Friday, February 24, 2006

"..facts colored by the partisan.." says US Army General

W. T. Sherman, v2 - gutenberg The Project Gutenberg Etext of Memoirs of General W. T. Sherman, v2 [Be aware that the text file is large 1016k]
Again today's media is similar to that of the past it would seem.
Chapter XXV.
Conclusion - Military Lessons of the War.
"Lastly, mail facilities should be kept up with an army if possible, that officers and men may receive and send letters to their friends, thus maintaining the home influence of infinite assistance to discipline. Newspaper correspondents with an army, as a rule, are mischievous. They are the world's gossips, pick up and retail the camp scandal, and gradually drift to the headquarters of some general, who finds it easier to make reputation at home than with his own corps or division. They are also tempted to prophesy events and state facts which, to an enemy, reveal a purpose in time to guard against it. Moreover, they are always bound to see facts colored by the partisan or political character of their own patrons, and thus bring army officers into the political controversies of the day, which are always mischievous and wrong. Yet, so greedy are the people at large for war news, that it is doubtful whether any army commander can exclude all reporters, without bringing down on himself a clamor that may imperil his own safety. Time and moderation must bring a just solution to this modern difficulty."

No comments: