Imperial Valley Press

WHAT REALLY IS HAPPENING

(The California Publisher)

When Neal Van Sooy, publisher of the Azusa Herald, told his readers "What really is Happening" in his editorial columns August 4, he probably didn't appreciate fully the merit of his efforts. But August 8 full recognition to his column was given by the Chicago Daily Tribune when it selected the editorial for its daily feature as the "Editorial of the Day."

The part of the editorial picked up by the Tribune follows:

The question is often raised, "why is it that the papers will carry two stories side by side—one from China and the other from Japan—each giving a different version of the same battle?"

The answer is rather simple, but hard for those living in America, one of the last strongholds of true freedom of the press, to understand.

You don't "get" news in China or Japan, you "take" it. You don't go out to get a story yourself, you simply take the story that is handed to you by a government bureau. So that you can't find out what is actually happening, but only what the government wants you to know.

Therefore when both the Chinese and Japanese claim a victory on the same day, it's because their spokesmen assert it; when the Spanish Loyalists and Rebels both announce the capture of the same city, it's because their headquarters proclaim it; when the news dispatches from Tokyo and Moscow contradict each other, it's because the two representative governments fail to agree.

And even if a reporter should be ambitious and aggressive enough to get a true story by independent means, he would not be allowed to send it over the government-censored telephones or cables. So that the best a news service—such as Associated Press or United Press—can do is to send both stories and let the reader take his pick or strike a happy medium.