Do you agree with the view suggested in source 5 that the main factor preventing the press from publishing bad news during the Boer war was censorship by the military authorities?
by
rhyswill01 (student)
Do you agree with the view suggested in source 5 that the main factor preventing the press from publishing ‘bad news’ during the Boer war was censorship by the military authorities?
The Boer war was sold to British citizens as the great British Empire civilizing the east, so it is to be expected that a large portion of the press and media reported about it would be highly censored to ensure it would not reflect badly upon the empire. However, some reporters also chose not to report the atrocities of war in hope that it would keep morale high back in Britain. Although it has also been questioned whether the British citizens truly wanted to know the true horrors of war as this was not long after the Crimean war where these would have actually been banned.
Source 5 is a book called ‘Changing nature of warfare’ published in 2002 by Peter Browning. Peter Browning is a highly respected historian who has been honored by prestigious establishments such as Oxford University for his work, showing he is a reliable source. Furthermore, this makes it unlikely that he would exaggerate or sensationalize information to help his book or to make a profit. This source clearly states military censorship did occur throughout the Boer war ‘1899-1902 saw the British government’s first formal restriction of war reporting’. Also, that it went further than just censoring reports that were sent back home it actually went as far as approving journalists that were allowed to the cape ‘took control by accrediting journalists allowed to the cape’. Furthermore, that censorship was so rife that critical articles ‘were rarely base on critical reports from war correspondents’, it is more likely considering the political instability that the majority came from the pro-Boer movement led by David Lloyd George along with Quakers and Irish Nationalists. However, through the wording Browning does give the idea that censorship was uncommon within war time ‘brutality that could have been reported usually were not’ which is highly untrue. As in the Crimean war reporters were told not to show or report the true horrors of war, as well later in the First World War newspaper editors such as Lord Northcliffe were actually appointed to the cabinet to help with censoring military reports. In addition to this, the conservative government who were in power under Salisbury during the Boer war using censorship isn’t as big of a shock when the same was implementing later during the First World War by a Liberal government.
