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Secrecy and the Media is the first book to examine the development of the D-Notice system, which regulates the UK media's publication of British national security secrets.  It is based on official documents, many of which have not previously been available to a general audience, as well as on media sources.

From Victorian times, British governments have consistently seen the need, in the public interest, to prevent the media publishing secret information which would endanger national security. The UK media have meanwhile continuously resisted official attempts to impose any form of censorship, arguing that a free press is in the public interest. Both sides have normally seen the pitfalls of attempting to resolve this sometimes acrimonious conflict of interests by litigation, and have together evolved a system of editorial self-regulation, assisted by day-to-day independent expert advice, known colloquially as the D-Notice System.

The book traces the development of this system from nineteenth-century colonial campaigns, through two world wars, to modern operations and counter-terrorism in the post-Cold War era, up to the beginning of the Labour government in 1997. Examples are drawn from media, political and official sources (some not yet open), and cover not only defence issues (including Special Forces), but also the activities of the secret intelligence services MI5, MI6 and GCHQ. These cases relate principally to the UK, but also to American and other allies’ interests.

The story of how this sometimes controversial institution now operates in the modern world will be essential reading for those in the media and government departments, and for academics and students in the fields of security, defence and intelligence, as well as being an accessible exposé for the general reader.

Nicholas Wilkinson served in the Royal Navy 1959-98, and from 1999 to 2004 he ran the independent Defence, Press and Broadcasting Advisory Committee. He was a Press Complaints Commissioner from 2005 to 2008, and is a Cabinet Office Historian.

Customer Reviews (1)

The D-Notice Definitive History
Retired British Admiral Nick Wilkinson has given us more about the wrangling of government and press in the United Kingdom than any reasonable person would want to know. This is not meant as criticism of this fine book, but is only meant to suggest how detailed it truly is. Wilkinson takes the reader through the origins and development of a unique collaboration between government and news media that might only flourish in the UK. Indeed, any American journalists or military officers with whom I have spoken about the "D-Notice" system in Britain only shake their heads in amazement. Yet, it works, and Admiral Wilkinson has done an extremely thorough job of laying out the reasons why it works. Moreover, this book is much more than simply a history of the D-Notice Committee. It is, rather, an integrated look at spying, intelligence, secrecy, the news media, and government-news media interaction over the course of almost the entirety of the twentieth century.

Wilkinson starts the meat of the book with the Boer Wars, that nasty series of little-understood conflicts between Britain and Afrikaaner settlers that determined the fate of Southern Africa. British generals sought to limit the information that journalists were able to ferret-out and transmit to their newspapers, while newspapermen thought they ought to be free to write and publish as they wished. One of the innovations used by the British army during this conflict was the beginning of what in Vietnam would come to be known as the "Five O'Clock Follies." According to Wilkinson, a military "Staff Officer will fix an hour when correspondents may call upon him daily for information, and he will be authorized to tell them everything that can be published with safety to the Army." Not unsurprisingly, such a deliberate release of information did not cause the press to resolve to live exclusively upon government hand-outs, and the inherent conflict between the citizenry's right to know and the government's duty to protect its true secrets continued.
The lead-up to World War I proved that press and government could cooperate when it came to keeping true secrets from being publicized. In 1911, on several occasions that Wilkinson documents, members of the press demonstrated to the government that they could be trusted to withhold material that might be damaging to national security. It was not such a great leap, then, to establish a formalized way for press and government to come together to discuss what should and should not be published. Thus was born the antecedent of the modern D-Notice Committee.

With fits and starts the arrangement held up reasonably well throughout World War I. Wilkinson quotes a government official as saying that "'practically none of the [D-] Notices had been disregarded except by one or two publications of a certain kind. The Press as a whole had loyally observed the warnings." The Admiralty, War Office, Air Ministry and Press Committee was suspended, the author writes, during WWII. The book does not therefore attempt to cover the D-Notices issued by the Ministry of Information during that period. It does relate the criterion use for war censorship of the press in the UK: censorship was to be based upon "security alone." This meant, writes the author, that elements like harm to public morale (unless of "real gravity") would not provide a basis for withholding information.

The Cold War brought its own problems between government and news media. Various British citizens--Guy Burgess, Donald Maclean, Kim Philby, George Blake, to name a few--were revealed as spies for the Soviet Union. The D-Notice Committee was soon re-established.Wilkinson does a superb job of recounting the dynamics between members of the press and the government of the UK over the various crises of the day, ranging from the Suez affair to the Kuwait episode. The American journalist Joseph Galloway has described the tension between the two sides--at least in the US--as being one of "anarchists" versus "control freaks," with the news media, of course, playing the role of anarchy. Such did not seem to be the case with respect to British journalists, nor, it should be said as an aside, was it the case with American journalists of the earlier wartime periods.

Wilkinson's book is very fluidly written. The author manages to put the story in front of the reader with great detail, but he does so in such manner that the story moves smartly along. The book contains various appendices, which are themselves quite interesting: examples of WWI D-Notices and secret letters to editors; WWII Defence notices; examples of D-Notices and letters to the editor, 1945-67; examples of parliamentary questions; lists of D-Notice Committee Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen, and Secretaries, and a very nice glossary of terms and acronyms.This is the definitive book on the uniquely British system called the D-Notice Committee. I commend it to you.



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This digital document is an article from Epoca, published by Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA) on March 29, 2002. The length of the article is 989 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: El Príncipe y la prensa.(Principe Carlos, Reino Unido)(TT: The prince and the media.)(TA: Prince Charles, United Kingdom)(Artículo Breve)
Author: Stephen Glover
Publication: Epoca (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 29, 2002
Publisher: Difusora de Informacion Periodica, S.A. (DINPESA)
Page: 47

Article Type: Artículo Breve

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This digital document is an article from Journal of Cultural Geography, published by JCG Press on October 1, 2009. The length of the article is 10766 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: European Union enlargement, post-accession migration and imaginative geographies of the 'New Europe': media discourses in Romania and the United Kingdom.(Report)
Author: Duncan Light
Publication: Journal of Cultural Geography (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2009
Publisher: JCG Press
Volume: 26Issue: 3Page: 281(23)

Article Type: Report

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Chapters: Lists of Media by City in Canada, Lists of Media by City in the United Kingdom, Lists of Media by City in the United States, Media in New York City, Media in Seattle, Media in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Media in New York's Capital District, Media in Richmond, Virginia, Media in Manchester, Media in Washington, D.c., Media in Vancouver, Media in Kansas City, Missouri, Media in Toronto, Media in Birmingham, Media in Cincinnati, Media in Salt Lake City, Media in Detroit, Media in Nashville, Tennessee, Media in Windsor, Ontario, Media in Fort Wayne, Indiana, Media in Peoria, Illinois, Media in Trivandrum, Media in Ottawa-Gatineau, Media in Greater Sudbury, Media in Philadelphia, Media in the Lehigh Valley, Media in Omaha, Nebraska, Media in Denver, Colorado, Media in Winnipeg, Media in Oklahoma City, Media in Chicago, Media in Boise, Idaho, Media in Cardiff, Media in London, Ontario, Media in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Media in Cumberland, Maryland, Media in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Media in Boston, Media in Augusta, Georgia, Media in Thunder Bay, Media in Peel, Media in the Halifax Regional Municipality, Media in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Media in Louisville, Kentucky, Media in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Media in Calgary, Media in Montreal, Media in Chennai, Media in Shreveport, Louisiana, Media in Wichita, Kansas, Media in San Antonio, Texas, Media in Providence Metropolitan Area, Media in Erie, Pennsylvania, Media in Indianapolis, Media in Topeka, Kansas, Media in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Media in Worcester, Massachusetts, Media in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Media in Cleveland, Media in Portland, Oregon, Media in Grand Forks, North Dakota, Media in Melbourne, Media in Minot, North Dakota, Media in Mobile, Alabama, Media in Los Angeles, Media in Fargo-Moorhead, Media in Edmonton, Media in Key West, Florida, Media in Saskatoon, Media in Bismarck-Mandan, Media in Peterborough, Ontario, Media in Dayton, Ohio, Media in Buf...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=1979203 ... Read more

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Chapters: Guardian Student Media Award, Varsity, Leeds Student, the Beaver, Felix, Exeposé, Cherwell, the Saint, Nouse, York Vision, the Journal, Epigram, Palatinate, the Steel Press, Cantab, Glasgow University Guardian, the Boar, the Oxonian Review, London Student, Energy Matters Magazine, the Tab, the Tart, Clareification, Bath Impact, the Gateway, the Linc, Northumbria Student, the Founder, List of Student Newspapers in the United Kingdom, the Berry, Student Direct, Durham21, Gair Rhydd, the Ripple, Pluto, Scotcampus, the Courier, the Yorker, Lincoln Imp, the Stag, Oxford Student Publications Limited, the Oxford Forum, Wessex Scene, Redbrick, the Cambridge Student, Rydens Online, the Oxford Student, the Harrovian, the National Student, Livic, Student Times Newspaper, Newsport. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 227. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The Guardian Student Media Awards are an annual UK-wide student journalism competition run by The Guardian newspaper. Since 1947, The National Union of Students (NUS) have run a student journalism competition of some kind. In 1978, The Guardian joined forces with the NUS for the inaugural NUS/Guardian Student Media Awards. In the early years the competition was modest. Only a handful of categories - for Best Paper, Best Magazine, Best Photographer and Best Journalist existed - along with awards for student radio. During the 1990s, the individual print categories began to rise exponentially, and today include Reporter, Feature writer, Critic, Sports writer, Diversity writer, Travel writer and Columnist. Meanwhile, the broadcast categories were dropped after the judges consistently reported insufficient quality to yield a shortlist. Other categories added included Publication Design and Website. Small Budget Publication was also added, b...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=6319853 ... Read more