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Civil war reporters were on the front lines
Published: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 6:30 AM
By Patriot-News Op-Ed The Patriot-News
BY WILLIAM G. WILLIAMS
The Civil War — now in its 150th anniversary year — brought major changes to news gathering and gave readers a new slant on American life.
A New York Herald Tribune wagon and reporters in the field during the Civil War, courtesy of the Civil War Home Page website.
Reporters in the 1860s dabbled in personal opinions. They were wordy. They depended too much on rumors. But they brought Americans a running account of bloodshed on the battlefields.
Newspapers were limited. They did not have the ability to publish photographs. They relied primarily on the slow, expensive telegraph for news from reporters in the field.
In 1848, six New York papers established The Associated Press, which still exists as the world's largest news organization. The AP opened the first news bureau in Washington in 1856. Four years later, on the eve of war, it assigned the first reporter to fulltime coverage of the president.
Prior to the war, for a period of six weeks after Congress adjourned, the AP correspondent was the only reporter covering the nation's Capitol. Today, round-the-clock coverage requires hundreds of people.
Civil War editors had problems with conflicting battle reports. Rather than explain them, they simply published all available information. It was, to say the least, confusing.
Many citizens North and South opposed actions of their state and national governments as war clouds formed. Some editors did the same.
The Weekly Courier in Rome, Ga., warned secessionists that it was "vastly easier to get into trouble than to get out of it."
In Tennessee, editor Parson Brownlow of the Knoxville Whig resisted secession even after the war had begun. Brownlow said that if given the choice of going to hell or joining the Confederacy, it would probably take him a week to decide. He was arrested.
Actually, in 1860, a year before war broke out, most newspapers in Confederate states believed in preserving the Union, provided that Southern rights, as they viewed them, would be protected. A year later, all but a handful endorsed the Confederacy.
There were mixed feelings in the North, too. Several newspapers were taken to court in 1861 for alleged pro-Confederate leanings. Among them were the Brooklyn Eagle and the New York Daily News. Later, newspaper offices in West Chester and Easton were attacked by loyal Unionists for taking pro-Southern positions. In Massachusetts, an editor was tarred and feathered for Southern sympathies.
Southern newspapers had trouble keeping reporters as many joined the army. They also had early problems in obtaining paper. Some were forced to use the back side of wallpaper as newsprint.
Competition, particularly in northern cities, was so tough that reporters did whatever it took to get their stories back to the office. If that didn't work, one wag said, there was always "bribery, subterfuge, plagiarism and outright fakery."
One historian said that "Vicksburg surrendered three times in the papers before yielding to [General] Grant."
With telegraph lines unavailable, George Smalley of the New York Tribune spent 30 hours travelling by horse, railroad boxcar, ferry boat and wagon from Sharpsburg, Md., to New York, writing his story on the Battle of Antietam. He got there at 6 a.m., turned in the story, got three hours sleep and started back to Maryland.
Homer Byington, also of the Tribune, was en route to Gettysburg before the battle began. At Hanover, he found that Confederates had cut the telegraph wire. Byington hired five men, rented a handcar from the railroad and set out to restring five miles of wire along the track. After the battle, he knew exactly where to go to file his story to New York.
Reporters, too, had to deal with their own losses. Sam Wilkeson of The New York Times sat beside the body of his son, a Union lieutenant, writing his story on the Battle of Gettysburg.
At least two black men were among northern writers. One was Thomas Morris Chester of Harrisburg, who wrote for the Philadelphia Press. After the war, he was the first black man to appear in Dauphin County Court as a lawyer, the first black admitted to practice before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the first black American to appear as a barrister before the courts of England.
In all, Civil War journalism grew into what we have today, although in the 1860s there were no "sound bites" and no "film at 11."
William G. Williams of Hampden Township is a retired journalist who worked for The Associated Press and several newspapers. He is the author of five historical novels.
http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2011/07/civil_war_reporters_were_on_th.html
Published: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 6:30 AM
By Patriot-News Op-Ed The Patriot-News
BY WILLIAM G. WILLIAMS
The Civil War — now in its 150th anniversary year — brought major changes to news gathering and gave readers a new slant on American life.
A New York Herald Tribune wagon and reporters in the field during the Civil War, courtesy of the Civil War Home Page website.
Reporters in the 1860s dabbled in personal opinions. They were wordy. They depended too much on rumors. But they brought Americans a running account of bloodshed on the battlefields.
Newspapers were limited. They did not have the ability to publish photographs. They relied primarily on the slow, expensive telegraph for news from reporters in the field.
In 1848, six New York papers established The Associated Press, which still exists as the world's largest news organization. The AP opened the first news bureau in Washington in 1856. Four years later, on the eve of war, it assigned the first reporter to fulltime coverage of the president.
Prior to the war, for a period of six weeks after Congress adjourned, the AP correspondent was the only reporter covering the nation's Capitol. Today, round-the-clock coverage requires hundreds of people.
Civil War editors had problems with conflicting battle reports. Rather than explain them, they simply published all available information. It was, to say the least, confusing.
Many citizens North and South opposed actions of their state and national governments as war clouds formed. Some editors did the same.
The Weekly Courier in Rome, Ga., warned secessionists that it was "vastly easier to get into trouble than to get out of it."
In Tennessee, editor Parson Brownlow of the Knoxville Whig resisted secession even after the war had begun. Brownlow said that if given the choice of going to hell or joining the Confederacy, it would probably take him a week to decide. He was arrested.
Actually, in 1860, a year before war broke out, most newspapers in Confederate states believed in preserving the Union, provided that Southern rights, as they viewed them, would be protected. A year later, all but a handful endorsed the Confederacy.
There were mixed feelings in the North, too. Several newspapers were taken to court in 1861 for alleged pro-Confederate leanings. Among them were the Brooklyn Eagle and the New York Daily News. Later, newspaper offices in West Chester and Easton were attacked by loyal Unionists for taking pro-Southern positions. In Massachusetts, an editor was tarred and feathered for Southern sympathies.
Southern newspapers had trouble keeping reporters as many joined the army. They also had early problems in obtaining paper. Some were forced to use the back side of wallpaper as newsprint.
Competition, particularly in northern cities, was so tough that reporters did whatever it took to get their stories back to the office. If that didn't work, one wag said, there was always "bribery, subterfuge, plagiarism and outright fakery."
One historian said that "Vicksburg surrendered three times in the papers before yielding to [General] Grant."
With telegraph lines unavailable, George Smalley of the New York Tribune spent 30 hours travelling by horse, railroad boxcar, ferry boat and wagon from Sharpsburg, Md., to New York, writing his story on the Battle of Antietam. He got there at 6 a.m., turned in the story, got three hours sleep and started back to Maryland.
Homer Byington, also of the Tribune, was en route to Gettysburg before the battle began. At Hanover, he found that Confederates had cut the telegraph wire. Byington hired five men, rented a handcar from the railroad and set out to restring five miles of wire along the track. After the battle, he knew exactly where to go to file his story to New York.
Reporters, too, had to deal with their own losses. Sam Wilkeson of The New York Times sat beside the body of his son, a Union lieutenant, writing his story on the Battle of Gettysburg.
At least two black men were among northern writers. One was Thomas Morris Chester of Harrisburg, who wrote for the Philadelphia Press. After the war, he was the first black man to appear in Dauphin County Court as a lawyer, the first black admitted to practice before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the first black American to appear as a barrister before the courts of England.
In all, Civil War journalism grew into what we have today, although in the 1860s there were no "sound bites" and no "film at 11."
William G. Williams of Hampden Township is a retired journalist who worked for The Associated Press and several newspapers. He is the author of five historical novels.
http://www.pennlive.com/editorials/index.ssf/2011/07/civil_war_reporters_were_on_th.html
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