Emily Hobhouse The Times Analysis

When examining a historical event, like the Boer War, there is a wealth of firsthand information to be found in newspaper archives. Emily Hobhouse took part in philanthropic work in South Africa during the time of the Boer War and both The Times and the Manchester Guardian reported on her work and opinions both in South African and England. The Times takes a much more negative approach to Hobhouse and her work and it can be shown throughout their archive of articles. When comparing the two newspapers coverage of Hobhouse examining they type, length and tone of the articles helps to differentiate between the newspapers intentions and political agendas. It is also important to examine who was in charge of both newspapers and their view point
For example, in an article entitled “Miss Hobhouse’s Meetings”, Hobhouse writes “On page 10 of The Times of to-day, column 2, there is a paragraph headed ‘Pro-Boer Movement’ … May I point out to you that the meeting in question was not a pro-Boer meeting nor in any sense a political gathering.” This quote shows that Hobhouse did not agree with what The Times was writing in regards to the meetings she was hosting and therefore, she wrote to the editor in order to correct incorrect
Although The Times published Hobhouse’s articles in the interest of balance, they accused her of naivety, political bias and claimed that she applied standards of a civilized society where they were not appropriate. It becomes understandable now as to why Hobhouse’s letters to the editor, as shown in previous examples, were correcting The Times and came across with an angry