Reporting War in the 20th Century

Literature of Mass Communications:

Reporting War

in the 20th Century

A course for juniors, seniors (CMMN A471-010) and graduate students (CMMN A896-010) in the second summer session, July 6 - August 6, 1999, Monday through Thursday, 4:55 p.m. - 6:50 p.m.

Instructor: Dr. Larry Lorenz, CM 312 - Ext. 2012. Summer hours: T-R, 3:15 p.m-4:45 p.m

The United States has been mired in wars for 20 of the last 100 years. Her soldiers have fought all around the world -- in Cuba, Mexico, France, Germany, the islands of the South Pacific, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Iraq. Alongside them have been American journalists who have risked (and sometimes lost) their lives to tell readers, listeners and viewers back home how the G.I. lived and died, of military victories and defeats, of the brilliance and stupidities of generals.

In this course we will look at the work those journalists did in the major conflicts of the last one hundred years -- the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the war in Vietnam -- and examine how they did it and what it meant to the people on the home front. We'll also look at how war correspondence has changed with new communications technologies and at the ways in which news reporting in wartime has been restricted.

We'll read Dispatches from the Front: A History of the American War Correspondent by Nathaniel Lande (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996). It is a compilation of outstanding stories from the battlefields, introduced by brief essays that provide historical background.

A second text, Jeffery Smith's War and Press Freedom: The Problem of Prerogative Power (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) examines the way in which public officials have disregarded the First Amendment in wartime and have sought to restrict the flow of information.

We'll also listen to recordings of radio and television dispatches and examine the work of photojournalists.

Students will be expected to write two five-page essays. One, biographical, will discuss the importance of one correspondent of the student's choosing. The other will center on a question related to war correspondence. A list of the questions will provided later.

Graduate students will also compile a substantial annoted bibliography for each of their essays.

There will be a final examination.
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	Literature of Mass Communications: Reporting War in the 20th Century
	A course for juniors, seniors (CMMN A471-010) and graduate students (CMMN A896-010) in the second summer session, July 6 - August 6, 1999, Monday through Thursday, 4:55 p.m. - 6:50 p.m.
	Instructor: Dr. Larry Lorenz, CM 312 - Ext. 2012. Summer hours: T-R, 3:15 p.m-4:45 p.m
	The United States has been mired in wars for 20 of the last 100 years. Her soldiers have fought all around the world -- in Cuba, Mexico, France, Germany, the islands of the South Pacific, Korea, Vietnam, Grenada, Iraq. Alongside them have been American journalists who have risked (and sometimes lost) their lives to tell readers, listeners and viewers back home how the G.I. lived and died, of military victories and defeats, of the brilliance and stupidities of generals. In this course we will look at the work those journalists did in the major conflicts of the last one hundred years -- the Spanish American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the war in Vietnam -- and examine how they did it and what it meant to the people on the home front. We'll also look at how war correspondence has changed with new communications technologies and at the ways in which news reporting in wartime has been restricted. We'll read Dispatches from the Front: A History of the American War Correspondent by Nathaniel Lande (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996). It is a compilation of outstanding stories from the battlefields, introduced by brief essays that provide historical background. A second text, Jeffery Smith's War and Press Freedom: The Problem of Prerogative Power (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999) examines the way in which public officials have disregarded the First Amendment in wartime and have sought to restrict the flow of information. We'll also listen to recordings of radio and television dispatches and examine the work of photojournalists. Students will be expected to write two five-page essays. One, biographical, will discuss the importance of one correspondent of the student's choosing. The other will center on a question related to war correspondence. A list of the questions will provided later. Graduate students will also compile a substantial annoted bibliography for each of their essays. There will be a final examination. Back to Courses