Blackout at 10 Downing

In London there is a big difference of opinion between British and U.S. newsmen on how Prime Minister Churchill should deal with the press. Last week the difference broke out into the open at a London meeting of the International Press Institute. The viewpoint, and the complaint, of U.S. correspondents was bluntly stated by the New York Herald Tribune's London correspondent, Joseph Newman, who for two years had been the Trib's Moscow correspondent. Said Newman: "Ten Downing Street is perhaps as closed to the foreign press today as the Kremlin. Perhaps it is even more closed, because at least you can get a letter into the Kremlin, and if you word it properly you might at least get an answer." Newman was barely back in his seat when the Yorkshire Post's Editor William L. Andrews was on his feet with a reply that was also a statement of what Britons think should be the relations between the Prime Minister and reporters. Said Andrews: Churchill is surely not unfriendly or indifferent to the foreign or British press; it is just that "he believes it is not good that the government and the press should be hand in glove." Although British editors and papers quickly spoke out to defend and explain Sir Winston's attitude. U.S. correspondents stuck to their guns. They think that they should have the same access to information from No. 10 Downing Street that British correspondents--and all other foreign correspondents--have in their coverage of the White House. If they cannot see Churchill at regular press conferences, then U.S. newsmen want regular contacts with someone who can speak for him, or at least supply background information on his thinking and planning. At times the British government officials have made an attempt to do so. But it invariably turns out these days that the officials have not seen Churchill and cannot speak for him. At best they make the same "intelligent guesses" as to what he is up to that the correspondents can make on their own.

During World War II, Churchill frequently met with the press and maintained 'his own press office. When Clement Attlee was elected Prime Minister, he continued the practice. But on Churchill's reelection, the press office was shut down without explanation. Columbia Broadcasting System Correspondent Howard Smith wrote Churchill on behalf of U.S. correspondents, pointing out that in Washington there are regular presidential press conferences, while U.S. correspondents in London are still waiting for their first conference with the Prime Minister. Churchill answered that Smith should remind him soon again about the problem. When Churchill returned last winter from his trip to the U.S., where he had held press conferences (TIME, Jan. 12), Smith wrote again, urging him to hold similar conferences in Britain. Churchill's answer: no.

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