Crimea Reporting

Question 1

William Russel

Answer 1

• Correspondent of The Times.
• Went without permission of government and army meaning, not bias like modern embedded journalists were.
• Reports taken with some caution, passionately anti-Turk and anti-French.
• Couldn’t have witnessed all events he described.
• Informants unknown, reliability not verified.
• Winter of 1854-1855, Russell lived in luxury of Constantinople before returning to front line.

Question 2

Russel’s Reports

Answer 2

• Stayed in Crimea for beginning of Siege of Sevastopol & for Balaklava + Inkerman.
• Most of 12/1854 & 01/1855 in Constantinople.
• Made comparisons between British army medical service and better equipped French.
• Highly critical of commanders like at Balaklava.

Question 3

Roger Fenton

Answer 3

• Not official or first photographer in Crimea.
• Went as a commercial photographer working for publisher Thomas Agnew.
• Encouraged by Prince Albert to counter negative press.

Question 4

Timing of Fenton

Answer 4

• 03/1855, returning to England in 06.1855.
• Wasn’t present in any major battles.
• Winter 1845-55 = toughest time, Fenton wasn’t there.
• Pictures of 68th Regiment wearing sheepskin coats in spring in far better conditions than winter.

Question 5

Fenton’s Impact

Answer 5

• Exhibited photos around Britain.
• Showed public stark realism of soldier’s dirty living conditions, not the idealized paintings they had seen previously.
• People began to question how war was managed and why it was being fought.

Question 6

Strength of Photography

Answer 6

• Difficult to distort information.
• More conclusive evidence.
• Public could interpret photos on their own, coming to their own conclusions.

Question 7

Weakness of Photography

Answer 7

• Photos could be set up e.g. Fenton’s, Valley of the Shadow of death.
• Couldn’t capture moving things, battles could not be captured.
• Can selectively capture best/worst bits, depending on the story they are trying to sell.

Question 8

Strength of Written Source

Answer 8

• Captures wider scene of what was happening.
• Provided written battle records of what happened.
• Can quote orders or accounts given by officers.

Question 9

Weakness of Written Source

Answer 9

• Could misconstrue what happened to increase readership.
• Personal views may alter report e.g. Russell anti-war and gave harsh criticism over conduct of war.
• Can selectively write about best/worst bits, depending on the story they are trying to sell.

Question 10

Press Attacks on Raglan

Answer 10

• The Times’ attacked Raglan and army’s aristocratic leadership
• Public outcry
• Raglan made no effort to rid of correspondents and the government did not impose any censorship on press.

Question 11

Palmerston’s Reforms

Answer 11

• Sanitary Commission set up
• Special transport department improved supplies to Crimea.
• Bureaucratic Structure simplified - War Office given overall control and Ordnance Board was abolished.