Boer War - Reporting Flashcards
What are the pro-war strands of journalism?
The Daily Mail
The Times (Phase 1, Phase 2)
The Daily Chronicle
The morning post
Who are the prominent pro-war journalists?
TDM
Lady Sarah Wilson = patriotic
Edgar Wilson - A list primary correspondent
What are the anti-war strands of journalism?
The Manchester Guardian (boosted in Phase 3)
Time Times (Phase 3)
What is the Pro-Boer strand of journalism?
The Daily News
Who is a prominent pro-Boer journalist?
David Lloyd George made great political capital out of pro-Boer stance
What is the general attitude of journalism?
No censorship, all jingoistic - patriotic fever
Most avoided criticism
How many readers does the Daily Mail have and why?
1 million a day
One half penny
What is the attitude/reach of the Times?
Heavier = literature upper class
Balanced but pro-war in sentiment
Critical in Phase 3
Reliable, not sensationalised
Why are journalists now photographers?
Kodak portable cameras
What are the consequences of reporting?
Newspapers initially presented the Boers as primitive, backwards with animalistic language
Changed after black week as the British suffered intense losses
Heavy British casualties at Pion Kop awoke people to the savagery of the combat
Heavy international condemnation of the press
New phase in self-image - stain on image
‘Embarrassing half life of its own’
What happened when Mafeking was relieved in May 1900?
Huge demonstration - Mafficking - working class mass hysteria celebrations
What is the Khaki election?
1900 after the success of the Battle of Paardenburg
Early election - cashing on jingoistic fever - many reporters ran for PM and came into politics
C.P. Scott - MP and editor for the Manchester Guardian - lost position during the Khaki election (later proven correct)
How did the media feel about Robert Badel-Powell?
Mafeking is the only truly positive media
Personality focused media - praise
Prestige + heroic
Made by the media (TDM - Lady Sarah Wilson)
How did the media feel about General Buller?
Unexperienced with press
Only friendly with Churchill, who hated him and exploited this to write about him negatively
Hated by the press - condemned
Press exacerbated his own (quite terrible) failures and led to his demise as a general
How did the media feel about General Roberts?
Named ‘bobs’ affectionately by the media
Very media friendly
Encouraged officers and correspondents
Held press conferences
Gave journalists the exposure they wanted
Gave good news for the avid readers about the war
How did the media feel about Kitchener?
Concerned Boers would gain support/hope from hyper-critical media/press around his strategies due to the reports of disheartened British troops
Difficult job made harder by press interference
What did John Atkinson Hobson do?
South African Correspondent for the Manchester Guardian
Argued the Boer War is a press made war
Argued Cecil Rhodes and mine owners are manipulating the British into fighting Boers to maximise their profits from mining
Imperialism = expanding capitalism
Pro-Boer sympathies
How was the Manchester Guardian perceived in Phase 1?
Due to opinions from people like John Atkinson Hobson, TMG has low readership in Phase 1
It boosts in significance and leadership in Phase 3 due to Emily Hobhouse and rising aggravation at the war
What is the impact of Emily Hobhouse?
The Hobhouse Report
Heard mentions of the camps
Government let her go to SA
Milner gives her a tour
Freelance journalist who feels like she must share the experience - contacts the Guardian and collaborate
Society deeply shocked at the report - foreign media gets ahold
Pamphlets of her revelations shared:
- 1/3 dead
Pro-propagandists argued Boer War mortalities were self-inflicted due to lack of collaboration with British soldiers
What does Kitchener call Hobhouse?
That bloody woman
Meddlesome spinster
What happens as a result of the Hobhouse report?
All female commission headed by Millicent Fawcett investigated the camps which had been improved by their arrival and made Hobhouse seem exaggerated
