STATE NEWSPAPER, RADIO AND MOTION PICTURE
REPRESENTATIVES MEETING—CARVEL HALL

January 6, 1942
Annapolis

POSSIBLY the most important single function of Government today in Mary-
land, and in every other State of the Union, is the solidifying of the senti-
ment of the people throughout the State in support of the National Defense
policy and of all-out defense preparedness.

This has a two-fold aspect. The actual unification of sentiment and effort
is one which is being done more or less effectively at the present time, with
the complete assistance of the newspapers, the radio, the motion pictures, and
other publicity media, through State and District Councils of Defense.

A second phase that is of the utmost importance, and in the fulfillment of
which you gentlemen here present must play a leading part, is the transmis-
sion, to all the people within our State, of complete information as to what is
being done for their protection, and most particularly, information as to what
will be required of them in any emergency, not only for their own protection!
but for the safety of their family and of those about them.

Because we realize only too well the difficulty of achieving complete dis-
tribution of such information, I have asked you gentlemen to come here today,
at the sacrifice of your private business, to consult with us and to help us in
our efforts to achieve the desired complete public information.

Not only must we rely upon you to convey to the people of our State in-
formation of developments from Washington as they may apply to, or to be
modified to conform with, the needs of our own State, but, being right on the
firing lines so to speak, and being in so much closer contact with the public
everywhere than we could possibly hope to be in Annapolis, we must have your
advice as to how best to accomplish the end that we have in mind.

This, then, is the one and only purpose of today's meeting. It is to devise
the best plan to present to the people of Maryland information that they should
have about the conduct of the war in their behalf, and complete details of their
own responsiblities in the matter of home defense.

Unlike other wars, the people at home today perform just as vital a func-
tion in defense as do their sons and husbands and fathers, who are actively
serving in the military forces. With the threat of bombing or other attacks
constantly hanging over our people, and with the possibility that the safety
of all, or many people, in any community, may well be dependent upon the
complete cooperation of all in established defense procedure, it can easily be
seen how necessary it is that everybody know what he or she is expected to do,
and that they are impressed fully with the absolute necessity of doing just
what they are told in the way that they are told.