ABSTRACT
On 5 September 1938, in the midst of the crisis caused by the German threat to Czechoslovakia, a press delegation led by Colonel Lawson 121 of the NPA called on the Home Secretary (Hoare) to discuss ‘War Preparations’. They talked in particular about ‘the production of newspapers under air raid conditions’, and mooted that in such an emergency there might be only partial or perhaps no use of the wireless for news distribution [a piece of special pleading which future events proved to be entirely wrong]. The Government-assisted rustication of the Press from central London was also raised as a matter for further study. This meeting was followed up by a written request that the Government make a public statement that it was essential the Press should continue to function fully in War, that a senior official should be appointed to ensure raw materials, utilities, staff and communications necessary for this, and that the system for censorship and information should be promulgated (they were aware that the undisclosed, dormant and skeletal Ministry of Information had been stood to during the current crisis). The Home Office replied at the end of September, ‘now that the crisis has passed’, that they would pursue these matters, albeit with less urgency.
