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[Copy on I/94/6]
SECRET
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Tuesday, March 4th, 1941

PRESS SURVEYS

I have been considering the question of the Press Summaries, and I feel that the right approach is first to decide what information is needed by the various Divisions in the Ministry and outside, and then to plan the best method of obtaining that information speedily, efficiently and economically. I therefore put forward the following suggestions of what is needed and of the best method of obtaining it, as a basis for discussion:

1. All members of the Executive Board and other senior officials especially concerned should be aware of:

(a) The daily trend of the Press - news, comment and opinion.

(b) All direct references to the work of the M.O.I.

(c) All matters bearing on Government publicity and propaganda generally.

2. All Directors of Divisions should be supplied with information appearing in the Press of value to their particular work.

3. A library of Press Cuttings should be built up including an index to the contents of the Press.

The best method of giving effect to these aims in my view would be as follows:-

1. All Members of the Executive Board and other senior official entitled to receive them should have their set of newspapers on their desks by 9 a.m. each morning, with the following items clearly marked, so that a quick glance would enable the reader to be seized on the essential morning news:

(a) References to the work of the M.O.I., including broadcasting, censorship and Government publicity and propaganda generally;

(b) “Exclusive” news items featured by one or two papers only (e.g. Daily Sketch story of 200,000 British troops in Greece);

(c) News items affecting the Ministry's work (e.g. Reports of shortage of newsprint and requests for instruction or guidance etc.).

2. Each Division should be supplied with marked newspapers, or with Press Cuttings or a list of Press references dealing with its particular work. In some cases it is difficult to assess the prominence in a Newspaper given to a particular item from a Press cutting, and it is of course quicker to mark than to cut.

3. Short paragraphs summarising points on which action may be desirable are already produced each morning for Mr. Ivor Fraser. Members of the Duty Room Committee might find “Publicity Points” on these lines of value, provided that the summary were circulated by 10.30 a.m.

4. Special Weekly memoranda summarising current references to various subjects (such as postwar planning, discontent on the Home Front, Anti-War Opinion, etc,) seem to be of considerable value and this work should be continued. In particular I suggest that a summary of “Propaganda Points” - i.e. very brief references to items concerning home morale, increased production, amusing stories etc. - might be useful, e.g. for Talking Points, notes for business correspondence and for Ministry publications generally.

5. Summaries of weekly and monthly periodicals should be continued, if only because few people are able to read all weekly and monthly periodicals.

6. The weekly Surveys of Press Opinion I am rather doubtful of the utility of these Surveys, which are in the nature of things hopelessly out-of-date when circulated. If a Diary of the Week's Events is wanted, one is published each week in the Sunday Times. If the Survey discloses a dangerous or mischievous trend in some newspaper's editorials, it is much too late to do anything about it three or even eight days after the article has appeared. I think, however, that daily surveys of Press opinion might possibly be useful, and as this material has in any case to be collected each day for the present weekly surveys, not much additional work would be entailed.

Finally, I would make the following suggestions affecting the organisation of the Press Survey Section:

1. The head of the Press Survey section should visit each Director personally to enquire what items should be marked in his newspapers, and to show specimens of all surveys produced. It is probable that much more use could be made of the work already being done.

2. The work of the Press Cuttings Section should be combined with that of Press Surveys. At present both Sections read all the papers independently; one summarises, the other cuts. It would surely be a simple and economical method to have the reading, marking, summarising, cutting and indexing done thoroughly in one combined section. At present it is apparently not part of the duty of Press Cuttings to draw a Division's attention to any matter concerning its work, but only to supply cuttings for which a special request is made. I suggest that a vigilant and intelligent watch should be kept, and the responsibility be laid on the Press Survey and Cuttings Section to notify the Divisions concerned when references affecting their work are noted in the Press.

The question of the readjustment of staff is a matter of detail.

3. It should be laid down that the Press Survey section is the appropriate section to analyse, make extracts from, index, and produce summaries of subjects in, the Press. I believe that at present some of their work is duplicated in other Divisions.

27th February, 1941.