War Correspondents on the Western Front

The lecture challenges the popular perception of war reporting during the First World War as dishonest propaganda. Historians have suggested that their reporting involved a ‘sacrifice of integrity’ (Niall Ferguson) and the telling of ‘more deliberate lies … than in any other period of history’ (Philip Knightley). Dr Andrew Griffith will explain why that is both inaccurate and unfair for the few accredited reporters permitted to work within the fighting area. Those reporters learned to navigate brand new systems of media management to report from the Western Front, establishing a pattern and structure that endures today.

The lecture will show how reporters sought to reach readers in Britain through their techniques, and by bending the rules. It illustrates the role of readers and informal reporters in filling in the gaps around the official reports, ensuring that – contrary to popular belief – the British public had a fairly good idea of conditions in the trenches. Come along to hear about reporters evading the authorities and even cross-dressing to get close to the front. Find out how the Daily Mail’s countryside correspondent found himself reporting from the front lines, and how he mocked the censorship of his reports with outlandish images in his writing.