CIVIL WAR JOURNALISTS, 1861-1865
Civil War journalissm is examined in depth in WAR NEWS: BLUE & GRAY IN BLACK & WHITE -- an exploration of the individual and collective efforts of reporters assigned to some 2500 daily and weekly Civil War-era newspapers. See below for links to "The origin of the War Correspondent," and to a study of Civil War newspapers and journalists North and South. Information for students, researchers, and history buffs.

"It is opinion, not force, which determines great struggles." New York Times, November 11, 1861

WAR NEWS (published in 1999 as Blue & Gray in Black & White) is an exploration of the individual and collective efforts of newspaper journalists during the Civil War. As eyewitnesses to one of the most memorable conflicts in history, they left a record that is sometimes brilliant but, at other times, marred by shoddy journalism, sensationalism, and self-serving reporting. They were, however, the American public's primary source of information about the battles that were tearing the nation apart. This book focuses on the personalities, politics, and rivalries of editors; the efforts of newspapers to influence military appointments, strategy, and tactics; advances in printing technology; formal and informal censorship, the suppression of dissident newspapers, and, most of all, the war correspondents themselves.

BRAYTON HARRIS is a retired U. S. Navy captain who served as a media coordinator in Vietnam and as a special assistant to the secretary of the Navy at the Pentagon. He has also been a printer, a publisher, and an editor, and is the author of more than two hundred articles and ten books, including The Age of the Battleship: 1890-1922 and The Navy Times Book of Submarines: A Political, Social, and Military History.

SELECTED REVIEWS

“A compelling account of . . . the emergence of the press as a power on the national scene. . . . how a cast of visionaries and tough reporters—along with some rogues and crackpots—used that power to shape the way the nation viewed the war then and for all time.” Washington Times

“A solid look at the behavior and importance of journalists during the Civil War.” History: Reviews of New Books

“A lively account of Civil War reporting." Boston Globe

"Concise and well-written . . . it brings the role of the press in the war to vivid life." Library Journal

“The love-hate relationship between the newspapers and the men who fought in the Civil War.” Kansas City Star

“Much has changed in the relationship between the media and the military . . . much remains stubbornly the same.” Proceedings