White House Correspond
ents' Association, the Fiscal Cor
respondents Association, the
State Department Correspondents
Association and many, many
others.
Lyle c. Wilson, chief Of the
United Press bureau. writes of
what it meant to cover World
War II from Washington.
zone OF the most entertain
ing and readable chapters OF
"Dateline Washington" is done
by the Uriter OF the article
above, Carter Brooke Jones,
book critic for The Star and
peteran Washington 1ae,Dsn1an.
Mr.. Jones debates some stuffed
shirts, a certain number OF
,Dhom haze altDays thriDed in
the Washington climate. and
discusses also the peculiar
"slangnage" krotpn as "jour-
nalese." Not surprisingly, the
chapter is entitled "Journal-
lists and Journnlese. ."-Editor'
note.)
Snonieh War Veferans