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Modern war reporting was effectively born in Britain during the Crimean War (1854 - 1856). Instead of relying solely on official army communiqués, or news provided by army officers, the editor of The Times sent reporter Russell to the war zone. Russell's critical reports gave birth to the first military censureship, and to the first government pictorial propoganda aimed at reassuring people on the home front. The increasing number of newspapers, and improvements in means of communications, led to a marked growth in the legion of war reporters. During the American Civil War (1861 - 1865) hundreds of journalists were at work reporting the course of the conflict. At the time of the Franco-Prussian War, reporters virtually fought each other to be the first to send their news. George Smalley of the New York Tribune was famous for denying his competitors the use of the sole telegraph office available during the Battle of Gravelotte, by giving the telegraph operator the complete works of Shakespeare to transmit. This ruse cost his newspaper five thousand pounds sterling, but it was certainly a 'scoop'! Right from the start, war reporters were well-educated, prosperous, cosmopolitan men who often alternated their reporting with literary production, and who combined military adventure with daring journeys. John O'Shea dubbed himself 'The Irish Bohemian', a name that suggests the acknowledgement of a certain consciously measured lifestyle. Where Schuver was concerned, church-going religion was not part of this lifestyle. In his will he stated quite explicitly that there should be no mass, church service, or funeral cortège. |
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