ABFFE Book Review: Reporting the War by John Byrne Cooke

Book Review by Audrey Eisman

        Cooke, John Byrne. Reporting the War: Freedom of the Press from the American Revolution to the War on Terrorism (New York: Palgrave MacMillan, 2007), 978-1-4039-7515-7.

John Byrne Cooke, the son of the internationally respected journalist, Alistair Cooke, has written a thoroughly researched and insightful book detailing the contentious relationship between the United States government and the press in wartime from the beginning of our nation to the present.

In his introduction, Cooke writes of the perils that face freedom of the press in times of war, including the government’s expectation that the press will support it.  When members of the press question the rationale for war, they are often silenced as threats to national security.

In April 1775, Isaiah Thomas, the printer/publisher of The Massachusetts Spy, was one of a few messengers, along with Paul Revere, to spread the word that “the British are coming.” A few days later, he had to appeal to Samuel Adams and John Hancock for paper to print the Spy. Hancock, one of his investors, wrote to the provincial committee of safety, and Thomas received four reams of paper. On May 3, two weeks after the battles of Lexington and Concord, the Worcester edition of the Spy proclaimed on its first page: “AMERICANS! Liberty or Death! Join or Die!”

Neither Thomas nor any other printer in the colonies had the right to publish what he pleased.  When Thomas printed certain essays, the governor and his counsel tried to retaliate but without success.  When the Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776, it was printed in the July 17 issue of the Spy.  Had things gone otherwise, writes Cooke, both Thomas and George Washington would have been tried for treason.

A century later, after the election of Abraham Lincoln as president, two major newspapers covered his activities and the critical questions raised by slavery in our nation.  Cooke discusses the activities of these papers, The Daily News and The New York Tribune, and their battles to keep their opinions in print.

More struggles arose during World Wars I and II, the Korean and Vietnam wars, and during Operation Desert Storm.  The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Atlanta Journal Constitution and others charged that the president and the Pentagon were not providing accurate information, and some media reported from Jordan to avoid censorship and travel restrictions imposed in Saudi Arabia.  The print media accused CNN of providing antiseptic reports in return for access to locations that were barred to other reporters.

The war on terrorism has made critical journalism even more important to Americans.  Cooke closes with this thought: “In its best moments, the press invokes the founding principles
of the republic because they are touchstones of who we are as a people and who we want to be.”

I strongly recommend this important and timely book.
 

Audrey Eisman spent several years working for ABFFE and the American Booksellers Association.  During that time, she helped organize Banned Books Week, the ABFFE silent auctions, and other ABFFE events.  She also wrote book reviews for ABFFE.  Since then, she has been a fundraiser for various non-profit organizations, is working on a book of her own, and serves as our free-lance book reviewer.
 

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