“What a pity,” said Mr. Baltisky, the Americans just do not appreciate how much freedom the Russian press has. So he proceeded, in 6,000 words, to educate the Associated Press’ crusading Executive Director Kent Cooper, who has been conducting a one-man campaign to make freedom of the press worldwide. The Soviet reply, which was more in pity than in censure, appeared in the magazine War and the Working Class, as “A Heart-to-Heart Talk with Mr. K. Cooper by N. Baltisky.”
Said N. Baltisky: the U.S.S.R. wants worldwide freedom of the press too, but does not “want to impose our Soviet form of freedom of the press upon the other countries of the world.” Therefore Cooper should not try to impose his brand either. Besides, “it is one thing to recognize by law the right of citizens to publish newspapers and magazines that serve their interests, and quite a different thing to guarantee the people the use of their right. … In the Soviet Union only, where all power is in the hands of the toilers, [does] the press serve the interests of the masses.”
Replied A.P.’s Cooper: “There is some indication of error somewhere in his understanding of what I said.”
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