The Interview-

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Mitchell Hepburn, the maverick premier of Ontario, used to tell
the Ontario Legislature that trying to pin down ‘‘Georgeous George”
Drew was iie ixying to nail jelly to the barn door.

One has something of the same feeling on being interviewed by
the reporters vi the capitalist press.

Recent experiences with representatives of the Toronto Daily
Star and the Toronto Telegram (not to speak of a tussle with Time
last year) recall Mitch Hepburn’s own dilemma.

* * *

The situation is like this. A reporter telephones asking for an
interview. One says ‘“‘yes’”’ because the Communist Party has nothing
to hide and is accessible to the public print. What
impression would be created if ‘‘no’’ were the
answer?

The reporter has an advantage and he is con-
scious of it. He has the big newspaper at his
disposal. His voice is bigger than the inter-
viewee’s.

This is the day of the artful smear, the weasel
word, the petty gossip about personalities that
passes for “news.” Privacy is no more. To insist
on privacy and to object to “ersonal stuff’’ gets
4 formal agreement from the reporter and that ends it. In goes the
uff.

* * *

The fine art of the interview has been cheapened. No more does
Plato give us Socrates.

Example: The reporter remarks that the snow looks green today.
You do not take this seriously and let it pass, privately wondering.
Because you did not debate the color of the snow you find yourself
quoted as believing that the snow was green.

Example: A reporter looks at your shoes and remarks that
European shoes are quite good. He wears them himself. On reading
the interview you are surprised to find that you wear Czechoslovak
Overshoes. :

This is the technique of Time. You pile together all sorts of
Personal details (‘‘jut-browed, cigar-chewing John Doe’) to build
Up an atmosphere of veracity and then you let John have it.

* * *

Or the reporter will remark that De Gaulle disagrees with Ken-
nedy and Mao Tse-tung with Khrushchev. On the face of it this is
a fact. You shrug your shoulders and wonder ‘what that has to do
With the facts of life. All four are males, too, Is that a coincidence?

Lo and behold next day you read in the paper that it is you
who made this profound discovery.

* * *

What to do? Send written statements to the newspapers on the
issues of the day? A good idea which the Communist Party has
been practising for years. The statements are rarely used.

Refuse to talk? Then you are a sinister character who fears
daylight.

Insist that everything be written down and submitted for ap-
Proval? Perhaps one can do that when one is a president or prime
Minister of a state, but one is not that. Neither are we in the position
of the Communists of France or Britain who have daily papers to
Yely on. Our Tribune does the best it can but it is not a daily and
Not enough people read it to get the truth about what the Communists
Propose.

* * *

The plain fact is. that the Communists will win the right to be
Quoted exactly as they speak only when they are strong and influ-
€ntial enough to enforce that right.

To win fair press treatment is part of the genera
The mentality of the big capitalist press is hostile to
and communism.

1 political struggle.
Communists

* * *
Th the old days reporters wrote shorthand. Now they don’t. They
Write “think pieces.” But the tape-recorder is coming into its own.
Very good reporter should have one and perhaps every person
terviewed also should have one. Then science could come to the
help of truth.

* * *

In the meantime we shall fight for fair treatment, sending letters
of correction and learning how to make points stick.
_ The fight for truthful public relations with the people of Canada
'S a hard one. In the end we can depend only on ourselves. May the
time not be far off when we have daily papers, in French and English,
to tell the truth.

SPECIAL ELECTION OFFER
$1 for 3 months

Us the Pacific Tribune during the election campaign.
very readerwon means a new fighter for peace and

Canadian independence.

426 Main St.

(Offer expires April 8, 1963)

LABOR ROUNDUP:

Bill 42 before Supreme Court;
Mine-Mill asks for WCA changes

The Royal Commission investi-
gating the Workmen’s Compen-
sation Act and its administra-
tion is still in the midst of con-
ducting its hearings. Les Walker,
Mine Mill specialist on compen-
sation, told the PT that Mine
Mill has been actively involved
in the hearings for over a month.

The union has presented a
major brief, (which was first ap-
proved by all locals in B.C.) and

—ECCLES, Br. Worker

Pay now, die later!

has so far called 15 witnesses in
its attempt to get the act amend-

ed in favor of the workers of

Bic:

In addition to the main union
brief the Trail and Kimberley
locals have also made presenta-_
tions, outlining conditions pecu-
liar to their particular locals.

The hearings will move on to
Prince George, Penticton and
other provincial points. The com-
mission’s report is not expected
to be handed down for at least a
year, Walker said.

e

The Canadian Brotherhood of
Railway & ‘Transport workers
(Local 400) representing 450 West
Coast seamen, has called on all '
political parties to indicate where
they stand on the question of re-
building Canada’s lost merchant
navy. Union spokesmen have in-
dicated that they will demand an
answer to this question from
every candidate that they can
possibly contact.

At its regular membership
meeting, held on Feb. 12, the
union also. endorsed the prin-
ciple of an all-inclusive confer-
ence of trade unions in B.C. and
pledged that it would ‘continue

to press for the cementing of
labor unity in the field of politi-
eal action.’’

e

The hearing which will deter-
mine the constitutional validity
of B.C.’s Bill 42 opened before
the Supreme Court of Canada last
Monday. The bill forbids the use
of union funds for political pur-
poses.

Local 16-601, Oil, Chemical and
Atomic workers union, is chall-
enging the right of B.C.’s Social
Credit government to enact
legislation of this type and has
charged that the bill was design-
ed by the Socreds to prevent the
development of the NDP in this
province. It is being supported by
the B.C. Federation of Labor, the
Canadian Labor Congress, the
government of the Province of
Saskatchewan and other interest-
ed parties.

Since the enactment of Bill 42
in 1960 the union has refused to
file the necessary statutory dec-
laration that it is complying with
the law and has been collecting
its dues through its shop stew-
ards, having Yost its checkoff
privileges through company
action.

CIRCULATION ROUNDUP:

CONTEST FOR USSR TRIP KEEN,
BUILD PT WITH ELECTION OFFER

By JERRY SHACK
(Circulation Manager)

The 1963 circulation targets, as
outlined in the Feb. 1 issue of the
PT, have been accepted by all
clubs. It has been heartwarming
to note that a number of clubs
have set themselves realistic ob-
jectives for the first quarter of
the year, ending on March 31.

UPSURGE IN SUBS, SALES

During the month of January,
30 new readers were recruited
and paper sales totalled 82 subs.
(By Feb. 11 the latter figure had
risen to 113). Both these figures
show a rather substantial rise
over last year, so it is obvious
that.a number of press clubs are
starting to apply themselves to
the job of press building in a con-
sistent fashion. In addition, re-
newals have also been coming in
fairly regularly.

However, some clubs are slow
in getting started and may find

themselves 1n the position of hav-
ing to go like a house on fire to
catch up at a latter date.

The surest way to avoid this is
for each club to set itself a quar-
terly quota, then work and check
up, in order to achieve it. In this
connection, the PT will be run-
ning a scoreboard at the end of
each month, so all clubs can see
where they stand circulation-
wise.

TRIP TO USSR |

The. press committee has de-
cided that the press builder who
will receive a trip to the Soviet
Union as a guest of Pravda will
be decided in the following
manner:

All candidates submitted by the
clubs will be judged on the basis
of two subs turned in up to
March 15, 1963 being equal to

’ one sub turned in during all of

1962. The aim here is obviously
to take into consideration not only
those people who are doing a

Win we

reson

IN AUSTRALIA TOO. Map sh

ows the location of U.S. mili-

tary bases now in operation or being planned. The Australian,
“Tribune” on Dec. 19 points out that other secret bases in

the north are not shown.

\

“Feb. 15; -1963-+PAC

bang-up job this year, but also
those who have consistently work-
ed for the paper in the past.

Both new subs and renewals
will count equally and 25 papers
sold will be regarded as a new
sub. Results will count up to and
including March 15, 1963 and each
club should submit the name of
its top press builder plus the
pertinent figures for 1962 aand
1963 by March 31.

At the moment, there are five
or six people who are definitely
in the running for this once-in-a-
lifetime trip.

SPECIAL OFFER

Because the job of building the
press and extending its influ-,
ence is not divorced from the
political life of its readers (and
the workers of B.C. generally)
the committee also decided to
utilize the federal elections as a
means of building our list of
readers.

Accordingly, we are making a
Special Offer, which we hope will
aid- all the people who will be
canvassing, phoning, raising
funds, etc.

The offer consists of a 3-month
sub to the PT for only $1. (See
coupon on this page). We all know
that as the election campaign un-
folds, we can expect various
politicians to make _ sideshow
speeches and lavish promises —
thus beclouding the real issues
facing our country and her
people. :

We also know that we can de-
pend on the PT to raise these
issues and keep them in the lime-
light. It will be a golden oppor-
tunity for clubs and individuals
to order extra copies and use the
PT in precisely the way it is
meant to be used — as a working
class weapon in the° fight for
peace, Canadian independence
and a better way of life.

IFIC. TRIBUNE—Page 11