Words came from readers in Cleveland that “‘the impression soon prevails in your mind that Ernie Pyle… is the President of the United State’” (Tobin 29). In the midst of World War II Ernie Pyle stood out from the crowd of journalists with a style that hadn’t been seen before but spoke to American readers all over both on the home front and abroad. One writer and historian, Jordan Braverman, puts it into perspective however the lack of truth of some reporting by saying, “Soldiers were known to have huddled in foxholes under heavy aerial bombardment, while their radios were telling them that U.S. forces had complete control of the skies in their battle sector” (Braverman 84). It wasn’t just radio that did this but also print media that both …show more content…
what time? anyone hurt? What’s your name?...then hurry back to headquarters” (Tobin 78). Ernie Pyle’s approach to journalism differed greatly from this because he would become a part of the group he was writing about. One observer of his career described “he had a gift for becoming a member of a group while retaining his ability to explain it to outsiders” (Tobin 20).
Pyle didn’t write his columns about the individual battle strategies that the army used because that is not something that mattered to his audience. His focus often was individual narratives and human-interest stories. When he traveled to forty-eight different states, he wrote about the people he met and the stories they lived.
With the subject, his relateability, and his recognition of what the audience both needed to hear and wanted hear he became very connected with the audience. He wrote in a conversational manner, at one point Pyle stated, “‘I’m really a letter writer’” (Tobin 87). This allowed for him to be easy to follow and therefore many people looked at Pyle as a writer of ordinary people living their lives. If he had done only that, however, Pyle’s writing would be boring. What Pyle brings to light instead with his columns are “unknown people doing extraordinary things” (Tobin 30). Take Pyle’s first column of death he encounters during the war. He doesn’t tell the reader directly the who, what and where, but played out the events as he felt and lived them. He describes the feeling of
Company Aytch, a memoir written by Sam Watkins, tells the personal tale of a lowly private fighting four long years in the American Civil War. Watkins was from Columbia, Tennessee, and was a part of Company H, 1st Tennessee Infantry. He recounts his military career in chronological order, from before the Battle of Shiloh in 1862 to the day the Confederacy surrendered at Nashville in 1865. Watkins is a humble writer, often reminds the reader that he is not aiming to provide a comprehensive account of the entire war, but rather a collection of personal stories. Military history books often recount the lives of generals and of great strategies, but this book insists that history should not exclude the common men who filled the ranks of the military.
Penned during two distinctly disparate eras in American military history, both Erich Maria Remarque's bleak account of trench warfare during World War I, All Quiet on the Western Front, and Tim O'Brien's haunting elegy for a generation lost in the jungles of Vietnam, The Man I Killed, present readers with a stark reminder that beneath the veneer of glorious battle lies only suffering and death. Both authors imbue their work with a grim severity, presenting the reality of war as it truly exists. Men inflict grievous injuries on one another, breaking bodies and shattering lives, without ever truly knowing for what or whom they are fighting for. With their contributions to the genre of war literature, both Remarque and O'Brien have sought to lift the veil of vanity which, for so many wartime writers, perverts reality with patriotic fervor. In doing so, the authors manage to convey the true sacrifice of the conscripted soldier, the broken innocence which clouds a man's first kill, and the abandonment of one's identity which becomes necessary in order to kill again.
Within Joyce Nelson’s essay, “TV News: A Structure of Reassurance”, Nelson criticizes the TV news structure that perpetually disconnects current events from their historical background through comforting anchorpeople partnered with advanced technology to create a TV program that minimizes the important implications of current events. Though lacking the amount of information that a print news publication can maintain, the TV news can convey immediate information through technological advances of modern TV equipment to allow the medium to remain competitive. The façade of in-the-moment international information broadcasted directly to viewers enables anchorpeople to maintain the feeling of immediateness, keeping the viewers believing the program
They provided a type of freedom; no rules or regulations were present on the front lines, as if that’s what Pyle was searching for his whole life. Along with freedom were lasting images of chaos. The scenes on the front line were bonding; the only way someone could understand the horrors of the war was if they could see it for themselves. The men experiencing the daily punishment of the front were a source of great admiration from Ernie Pyle. “The God-damned infantry, as they like to call themselves,” “the mud-rain-frost-and-wind boys … that wars can’t be won without.” (pg. 91, Ernie Pyle’s War). Pyle understood how important the role of the “common man” was in Europe. He loved the underdog aspect to them, as if he could see himself in their unit fighting bravely. These men scrapped through the teeth of the German resistance, and Pyle would be damned sure they were recognized for
Memoirs of war often reflect the positive or negative experiences endured throughout battle. Considered by many to be one of the best memoirs of World War I, Hervey Allen’s “Toward the Flame”, recalls his own experiences of battle. His recollection of events shows that he had a negative image of war and that there was nothing glorious about it. What started out looking like a man’s greatest adventure turned into a shell-shocking reality that war is actually horrible and trying. Allen’s experiences with consistent hunger, mustard gas, and artillery shellings led to his disillusionment with war, and left him with a permanent hatred of battle.
Hunter S. Thompson was the man responsible for what is known today as gonzo journalism. This type of journalism is written in the first-person narrative and places the reporter in the middle of the action, allowing for personal experiences, emotions, and biases in a way that defies traditional journalism. Thompson’s subversive style of journalism was so radical that according to Jennifer Marinelli’s (2010) post on the Michigan Online News Association, “Thompson didn’t just create a new form of journalism. He created a new way of thinking that is still important in today’s society” (para. 2). In other words, he didn’t just transform journalism; he transformed people’s minds. Perhaps this should not come as a surprise that such a man could
Nowadays journalists have the responsibility to report facts as accurately, objectively, and disinterestedly as is humanly possible. ‘’The, honest, self-disciplined, well-trained reporter seeks to be a propagandist for nothing but the truth’’ (Casey, 1944b).
Throughout history, and still today, Americans have looked to popular media outlets to stay up to date on the current issues our nation is involved in. Many Americans take the news reported at face value instead of digging deeper than the headlines to do a little of their own research. A clear majority of those Americans believe if they read it in the newspaper or see it on social media, it must be true. However, the media is notorious for manipulating the facts in order to advance the American government’s agenda. A manipulating media circuit is nothing new. An example of this is the USS Greer incident. Multiple media reports helped advanced President Roosevelt’s desire to engage in war by publishing inaccurate reports from the September 4, 1942 incident.
By 1968, more than half of the American people relied on television as their principal source of news. What they saw informed, engrossed, and unsettled them. CBS Evening News anchor Harry Reasoner referred to it as “horrors and failures.” The Vietnam War dominated the network newscast as it never had before. Suddenly the war was everywhere. The impact on the American public would indeed be great. It set off a critical reaction to the war within the American media and gave greater credence to arguments against the war that a vocal protest movement had been voicing for some time. The media coverage of the Tet Offensive had a great influence on the eventual outcome of the fighting and its aftermath. Clarence Wyatt, author of Paper
In this essay, I will discuss how Tim O’Brien’s works “The Things They Carried” and “If I Die in a Combat Zone” reveal the individual human stories that are lost in war. In “The Things They Carried” O’Brien reveals the war stories of Alpha Company and shows how human each soldier is. In “If I Die in a Combat Zone” O’Brien tells his story with clarity, little of the dreamlike quality of “Things They Carried” is in this earlier work, which uses more blunt language that doesn’t hold back. In “If I Die” O’Brien reveals his own personal journey through war and what he experienced. O’Brien’s works prove a point that men, humans fight wars, not ideas. Phil Klay’s novel “Redeployment” is another novel that attempts to humanize soldiers in war. “Redeployment” is an anthology series, each chapter attempts to let us in the head of a new character – set in Afghanistan or in the United States – that is struggling with the current troubles of war. With the help of Phil Klay’s novel I will show how O’Brien’s works illustrate and highlight each story that make a war.
While political issues like these were slowly demoralising the soldiers fighting the war, the media were still telling a heavily rose-coloured version of the ‘truth’. When the television images were shown in America before 1968, the editors had policies about what to show: More specifically, there were guidelines that were designed to
Before learning about the Pulitzer prize it is important to first know about it’s creator, Joseph Pulitzer. Joseph Pulitzer was born on April 10, 1847 in Hungary. He was born into a wealthy Christian family. He wanted to be a soldier but was rejected for his poor health. He was offered a job at Westliche post, soon after he was regarded as a hard working journalist. After years of intense working his health began to decline. In his later years he exposed a false payment of $40 millions by the United States. The government accused Pulitzer of false accusations but Pulitzer fought the accusations and won a crucial victory for freedom of press. In his will he requested the creation of the Pulitzer Prizes, he established categories for awards but
1. “In any war story, especially a true one, it’s difficult to separate what happened from what seemed to happen. What seems to happen becomes its own happening and has to be told the way. “ (71)
One of the most impressive strategies was conveying readers to the battlefield using sufficient words. The writer described some details that readers the same feeling that soldiers felt during that the war. Iraq
The investigation assesses the media coverage of the Tet Offensive and its impact on American policy concerning the Vietnam War from 1968 until 1969. The investigation evaluates the contrast between media broadcasts and government reports of the war, the effect of the media on the American public, and the effect of American public opinion on President Lyndon B. Johnson’s course of action. Two of the sources, Vietnam and America: A Documented History by Marvin E. Gettleman, Jane Franklin, Marilyn Young, and H. Bruce Franklin, and The “Uncensored War”: The Media and Vietnam by Daniel C. Hallin are examined.