THE RIGHT TO KNOW

by Kent Cooper ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 23, 1956

For many years general manager of the Associated Press, Mr. Cooper, who is now retired, has written a personalized credo of the news world and its practices through history and for the present day. Principally preoccupied with the use of news by governments, Mr. Cooper believes quite simply that propaganda is bad and truth is good. This he highlights with clearly cited examples of times when governments have intervened or newspapers and services failed, and with cogent arguments for the proper use of repertorial fact. Since Roman times there has been the struggle between public and private agents. Two outstanding examples of it in the present century were the overdose of emotionalism created during World War II to bring American fighting spirit to fever pitch, and the unwarranted suppression of 1945 armistice news by government censors to cater to the Russian desire for their own ceremony first. These and other instances- among them the cartelization of news in the 20's and 30's, the objectives of a Pravda reporter, the present rash of widespread censorship and so forth- are justly provocative issues whose outcomes are logically discussed. A firm guide for the trade written interestingly enough to draw a lay audience as well.

Pub Date: April 23, 1956

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Farrar, Straus

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1956

Categories: NONFICTION