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Germans Given Every Chance To Run Own Newspapers, Capt. Pillsbury Says

Germans Given Every Chance To Run Own Newspapers, Capt. Pillsbury Says image
Parent Issue
Day
29
Month
March
Year
1946
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Germans Given Every Chance To Run Own Newspapers, Capt. Pillsbury Says

"Control of the German press rests as fully as possible with the German editors and publishers who are carefully selected for their jobs by the Information Control division," contends Capt. Walter Milbank Pillsbury, home on a 45-day leave which he is spending with his parents, Prof. and Mrs. Walter B. Pillsbury of 1811 Hermitage Rd.

Capt. Pillsbury, 26, is a member of the Information Control division in Bavaria and is working specifically in the control of the press.

"We believe there are in Germany individuals who are qualified both politically and by their experience to hold responsibility in the re-education of the German people through the press,” he continued, "and we have gone to great lengths to locate those individuals.” Field investigators, he related, seek out persons deemed qualified to be licensed as editors or publishers of German newspapers. Those acceptable are then submitted to extensive tests which are aimed at revealing the applicant’s education, profession, political record and complete biography.

Editors From Underground

According to Capt. Pillsbury, the Germans selected for positions as editors and publishers were never Nazi party members and in most instances were active in resistance movements which consequently put them behind concentration camp walls.

Before these men begin their jobs they are given a set of instructions telling what they may and may not write. Among the former are criticisms of civilian appointees, German political programs and discussions of the future of the German nation.

They may not write editorialized articles which propagate Nazism or militarism and also on the taboo list are articles which criticize Allied Military Government policies and officials.

Copies of each edition of the German-edited papers are submitted to Information Control division headquarters where they are carefully scrutinized. Censorship of the papers before publication has been ruled out; consequently, Capt. Pillsbury believes there is a German confidence in the newspapers.

Objectivity Sought

“The objectives of our division include an encouragement to the German newspapers to introduce or adopt a sense of objective newswriting which is found in United States publications,” Capt. Pillsbury said. It is also a hope of the organization to help Germans with their newspaper make-up.

Capt. Pillsbury entered the Army in April, 1943, as a private. He was commissioned in December of that year and was assigned to overseas duty the following June. His first job in the European theater of operations was as a press censor with SHAEF in London and Paris.

In January, 1945, he went, as censor, with Psychological Warfare, to Aachen where the first Allied-sponsored German newspaper was then started. In this capacity Capt. Pillsbury was awarded the Bronze Star for meritorious service in formulating censorship policy and for serving as liaison officer between Psychological Warfare and SHAEF.

He will return to his headquarters in Munich at the end of his present leave. Capt. Pillsbury was a member of the class of 1942 at Harvard University and received his Master’s degree in business administration from that university. Prior to entering Harvard, he was graduated from Cranbrook school, Bloomfield Hills.

Capt. Pillsbury

The "New Passau Press," shown here, is one of 16 newspapers licensed to exist in Bavaria, Germany, today.