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The newly-won freedom in Czechoslovakia led to a great increase in the number of newspapers. It is a country with many political parties, and each party has its organ. There are many daily papers in Prague and the other chief cities in the republic. Unfortunately while the constitution of Czecho slovakia guarantees freedom of the press, this provision is not observed. Ever since the republic was established there has been press censorship,—originally preventive, but latterly censorious, and in some cases it has taken the form of suppression. This action applies to newspapers in all languages—Slovak, German and Hungarian,—but as regards Czech it is applied only to Com munist journals. A very close supervision of newspapers is exer cised by the Ministry of Justice through the police ; no reasons are given for suppressing newspapers, and no compensation paid for the loss incurred by the newspaper proprietors.
While the police suppress newspapers, the Government uses the press for its own propagandist purposes. Several papers may be regarded as the official organs of the different parties in power. The Czech Foreign Office has an organ in the German language, the Prager Presse, and weekly journals in French and English, while a number of newspapers in the Czech language may be regarded as official.
Bef ore the advent of Mussolini's Fascist regime, the Italian Press laws were based on a royal decree of 1848. In Italy now newspapers are only permitted to exist by favour of the Government. The independence of the press has almost disap peared under the Mussolini regime. In 1924 a decree was issued which made newspapers liable to suppression and editors to pun ishment if they published "tendencious news" which might em barrass the Government in foreign or domestic affairs. This policy developed so that by 1926 the freedom of the press in Italy had ceased to exist. Journalists' organizations are also under the con trol of the Government.
Where the press was not muzzled there was a forced change of proprietorship in harmony with Fascist policy. This was the case with the well-known Corriere della Sera of Milan, for some years the most powerful organ in Italy. The Stamp of Turin, although never strongly anti-Fascist, was tamed ; the same fate overtook the influential journal in the south, the Mattino of Na ples. The complexion of the best-known papers in Rome has been changed. The only journals which enjoy a certain restrained independence are the semi-official organs of the Vatican. A num
ber of newspapers have ceased to exist, and the journalists' asso ciations have been placed under the control of Government commissioners. There are fewer papers in proportion to the popu lation in Italy than in any other country in Europe except Russia.
Freedom of the press has been completely suppressed in Soviet Russia. In Tsarist Russia censorship was severe, but a measure of toleration existed. In Soviet Russia censorship is applied before the matter is printed, which has to be submitted to an official editorial board known as the Gosizdat. There is a further check on the publication of news and expression of opin ion, as newspapers are only published under the auspices of the governing authorities and are thus practically all official organs.
In 1914 there were 17 dailies in the capital, some of them of international reputation, such as the Novoe Vremja, and the Retch, and five in Moscow. In 1910 there were 52 daily news papers in Russia, of which 13 were in St. Petersburg (Lenin grad), and four in Moscow, exclusive of papers in Finland and Polish Russia. In 1926 almost all the press was concentrated in Moscow. There were I1 morning and evening papers in Moscow, but only two of any importance, the Izvestia and the Pravda. In Leningrad there were only two morning papers, the Pravda and the Krasnaya Gazeta. The number of daily newspapers in Russia in 1928 did not exceed twenty. Scope, it is claimed, is given to what are called "worker correspondents" in the industrial centres, and a feature is the widespread interest in "wall" news papers. Some papers appeal technically and otherwise to the peasant class.
Belgium possesses a vigorous press, published in French and in Flemish. Although the chief Paris papers circulate all over Belgium, the Belgian press nevertheless enjoys a large sale, and the popular journals are highly prosperous. There are 17 daily papers published in Brussels and nine in Antwerp. There are several Socialist journals, the chief organ of the party being Le Peuple. The success of the Socialist press is due largely to its association with the co-operative movement. La Libre Bel gique, which appeared regularly during the War in occupied Bel gium in spite of the vigilance of the Germans, now exists as a daily newspaper. In Belgium, the press laws have not been changed for many years and the press enjoys almost unlimited freedom.