WEEK 15: Wars, the Press and the Public

William Laurence of the New York Times won a Pulitzer
Prize for his celebratory writing about the development and
dropping of nuclear bombs on Japan. Part of the time, he was
actually in the employ of the U.S. government. See here.

 QUESTIONS   Here are some questions to place in the back of your mind as you think about the juxtaposition of the tidbits below. Several eras of journalism history are represented: The WWII Era, in the photo above; the Penny Press Era, in the reference blow to the Spanish American War; the 24-Hour News Cycle Era, in the video about the Iraq War; and the present moment as represented by the "Russiagate" column by Glenn Greenwald.

• When we think of "The Fourth Estate" as a label for journalism, what does that mean in terms of journalism's relationship with the government? What do you think the relationship between the two should be? Why?

• When we think about the "watchdog role" of journalism, what does that imply about the role of journalism when it comes to wars and wartime?

• From era to era, we see examples of the collective press aiding the government's agenda by drumming up support for war in the public. Why do you think that is?

• We noted this semester how the business model of the news industry often affected the character of the industry from era to era. In what ways do you think the business of news might have shaped journalists' attitudes toward the march to war?

• Reese Erlich, one of the most important foreign affairs reporters and antiwar voices of his generation, died last month after a 50-year career. Why do you think you've never heard of him? Why do you think you've never heard of his book Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You?

• With the rise of social media, it seems like the 24-Hour News Cycle Era defined by cable news has morphed into a new era. What shall we call it? The New Partisan Press Era? Ideas?
  

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READ    This is a short news item from Time magazine in 1947. WWII was barely over, and the magazine was helping spread the word that, apparently, we needed a new war. This one would be with Russia, without whom the Allies would not have defeated Hitler. This news item shows the seeds of what would become the Cold War. Notice how the first sentence alludes to the famous incident in which William Randolph Hearst pledged to whip up public support for the Spanish American War half a century earlier.

Monday, Oct. 27, 1947

The Press: I'll Furnish the War

When Hearst Artist Frederic Remington, cabled from Cuba in 1897 that "there will be no war," William Randolph Hearst cabled back: "You furnish the pictures and I'll furnish the war." Last week the aging (84) Lord of San Simeon was out to prove that his hand had not lost its touch. This time it was not Spain but Russia on which Hearst had declared war,

Hearst Columnist Walter Winchell pulled the first trigger. In a broadcast and syndicated column, he fulminated: "The Third World War is already being fought. . . . We are losing it. ... When the Communists are ready . . . there will be 50 Pearl Harbors . . . atomic explosions erasing our cities. . . . The Communists have germ warfare already. . . . The cholera plague in Egypt is suspected abroad of being a Soviet experiment.*. . . The next countries [the Russians] intend to grab are Italy and France. . . . They need France as a base to attack Great Britain, . . . American diplomats inside the curtain are under Russian guard day & night. . . . Trained Communist spies are among us locating targets for the sneak attack. . . . We must start rearming now. . . ."

*Next day PM's Albert Deutsch asked U.N. World Health Organization officials. Their verdict: "The means of propagating cholera make it absolutely unfit as a weapon of bacterial warfare." The Associated Press reported that Russia was sending anti-cholera serum to Egypt.

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READ   This is column about the so-called "Russian bounty" hoax that the CIA pushed into the press and that the press foisted on an unsuspecting public: Journalists, Learning They Spread a CIA Fraud About Russia, Instantly Embrace a New One.

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WATCH   This is a special episode of "Bill Moyers Journal" on PBS that analyzed the behavior of the press before the U.S. government's illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq. Note: Although Bill Moyers was one of the most important broadcast journalists of his generation, his show was canceled and he was pushed out of the public eye after publicly opposing the invasion of Iraq.