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Show EDITORIAL: A Free Press Is Important Byron Price, former newspaperman newspa-perman and now associated with the motion picture producers says that no one can feel smug and safe after contemplating the lessons of history and the cur-i tailmcnt of liberty as regimentation regimenta-tion advances with every generation. gener-ation. And, referring particularly particular-ly to the freedom of expression, he warned that "new assaults will come." The war-time director of the Office of Censorship calls "even a little censorship" dangerous to the press and warns against the subtle gestures of governmental govern-mental guidance. He predicts that the press, radio and screen will inevitably be drawn closer together in self-defense. We are quite sure that freedom free-dom of expression is essential to .the American way of life and to the proper operation of our governmental gov-ernmental machinery but those connected with the press, radio and the screen should not overlook over-look the fact that the constitutional constitu-tional guarantees were inserted because of a popular conviction that freedom of the press represented rep-resented a desirable public goal. The freedom is not the possession posses-sion of newspaper operators and is not primarily intended for their benefit. The truth of the matter is that the great freedom vouchsafed under our national laws is based fundamentally upon the service! that the people expect from the press. The best defense to any' assault upon that freedom is to be found in the proper performance perform-ance of a real duty by rendering distinct service in the interest 1 of the people of this country. The freedom of the press will not be withheld because of an idolatrous worship of the idea. It will rest, fundamentally, in the future, upon the conviction on the part of the mass of our people that the press, operating under this protection, is not only able, but actually does, serve the common interest and the general gen-eral welfare Should the people conclude, for any reason, that the press serves selfish ends, or works for the promotion of special spe-cial interests, the days of the freedom of the press will be numbered. Recognition of this fact explains ex-plains why responsible and leading lead-ing newspapermen, in considering consider-ing the operation of the press, stress integrity above anything else. It must be evident not only in the news reports but in the editorial policies of the journals of information and opinion. Like Ceasar's wife, the press must be above suspicion, either from the influence of large advertisers and also from the financial interests in-terests of its owners. |