Wartime Censorship Research Paper
Lauren Kubiak (1-19)
Professor Hausman
JRN 02205
Nov. 23, 2016
The History of Wartime Censorship “In Rome, as in the ancient Greek communities, the ideal of good governance included shaping the character of the people. Hence censorship was regarded as an honorable task” (Newth). Censorship has been a part of civilization dating back to the Greeks. The most notable circumstance at that time was the sentenced suicide of Socrates due to corrupting the youth with non-traditional divinities. From that point on, freedom of speech was difficult to acquire. For a long time, people under their religious rule, commonly Christian, had to do as their king or queen instructed under the Christian church. Kings were thought to be chosen from God to rule …show more content…
Military messages were suppressed or modified before it was sent to the recipient. Altered messages left the addressee ignorant to the truth of what happened during the war. At this time, everything was official and a person had to be authorized to know military information. Cables were being censored all throughout Europe, and journalists were given clear regulations on censorship: “Each newspaper had to be submitted beforehand, the censor marked doubtful lines, often whole passages…Sometimes articles and also illustrations were so much censored that nothing remained except maybe the title or the name of the author” (Demm). Information about other countries was blocked from public knowledge. Some writers protested censors, but were scolded by their editors because the public did not know about censorship. Occasionally newspapers would get suspended if articles failed to be submitted before they were …show more content…
“‘Our journalists in Iraq have been shoved on the ground, pushed out of the way, told to leave the scene of explosions; we've had camera disks and videotapes confiscated, reporters detained,’ says Sandy Johnson, Washington Bureau chief for the Associated Press” (Keefe). The censorship for the war in Iraq remained like it had in the past. When a reported 4,000 American soldier deaths came into light, there were only a handful of pictures found (Spencer). Past attempts by the media to report on war have yielded to a fearful outcome. It is understandable as to why the press was not focused primarily on the Iraq War, but the public deserves to know what is happening in connection to their
Professor Hausman
JRN 02205
Nov. 23, 2016
The History of Wartime Censorship “In Rome, as in the ancient Greek communities, the ideal of good governance included shaping the character of the people. Hence censorship was regarded as an honorable task” (Newth). Censorship has been a part of civilization dating back to the Greeks. The most notable circumstance at that time was the sentenced suicide of Socrates due to corrupting the youth with non-traditional divinities. From that point on, freedom of speech was difficult to acquire. For a long time, people under their religious rule, commonly Christian, had to do as their king or queen instructed under the Christian church. Kings were thought to be chosen from God to rule …show more content…
Military messages were suppressed or modified before it was sent to the recipient. Altered messages left the addressee ignorant to the truth of what happened during the war. At this time, everything was official and a person had to be authorized to know military information. Cables were being censored all throughout Europe, and journalists were given clear regulations on censorship: “Each newspaper had to be submitted beforehand, the censor marked doubtful lines, often whole passages…Sometimes articles and also illustrations were so much censored that nothing remained except maybe the title or the name of the author” (Demm). Information about other countries was blocked from public knowledge. Some writers protested censors, but were scolded by their editors because the public did not know about censorship. Occasionally newspapers would get suspended if articles failed to be submitted before they were …show more content…
“‘Our journalists in Iraq have been shoved on the ground, pushed out of the way, told to leave the scene of explosions; we've had camera disks and videotapes confiscated, reporters detained,’ says Sandy Johnson, Washington Bureau chief for the Associated Press” (Keefe). The censorship for the war in Iraq remained like it had in the past. When a reported 4,000 American soldier deaths came into light, there were only a handful of pictures found (Spencer). Past attempts by the media to report on war have yielded to a fearful outcome. It is understandable as to why the press was not focused primarily on the Iraq War, but the public deserves to know what is happening in connection to their