THE FOURTH SURVEY published by the International Press In- stitute,
Government Pressures on the Press, is the Institute's Most useful study to date. We are still inclined to think of the freedom of the press as something which—like freedom from arbitrary arrest and imprisonment—is a matter of common and statute law. But of course it is not; most of the restrictions on press freedom these days are indirect, many of them intangible. This survey records the expedients adopted in different countries: subsidies, newsprint allocation, official advertising, discrimination in the issue of official information—all the pressures, direct and indirect, open or disguised, by which governments (including our own) try to convert the press into a state public relations service. Such a survey is valuable because governments which would have no hesitation in em- ploying pressure against minority opinions.(knowing that the majority is on their side) may hesitate if the pressure is exposed in other countries, thereby inviting mistrust or ridicule. The publicity given to recent action against the opposition press in Turkey and in Pakistan, for example, does appear to have had some effect in restraining the Governments concerned.
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