World-Wide Publicity for the League of Nations N a recent
issue of the Spectator, Mr. Murray Allison wrote an article stating that the League. of Nations VaS Nuffering from a lack of publicity and suggesting hat a sum of 12,000,000 should be spent annually in tdvertising it in the advertisement pages of the Press. s our correspondence columns show the suggestion las aroused widespread interest, which is gratifying, )ecausc it testifies to the hold the ideals which the ,cague of Nations represents have on well-informed 'pinion in the country. The Press of Great Britain is almost universally avourable to the League of Nations and at times of lisis or when League matters are "in the news " devotes mall space to it. This is excellent so far as it goes. Probably by a judicious overhauling of the League's ablieity methods at Geneva and elsewhere much dditional free space in the news columns of the Press .ould be obtained. The League should have on its staff he most expert propagandists, who are in close touch vitit the British, American, Dominion anti Foreign 'fess. The War taught us the power of propaganda, he methods by which the mass-mind could be influenced. Ve may deplore the results of propaganda during the Val., but we cannot ignore them ; nations were taught hrough the columns of the Press to believe those things rhich their leaders desired them to believe.
Under expert guidance much additional news space oight be obtained, but there is a limit to the amount if space the best-disposed editor could give to the .eague. As the practical journalist knows, the problem if lack of space is a real one and on most days of the -car the ' make-up " sub-editor is confronted with he impossible task of fitting into the paper twice as inch printed matter as he has room for. Inevitably te sets on one side that " copy " for which there is no n:istent public demand. The problem is how to keep he League, its current achievements, its needs, before he man-in-the-street ; for if the man-in-the-street is get a new outlook on international affairs, it will ilily be by persuading him of the futility of armed .onfliet, and that there is a better way of settling lifferenees than by shedding blood. What is necessary, is Mr. Allison points out, is a continu,ous Press campaign -ear in, year out, telling people what the League of ations is doing, and supplementary to the excellent work ,f the League a Nations Union, to which our .orrespondents have referred: Every channel of communication must be used— he Press, the lecture platform, the pamphlet, broad- 'astiag: The- B.B.C. makes a regular feature of talks II the League, but this is not enough. Those who are lot interested in the- League merely switch -off their eceivers when this unpopular item in the programme nrrives. -How to • reach the indifferent voter is time Problem, and it is here that Mr. Murray Allison's suggestion shows the way -by -means of the cleverly- orded and displayed advertisement. _ - In recent issue 431 the- Spectator, -'-An Okl-Newspimper .\lahager " questioned • the soundness of the theory that the League of Nations can be popularized " by methods identical with those used for popularizing a particular cigarette or soap." We do not share his fears. If nations can be taught to hate each other by the printed word, why cannot they be taught to do the opposite ? 1Vith the experience of the War to guide us, is no reason to doubt that continuous advertising of the League of Nations in leading newspapers would have a marked effect, provided the announcements were drafted with skill. Why are large sums of money being spent by the Empire Marketing Board to persuade us to " buy British goods," if ordinary trade methods do not apply; where " there is not and cannot be an immediate return ? " Large appropriations arc set aside each year to induce us " to cat more fruit," to " come to Britain," " to use more telephones," to " keep that school-girl complexion," to " join the Mustard Club." Admittedly these are announcements promising material advantage, but the psychology of time crowd is a fascinating theme and .those who have studied it realize that great Masses of people -can be made to think along certain lines by continuous suggestion.
If it is not possible to make people change their opinions, why during a general election do candidates make speeches, display posters and distribute handbills ? To carry the argument further : half the leading articles published are written in the hope of influencing opinion. In recent years the practice of printing in the advertise- ment columns of the Press the speeches of the chairmen of many of our leading financial and industrial concerns has become general, and the time when the advertisement columns of a newspaper were occupied exclusively by announcements of goods for sale has gone. During the coal crisis both sides used the advertisement columns of time Press to set forth their views.
How to obtain the necessary funds to enable the League of Nations to arrest the attention oft lm mass-ill ind is the crux of the matter. If the leading nations, contributing to the cost of the League, were to devote to publicity for time League of Nations a sum equal to one per cent. of their expenditure on armaments they would be making an investment which would return a dividend in the future in a wider and keener interest in the League. We are told by an expert that an expenditure of i:2,000,000 per annum would suffice to tell the world about the League of Nations—one-third the cost of a modern battleship. Some may think the expenditure too much in the nature of a gamble, but surely it is a gamble which is worth while, considering the issues involved ?
We Must, however, end on a note of pessimism. We fear that the proposal is destined to be still-born, because the financial difficulties arc insurmountable. But until such a time as funds are forthcoming we can all of us seek to enlighten public opinion by every means in our power. Professor Gilbert Murray is right when he says that what is required is education. We only differ from him in thinking that the advertising pages of newspapers . . . .
ale one -channel -of popular enlightenment - which- should not be overlooked.
Previous page
