SECRET
EXECUTIVE BOARD
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th, 1943

PRESENT:

The D.D.G.

Parliamentary Secretary

Mr. Francis Williams

Mr. Gates

Mr. Routh

Mr. Royds

Mr. Hamilton

Mr. Kirkpatrick

Mr. Macgregor

General Tripp

Brigadier Neville

Wing-Commander Chapman

Mr. Lyne

1. REPORTS FROM SERVICE ADVISERS.

2. B.B.C. WAR REPORTS .

[B/]

Brigadier Neville reported that two Field Commanders in the Salerno area had sent a protest through Frank Gillard, the B.B.C.'s correspondent, against the B.B.C.'s quotation of “panic-mongering Berlin broadcasts” about a British evacuation. The point at issue, he said, was the reporting of German Propaganda messages as distinct from the official German communiqués. He suggested that it was desirable that a very sharp distinction should always be drawn, and asked if a ruling could be given. Mr. Macgregor declared that on this particular occasion the Home Service News had given the German reports, but with the sarcastic comment that the German official communiqué apparently had little faith in them, for it made no reference to the reports. As a result of “colouring” the news, they had been taken to task by a governor of the B.B.C., who disliked this method of reporting. Mr. Francis Williams pointed out the difficulty of ignoring German reports, particularly when they were the only news available; and he suggested that one method of meeting the situation would be to obtain fuller British communiqués. The Chairman invited Mr. Macgregor to investigate the circumstances of the broadcast against which protest was made.

3. EDUCATION MINISTERS CONFERENCE .

[AM/400/148.]

Mr. Cruikshank stated that he had received a suggestion from the Minister in Charge of Information in Washington that Mr. Allardyce Nicoll should come from Washington to act as an observer at the forthcoming conference in London of Allied Education Ministers. The Board agreed that it was desirable for the Ministry to have an observer at the conference, but that it was not necessary to send Mr. Nicoll from Washington.

4. CORRESPONDENTS IN TURKEY .

[M/147/18.]

The Board were informed that the British and United States Embassies in Turkey had requested correspondents not to send reports of operations in the Aegean; but to leave this to correspondents at the Front. Two American correspondents had not accepted this suggestion, and the Ministry were asked to explain the situation to London Head Offices who were calling now for coverage. It was agreed that the voluntary stop could be continued only if there were adequate reports from the Front; and Mr. Francis Williams was invited to ask Cairo if these would be available.