SIR,--As a Catholic journalist on the staff of a provincial evening newspaper, I should like to emphasise the point that Catholic news is sometimes inadequately or inaccurately reported in the secular Press because Catholics themselves will not take the trouble to see that reporters—usually non-Catholics—are given correct information. In some cases, a reporter is treated with but scant ceremony—in fact. is more or less told he is not wanted.
Here is a case in point. A non-Catholic colleague of mine was recently sent to report a gathering of particular interest to Catholics. On arrival, he asked for the person in charge of the Press arrangements, and was told there was nobody—a lamentable lapse, surely, when the particular event attracted a crowd of sonic five thousand Catholics. He could find no one to give him any information save a priest, who did his best but who was not really present in an " official " capacity.
He approached a layman, who appeared to be in charge of many of the arrangements, and was told : " You ought to have come a week ago. We do not want publicity "—a somewhat surprising remark, considering the fact that we so frequently have to complain that we are more or less boycotted by the secular Press.
Both my non-Catholic colleague and myself have found individual priests, as a rule, most helpful and willing to give information, but there sometimes seems to he a lack of proper organisation where the Press is concerned when a large event of the kind I have mentioned takes place.
The Catholic Church DOES need publicity of the right kind, and Catholics should, I consider, do all they can to make the best use of such opportunities. As I do not wish to tread too heavily on local Catholic corns, I sign myself merely
CATHOLIC JOURNALIST.