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[infowar.de] Anti-war Reporting Banned in UK Papers
Infowar.de, http://userpage.fu-berlin.de/~bendrath/liste.html
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http://www.prwatch.org/forum/showthread.php?threadid=2060
Author: Sheldon Rampton
PR Watch Editor
Anti-war Reporting Banned in UK Papers
Andy Rowell in England just emailed me the following report on Ray
Tindle's war censorship order in England.
quote:
----
English regional newspapers start war censorship
Sir Ray Tindle, the editor in chief of over 100 weekly newspapers across
Britain has informed all his editors that they can no longer report any
anti-war stories in their newspapers. Sir Ray, who has been knighted for
his services to the newspaper industry, wrote:
"Everyone knows that Tindle family newspapers have no political bias.
Our columns are free. When British troops come under fire, however, as
now seems probable, I ask you to ensure that nothing appears in the
columns if your newspapers which attacks the decision to conduct the war
in which those men are involved, nor, of course, anything which attacks
the troops themselves".
"I ask it", wrote Tindle, "not just as a proprietor of the newspapers,
but as someone who served as a British soldier from 1944 to 1947 in the
Far East".
His editors back Tindle's decision. Gina Coles who edits eight of his
titles in the south west of the country said: "I am proud to say I
totally agree with his decision. Once war was declared anti-war
demonstrations were pointless - the argument was lost". Coles though
does admit that Tindle's "brave" move could be seen by some as
"censoring the news".
Jeremy Dear, the General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists
has condemned the move: " So much for the right to know, free speech and
all those other rights which our forefathers fought to establish and
which Sir Ray Tindle seeks to demolish at the stroke of a pen.
"What makes his censorship better than the censorship of those he would
seek to condemn?" asks Dear, "He merely confirms that freedom of the
press really only belongs to those who own the press - the rest of us
will be allowed to know only what they deem is suitable. Next stop
tyranny?"
The Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom has also "condemned this
act of overt censorship at a time when the UK needs open debate about
this controversial issue. It is an example of the invidious power that
proprietors have over the content of the press. Barry White, National
Officer for the CPBF comments: "Sir Ray Tindle has decided to the
readers of his 130 titles access to vital information needed to
understand the war".
Tindle though reassures readers that "normal newspaper practice will be
resumed immediately the ceasefire is given".
----
I haven't been able to find any news reports on the web about this. A
search of Google news turned up a hit at the following URL:
http://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/d...ntentPK=4774834
When I visited that link, however, the story contained no mention of Ray
Tindle or the censorship.
The National Union of Journalists in the UK has issued a news release
challenging Tindle to a debate on free speech "and all those other
rights which our forefathers fought to establish and which Sir Ray
Tindle seeks to demolish at the stroke of a pen":
http://www.nuj.org.uk/front/inner.p...e72ef647278aa7a
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