Evening star., 1951-04-15


In short, anything which any gov
the feelings of nationals of q sta
am not seeing things unde
q bloc representing nearly one
quarter of the United Nations
membership cited those abuses
as practices they would like out
lawed.
Their views are on record ir
the proposals for a convention on
freedom of information being
drafted at Lake Success by direc-
tion Of the United Nations AS
sembly.
These representatives from
countries in the Middle East and
Asia claim to voice the resent
ments of "1.2 billion people who
think like u.s." resentments against
American media of information
that they claim, violate our re-
ligious or national sensibilities or
offend our national prestige and
dignity
Aiding the efforts of these Asian
representatives are the Cominform
spokesmen, who trot out false
statements about the monopoliza-
ton of information in the United
States, hoping thereby to win sup
port from other members for the
Stacking of American and British
publications.
Communists Charge Abuse
Those who publish periodicals
and books in the United States and
Great Britain. say Communist
members of the U. N, abuse their
freedom to Islander other nations
and foster bad relations between
peoples and governments" They
maintain that American freedom
of the press gives rise to profit
seeking war-mongers, Fascists and
Nazis. promoters of racial and reli-
gious hatred" They hope to per-
suade us that our peace and Sc
curity are menaced by this free
press, that the world would be bet
ter of with the sort of controls
operative in Russia.
When you combine the Middle
Eastern, Asian and Communist
nations you have formidable
number of votes working toward
drastic restrictions on the flow of
information between and within
nations. But even this formidable
array would not be able to domi-
nate the freedom of information
issue without some help. That
help. unfortunately, is readily Of
fered-by many Latin American
members Of the United Nations.
With their aid the restrictions
tend to dominate every considera-
tion Of freedom of information at
Lake Success.
do not mean to imply that
Latin American representatives
vote for press restrictions en- bloc.
Uruguay, Chile. Ecuador, Cuba
and one or two other members
share our concepts on the freedom
of-informatiop issue. But the ma
jority of Latin American nations
usually line up with the restric-
tionists. 4
Sanctions Possible
What makes the whole affair so
diabolic is the patina of U. N.
sanction that would protect it.
Any foreign government nursing
q grudge against an American pc
riodical could satisfy its amour
propre without appearing to be
blatantly totalitarian.
A restrictive convention bearing
the honored name of the United
Nations and having the sanction
OF international law would suit
such governments perfectly.
1t would permit them to restrict
the movements of American news
men, to censor dispatches leaving
or entering the country, and it
would allow objections to what is
published in the United States
all this without exposing them
selves to accusations of dictatorial
suppression! For they could
point to a U. N. convention. rati-
fed by the requisite number of
sovereign states, to justify any
censorship they practiced.
That some Asian restrictionists
entertain some just grievances
against American periodicals I do
not deny. News from Asia has
sometimes been distorted to create
sensational headlines. The
Arab nations feel that American
newspapers and magazines played
a decisive role in the partition of
Palestine, and this they bitterly
resent. 1
Intent Has Reversed
In this atmosphere the Com
mittee on Freedom of Information
has debated the proposed U. N.
convention. What was intended
to facilitate the gathering and
transmission of news has been
transformed into an effort to give
the sanction of international law
to restrictions upon such gather
ing and transmission of news.
What was intended to extend to
other peoples the freedom to seek,
publish and discuss information
enjoyed by this country has been
perverted into an attempt to dis
credit, circumscribe and, if possi-
BILE. outlaw our free practices.
Seeing what has happened tol
this effort to lower barriers, al
number of Americans regret that
the American Society of News
paper Editors resolved in April,
1914, to urge International agree
ments permitting direct communi-
cation between each and every
nation of the world wherever
feasible; making dominant in all
communications matters the prin-
ciple Of fostering an unrestricted
flow Of news and information to all
parts Of the world"