811.917/234
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in China (Gauss)
The Secretary of State refers to enclosure no. 1 of the Embassy’s despatch No. 693, dated October 21, 1942 concerning a Chinese complaint regarding adverse criticism appearing in American periodicals, indicating some misunderstanding on the part of Second Secretary O. Edmund Clubb, with reference to the operation of American censorship.
In his conversation with Mr. Shao Yu-Lin, Mr. Clubb stated that it was his opinion that censorship of information was not performed by the OWI but was effected through such particular agencies as the War Department, State Department, and the Navy Department.
In this connection reference is made to Diplomatic Serial Number 3524 of July 3, 1942,62a which transmits copies of the revised Code of Wartime Practices for the American Press, issued by the Office of Censorship, and that agency’s press release of June 24, 1942 setting forth the reasons why the revisions contained in that code are necessary. There is enclosed for the information of the Embassy, the original Code of Wartime Practices for the American Press issued by the Office of Censorship on January 15, 1942.63
The Office of Censorship under the direction of Mr. Byron Price, is the sole agency responsible for enforcing the Code just mentioned. The heart of that Code is that each journalist ask himself in reference to what he is writing: “Is this information I would like to have if I were the enemy?”, and then act accordingly. If the writer is in doubt on this subject or if his material seems to him to come from doubtful authority or to be in conflict with the general aims of wartime censorship, the Code requests that he submit his article to the Office of Censorship. But unless his article is to be transmitted outside of the United States, through the open mail, by cable or by radio—in which case its submission to Censorship is automatic—he is under no legal compulsion to submit his piece to the Office of Censorship. Thus, the operation of wartime censorship in this country is on a purely voluntary basis.
This Department exercises no direct functions in regard to censorship, but occasionally the Office of Censorship refers to the Department of State articles or news stories of a questionable character, merely for guidance as to whether or not such articles or news stories would be detrimental to the foreign policy of this Government. The suppression, or even revision, of any such article or news story may not be effected unless it is in violation of a specific clause of the Code of Wartime Practices for the American Press.