Crimean War - Reporting Flashcards
Who was William Russell?
Irish - Critical of Government
Left for war February 1854 - spent entire war with the soldiers
Spent time with the regular officers/soldiers as Raglan had told his officers not to talk to Russel
Wanted to protect and defend soldiers as 1/3 of them were Irish
Pioneer war journalist - reported every single day
Reports took 4 weeks to reach Britain
What was the Royal opinion on Russell?
Queen Victoria called him a traitor
Prince Albert called him a miserable scribbler
Findings of Russell’s report?
Only 9,000 out of 30,000 soldiers were fit for duty
What was the impact of Russell?
January 1855 - vote of no confidence brought down Lord Aberdeen for Crimean mismanagement
Press responsible for bringing down the Government
2/3 voted for PM removed
Duke of Newcastle said it was Russell who overthrew the Government
Palmerston makes changes to supply, sends engineers to build railways with volunteers who had read the NYT about railway supplies - took 3 weeks to fix
Why was The Times reliable?
Industrial revolution = literacy rates higher
Only paper with correspondents in Russia = no competition
Times had 40k readers daily and was highly regarded and respected
Free of censorship and had veracious readers at home
Who was Thomas Chenery?
Times correspondent on the situation at Scutari hospital
Who is Roger Fenton?
First photojournalist
360 images
Sent with Royal Patronage for good news
Endorsed by SoS Duke of Newcastle
Sent in spring 1855 (March-June) so he witnesses no battles and the railway is built by now (less supply issues over the Col)
Mainly took pictures of noble and higher officers
Photos at this point cannot be taken in motion
Sales of his pictures plummeted after his suffering due to the McNeil-Tulloch report discrediting him
What did Roger Fenton picture?
Set up in advance - staged propaganda
Never took pictures of dead/suffering
Took pictures of graves due to Russell’s report of dead bodies due to fatigue and no shovels
Pictured cannons as Russians bought the Illustrative London News and Russell had written of ammunition shortages
Put cannons in Balaclava Valley and took pictures (COTLB)
Officers in warm coats
Impact of Roger Fenton
Undermined Russell
Caused divide in the public
How was the public perception impacted by reporting?
Improvements to the Army (Palmerston, Cardwell)
Divided the public
Nightingale Fund from public
Nightingale and Seacole came due to reporting
Government collapsed January 1855
Engineers volunteered to make railway
Mc-Neil Tulloch report shook nation
Public empathy for war effort increased
Patriotic connection - more willing to pay tax
What is the illustrative London News?
Generally more well read due to literacy rates
Published officer sketches
