From ‘Unofficial News’, The Spectator, 20 March 1915:
THE exclusion of war correspondents from the firing line has greatly reduced the volume of unofficial news available for the enlightenment of the general public. What remains, moreover, has to run the gauntlet of the Censorship. How some of it manages to get through is a mystery which we cannot pretend to fathom. Fortunately all that appears on the tape does not always appear in the newspapers. But disregarding what may be described as “freak” news, it may be worth while to set down some rough aide towards estimating the credibility and value of unofficial intelligence which have been suggested by the experiences of the last eight months.
The unofficial news that reaches us through neutral channels needs to be scrutinized and discounted in the light of the sympathies and the special circumstances of the neutrals in question.
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