Documentary News Letter (1941)

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i DOCUMENTARY— THE CREATIVE INTERPRETATION OF REALITY I — . i VOL 2 No 6 PUBLISHED MONTHLY BY FILM CENTRE 34 SOHO SQUARE LONDON W1 FOURPENCE lEWS LEHER CO 101 NOTES OF THE MONTH 112 DOCUMENTARY BOOKINGS FOR JUNE 115 GOODBYE, STAN PATCHETT! 103 WHERE DO WE STAND? 107 NEW DOCUMENTARY FILMS 108 FILM OF THE MONTH 113 113 FILM SOCIETY NEWS SCIENTIFIC FILM SOCIETIES 115 by Reg. Groves LETTER FROM U.S.A. by Richard Griffith Kipps 116 NEW SOUND SYSTEMS 108 BANNED BY CENSOR 114 CORRESPONDENCE 117 BOOK REVIEW 109 TELEVISION IN U.S.A. 114 NEWS FROM INDIA 117 MILITARY TRAINING FILMS IN PR ODUCTION 110 TRAINING FILMS by Technician 114 FILM ACTIVITIES IN NORTHERN AFRICA 118 FILM LIBRARIES More Guts THE MINISTRY OF INFORMATION has never recovered from the wounds to its self-esteem which were inflicted during early battles with press, parliament and public. Nowadays, in its relations with other Government Departments, the Ministry too often occupies the role of a wounded dog which is set upon by the rest of the pack and viciously mauled at every opportunity. In the public interest it is high time that it fought back and established for itself a position of equality. Until it does so it cannot function efficiently. At present the Ministry tends to come off worst in all inter-departmental combats, even in those cases where it is manifestly in the right. There are few Government Departments which are justified in the general assumption that other departments are more efficient than the M.O.I., but most other Departments enjoy the psychological advantage of having been able to avoid the public exposure of their errors. They have sometimes contrived to do so by using the young and inexperienced Ministry of Information as a scapegoat for their own deficiencies. The M.O.I, is often made to fight battles with other Departments on issues in which these Departments should not even dare to interfere, and too often these battles are lost by the Ministry, against all sense of the public interest. This has become particularly noticeable in such matters as the choice of subjects and styles for film propaganda, in the provision by other Departments of facilities for the making of M.O.I. films, and in the postponement of the military service of filmmaking personnel essential to the fulfilment of important M.O.I. needs. In almost every case these are matters in which the M.O.I. Films Division should have a final say, and until it is given sufficient authority to stand up for itself, it cannot hope to use films in the manner it presumably wishes.