There had in recent years been a progressive lowering in the standards of certain newspapers, which published material relating to criminal matters without regard for the interests of justice, it is stated. A particularly serious innovation was that of sending reporters to conduct independent investigations of crimes These activities might have disastrous effects on the police investigation, and publication of particular items of information might be fatal to it, and gravely prejudice the interests of justice.
"Crime investigators" or "special representatives," as crime reporters were usually called, says the report. usually followed the detective staff engaged on a case and interviewed anyone whom the detective officers were known to have questioned The information thus obtained w: then used as the basis for highly coloured articles compounded of fact, hearsay, and invention. "The presence of these persons in the neighbourhood of the investigating officers is in itself a handicap to the conduct of the inquiry; their approaches to prospective witnesses may have disastrous reactions on the investigation, and the publication of particular items of information in the paper may have a fatal effect and gravely prejudice the ánterests of justice.
The committee adds that where a Chief Officer of Police is advised that a contempt of Court had been committed - there should be no hesitation in taking proceedings both against the individuals immediately concerned in the offence, and where it is practicable against the editor and the proprietor of the newspaper itself. But they are agreed that the existing state of the law does mot sufficiently protect the interests of justice, and that there are many occasions on which it possible for newspapers to publish with impunity material which, in the public interest, ought not to be published, at any rate at the time, and they consider that there should be some definite measure of restriction on the publication of details of crime and on the conduct of journalists sent to the scene of a crime. In their view what is needed is legislation aimed primarily at the prohibition of interviews and the obtaining of statements from prospective witnesses, and of reports of reputed crimes where such reports are reasonably likely to prejudice the investigation of the crime.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.