Writings of Possible Interest

For those of you with a bit of time to kill, I thought you may enjoy some of my required class writings as I'm currently enrolled in an International Journalism class, a Spanish contemporary history, and a film narrative course, all of which I am sure will call on me to produce works that may be worth a read. One hopes. 


Cover one of the major political ideologies in Spain pre-Civil War. Choose a group that you have not previously written about/presented on for this class. 

Early Anarchism in Spain

Before the 1860’s, there existed only lukewarm radicalism in Spain to suggest to the masses that the current form of government, led by the wealthy and powerful with little or no regard for the well being of the working class, needed to be replaced. In the beginning of the 19^th century, small pockets of federalism sprouted up in Spain, one of the chief leaders among them being Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, the man credited with being the first to dub himself an ‘anarchist’ (1). This French politician and philosopher rocked the boat, so to speak, of the contemporary moral and intellectual spheres of his time, and the ripple effect that his writings created made their way to Ramón de la Sagra. Sagra published the very first anarchist journal, El Porvenir, which, although shut down relatively quickly, set the precedent that the Spanish people were eager to consider another form of government; or perhaps more aptly, no government at all.

In 1864, socialist thinkers such as Marx, Engels, and other prominent thinkers within this school of thought, came together to form the First International, an organization whose aim was to promote the empowerment of the working class and to spread the ideas of socialism throughout the societies of Europe. Among the ranks of these men, Mikhail Bakunin, arguably the father of anarchism along with Proudhon, worked to spread his ideology regarding a society made up of artisans—sans an official government (2). Although Bakunin did not “[formulate any] coherent body of doctrine”, he nonetheless became an effective voice, with “his fame and personality [inspiring] a large and widely dispersed following” (2). One of the men included in this “following” was Giuseppi Fanelli. Born in Naples, the Italian revolutionary travelled to Barcelona in 1868, bringing with him the anarchist ideas birthed by Bakunin (3). Once there, he established branches of the First International, then moved on to Madrid to continue his work.

The groundwork had been laid and the foundations proved to be solid; by 1870, the First International had 40,000 Spanish members and only three years later, the number had increased to 60,000 (2). Referred to as simply, “the Idea”, Anarchism grew in Madrid during the 1870’s, but it was Barcelona where the doctrine truly found a stronghold. The port city was hailed as “Spain’s industrial capital” (4). That it earned such a prestigious title no doubt conveys that a good portion of the population fell into the working class and therefore, perceived the idea of a worker-run society with immense interest.

1870 witnessed the congregation of ninety delegates in the Ateneo Obrero in Barcelona where, following the ideas of Bakunin, the Spanish Regional Federation was founded. An offshoot of the First International, this anarchism-inclined group made clear their ideals, represented in the opening speech delivered by Farga Pellicer: “We wish the rule of Capital, State, and Church to cease and to construct upon their ruins Anarchy, the free federation of free association of free workers” (6).

However, the ‘powers that be’ did not approve, to put it lightly, of the Catalan interest in Anarchism and displayed this displeasure quite clearly in the years leading up to the turn of the century. While the “impoverished peasants” of Andalusia showed strong inclinations towards “the Idea”, tensions there never escalated to the levels seen in Catalonia, where “the movement . . . was inclined towards terrorism” (2). One can certainly argue that neither side—the current Catalan government or the Anarchists—could be found free of blame. On the one hand, the Anarchists were oppressed and “forced underground”, constantly meeting with the “severest repression” (2, 5). On the other, the “ruthless anarchist militants” were provably guilty about handfuls of bombing incidents and debatably guilty regarding others (2). Still, neither side seemed to want to back down in their quest for supremacy in the Catalan region. In one particular incidence, in 1892, over 400 anarchists or suspected anarchists were arrested after a bombing and in which the Catalan government suspected they had played a part. Taken to Montjuich Castle in Barcelona, the captors subjected their ‘suspects’ to various degrees of torture: “men hanged from ceilings, genitals twisted and burned, fingernails ripped out” (5).

Such brutality detonated in other areas of the country as well, such as in the southeastern city of Alcoy in 1873 when workers went on a strike in order to push for the eight hour work day and higher wages. Police fired into the unarmed crowd and the people responded by attacking the City Hall. After this, the Spanish Federation came under direct attack from the government; meeting halls were closed, a proliferation of arrests occurred, and newspapers banned (7).

Throughout the end of the 19^th century, Anarchism’s struggles in Spain lie not simply with external forces, but internal grapples as well. Only one year after the 1870 founding of the Spanish Regional Federation, the members began to split into two factions: one that became known as the ‘Authoritarians’ and the other as the ‘Collectivists’ (6). Desiring a more structurally organized format for the Federation, the former sought to straighten out the inner workings of the Federation and to more acutely designate certain sections of Spain into various trade communities. The latter felt that this reorganization defiled the principles of Anarchism altogether, one of the primary beliefs of which is decentralization, the opposite of what the Authoritarians aimed to do (6). Resulting in the expulsion of the Authoritarians from the Federation in 1872, this primary ideological foreshadowed the future disintegration of the organization.

Fragmentation within the Federation certainly ate at the roots of the group, a modern Nidhogg as from Norwegian mythology—the dragon that chews on the tree of life and which will one day result in the destruction of the world order. However, exterior suppression by the government found success in forcing the Federation underground, to the point of its nonexistence. Anarchist members, left without leadership, grew frustrated, especially towards the beginning of the 20^th century. With the strangulation and subsequent death of the Federation, the people felt their voice had been smothered and so sought other means of expression such as in the violent activities of La Mano Negra. Several murders were attributed to the “clandestine revolutionary organization” and following these, the government of Spain began to equate Anarchism with terrorism, prompting it to then respond with extreme violence toward any crimes believed to be anarchist in nature (7).

While such aggressive attacks declined toward the beginning of the 20^th century, many difficulties would ensue for the anarchists of Spain in the first years of the 1900’s and on through the Spanish Civil War. 

Bibliography

1.      Blunden, Andy. "Glossary of People." Encyclopedia of Marxism. Marxists Organization, 2008. Web. 2 Apr 2013. <https://www.marxists.org/glossary/index.htm>.

2.       "Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc., 2013. Web. 04 Apr. 2013. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/49654/Mikhail-Aleksandrovich-Bakunin>.

3.      Whelehan, Niall. "Fanelli, Giuseppe (1826–1877) ."Blackwell Reference Online. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Web. 3 Apr 2013. <http://www.blackwellreference.com/public/tocnode?id=g9781405184649_yr2012_chunk_g9781405184649543

4.      Ealham, Chris. "Class, Culture, and Conflict in Barcelona (1898-1937)." Libcom. Routledge Taylor and Francis Group, 2005. Web. 3 Apr 2013. <http://libcom.org/files/Class, Culture and Confict in Barcelona_0.pdf>.

5.      "History of Anarchism in Barcelona." Iberia Nature. Word Press Entries (RSS). Web. 2 Apr 2013. <http://iberianature.com/barcelona/history-of-barcelona/barcelona-radical-history/history-of-anarchism-in-barcelona/>.

6.      Brenan, Gerard. The Spanish Labyrinth: The Social and Political Background of the Spanish Civil War. 2nd ed. . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. 143-155. Web. <http://books.google.es/books?id=p7vqPNB6locC&pg=PR25&lpg=PR25&dq=Spanish Regional Federation 1870&source=bl&ots=xlpW94WtdK&sig=LsebGT0nda6N6E37c6aB3sLZA-8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JVVcUb6XJIvQsgaFt4CQDg&ved=0CDoQ6AEwAw

7.      Esenwein, George R. . Anarchist Ideology and the Working-class Movement in Spain: 1868-1898. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1989. Web. <http://books.google.es/books?id=13Hck24xgHUC&pg=PA85&lpg=PA85&dq=The Mano Negra anarchist group&source=bl&ots=ssRlmiFCTE&sig=5wNgEKsoDAGrrz4lt-JXYAggNr8&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fV9cUafnGYPu0gWy04CIBg&redir_esc=y

Write a 2 to 3 page paper on a political group present in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and the years preceding it. Discuss the goals, aims, and ideology of the group. Structure the paper around the years 1931 to 1939, as needed. 

*Note, I apologize for the inconvenience, but the blog will not display my bibliography sources no matter what toying I do with the formatting. If any reader is extremely curious as to one of the sources, please leave a comment on this page and I will respond with the source. Hopefully then the page will allow it. 

The Foundations of Communism in Spain

by Megan Webster

Creation of a new ideology stems from discontent with the current state of affairs, as history will bear witness. Born in 1848 with the influential publication by Marx and Engels, two 19^th century philosophes, communism as defined in “The Communist Manifesto” would grow up to change the world. Russia underwent its early 20^th century communist revolution while the world looked on; perhaps one of the most curious observers lay in the Iberian Peninsula, hungry for serious social change, just as Russia had been (1).

Spain was mired in the middle of a difficult political and social grappling match between the conservative right—who mainly supported the traditional social hierarchy of have and have-nots, essentially, and the continuation of perpetuating Catholicism as the one true religion of Spain—and the liberal left—who ranged from anarchists to socialists to republicans to communists. After the Primo de Rivera dictatorship ended in 1930, King Alfonso XIII named a successor to the government but was himself forced to flee the country in April 1931, leaving the reins of the government to the republicans (2). Taking this opportunity, the republicans declared the Second Republic of Spain and wasted no time in “[pushing] through a variety of liberal reforms, including (but not limited to) the reduction of the length of obligatory military service and the forced retirement of many officers, the separation of Church and State, and freedom of worship” (2). These reforms fueled the political fire, so to speak, and angered many conservatives until, many revolts, strikes, and violent protests later, the breaking point was reached and the civil war that would claim the lives of half a million Spaniards ensued (3).  

In the years immediately preceding the Spanish Civil War in July of 1936, the ideology of communism was yet in its infancy within the nation of Spain; the political movement had little say in governmental proceedings and enjoyed the support of only a small faction of the Spanish population. Not only this, but the believers in the communist school of thought splintered into multiple groups, weakening this particular branch of politics. In the early 1920’s, the Partido Comunista de España (PCE) one of Spain’s main communist groups, joined forces with Comintern, an international organization of communist parties whose goal was to further their ideology and to provide support to other communist efforts and regimes (2). Certain communist factions and especially the socialists of the country disagreed about this joint effort with Comintern based on the organization’s strict regulations; these Spanish groups refused to merge their values with those of Lenin’s Twenty-One Conditions—the directives imposed upon any and all affiliates of the group—and so split the communist party in Spain further still.

However, despite its agreement to be a part of Comintern, “it was not long before the extremism of the PCE began to concern the Soviet leadership”; their usage of violence and their refusal to collaborate with the socialist and anarchist parties in Spain angered the leaders of Comintern (2). Leon Trotsky, a firm believer in the socialist system and fully supportive of the communist party in Spain, wrote that “without a clear programme, without leadership” the communists would have only “a perspective without hope” (4).

Despite this, other groups existed as well, such as the Izquierda Comunista, and which possessed better, if not ideal guidance in the forms of their leaders. Although “the official Communist Party had no authoritative leadership . . . and was rent by internal disarray” it possessed “some of the best elements of Spanish communism” in the personages of Andrés Nin, Juan Andrade, and, from a distance, Trotsky, who wrote extensively about the situation in Spain and directly communicated with Spain’s communist party leaders (4).

The goals of the Izquierda Comunista at least were clear: to improve “the working day, wages, equality of the working day for both sexes, security for the working class, collective contracts; the demands of the democratic revolution: confiscation and distribution of the great estates, separation of church and state, full freedom to meet and hold demonstrations” (4). However, the means remained, as yet, elusive; the party, despite its growth and ever increasing numbers, did not hold sufficient support or membership to galvanize a viable revolution.

In addition to the realization of this lack of needed strength, external pressure from outside the country increased. 1933 saw the beginning of the rise of Adolf Hitler; that year he was named Chancellor of Germany (6). The very next year, he became the dictator of Nazi Germany. Communists from the Soviet Union all the way to southern Europe viewed the rise of this Fascist leader as a threat to their socialistic ideals. Not far away, in Italy, Benito Mussolini reigned with dictatorial force, fashioning himself Il Duce, or The Leader (7). He had come into power in 1929 and had founded the Fascist party. From the perspective of both Comintern and the Spanish communist parties, the pincer-like effect of these two Fascist forces upon Europe stressed the need for cooperation.

Opportunity presented itself in the form of another similarly oriented group called the Bloque Obrero y Campesino, led by Joaquin Maurín (5). While the Izquierda Comunista leaned towards more liberal reform, and hence the term izquierda in their party title, the Bloque conversely was defined as a “right-centrist” group holding views that coalesced with those of Joseph Stalin. However, despite the differences in their specific political orientations, the two groups saw mutual benefit by joining forces. Thus, on September 25^th, 1935 the two aforementioned Spanish parties held a unification congress with the ultimate goal of a political merger, which was in fact accomplished (4). Named Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista (POUM) this new party was the lamentation of Trotsky who regarded the combining of the two parties as a betrayal of values on the part of the PCE (4).

Indeed, the name of the game had changed. With Fascism on the rise, the other governments of Europe became increasingly nervous. Stalin, for his part, decided to band together with democratic governments such as Britain, France, and the United States in order to “[form] of a broad coalition against fascism” (2). In principle, the communist goals of revolution and the installation of a proletariat government remained, however Maurín decried the new so-called Popular Front, which now joined the workers parties to those of the bourgeois, the sworn enemy of the purist communists. Labeling fascism as “nothing more than the final stage of capitalism”, Maurín saw the Popular Front as a delay of the worker’s revolution, a sort of purgatory where the movement could make no true forward progress (2).

The PCE disagreed with his definition of fascism and furthermore disliked the new POUM party, “[labeling] it as a Trotskyist group due to Maurín and Nin’s previous affiliations with Trotsky” (2). The wedge between the two parties consequently drove deeper due to this perception and despite the fact that POUM officially denounced Trotsky, although they did continue somewhat friendly communication with him from his France-exiled location in Norway (4). For his part, Trotsky boldly cried for the “merciless” denouncement and condemnation of the Popular Front, which would serve only to strangle any hopes of a proletariat revolution for Spain (5). His April 1936 work entitled, “Tasks of the Fourth International in Spain” went widely disregarded by the large communist parties—namely, the PCE and POUM. From this point onward, Trotsky held little influence in the Spanish political arena.

1936 dawned and new elections were held with the result that the Popular Front candidates won a majority of the votes and therefore now controlled the government (2). The margin of victory had been a small one and left many dissatisfied, especially POUM. Notwithstanding appearances, the political left remained divided and the moderately left Republicans could please neither the right wing politicians, nor the more radical left. Soon, the PCE returned to its revolutionary fervor and published a program of action in the February 1936 edition of their newspaper Mundo obrero (2). Calling for “confiscation of all lands not held by peasants” and the “nationalization of enterprises, banks, and railroads” among other demands along a similar strain, the thirst for a true communist revolution had returned (2).

Yet again, however, fascism would march in to destroy the communist’s hopes. As Hitler desecrated the sanctity of the Treaty of Versaille with his reoccupation of the Rhineland, Soviet leaders grew increasingly nervous in regards to a Spanish communist revolution; they feared that such a volatile insurrection would ruin their chances of aligning themselves with Britain and the other democratically structured governments. Under this light, they contacted the PCE and urged them not to act rashly. The PCE complied and with the snap of Soviet fingers, the Spanish communist revolution once again came to a halt (2).

Strikes increased as the summer of 1936 approached and bickering continued amongst the vying leftist groups within the government. Social unrest grew; assassinations such as those of monarchist leader José Calvo Sotelo and socialist leader José Castillo Sería made the flame of social chaos hotter still until, less than one week after the death of these two men, July 18^th, 1936, the Franco-led, 20^th century pronunciamiento began.

From afar, Trotsky watched as the communist agenda crumbled beneath the power of the military coup d’état. He wrote:

“In Spain, the Stalinists, who command from on high, put forward the formula [of] . . . first the military victory, then the social reforms. Not seeing any basic difference between the two programmes in reality, the working masses, and especially the peasants, remained indifferent. In these conditions, fascism will inevitably win, because it has military superiority on its side. Bold social reforms are the most effective weapon in civil war and the fundamental condition for a victory over fascism.” (4)

In the vacuum created by squabbling leftist groups incapable of uniting to form an effective party, these “bold social reforms” did not come (4). It was inevitably therefore the Franco revolution, not the communist one, that ultimately succeeded.

While events in Europe certainly swayed the outcome of the years leading up to the Spanish Civil War, the Communist party in Spain lacked a central, charismatic leader to rally the political group and to affect true political change. Not only this, but often their own actions undermined the communist effort such as the PCE’s brutal slandering and attempted obliteration of POUM, rather than focusing their energies on Franco and the Nationalists. Creation of the Popular Army by the PCE served as a breeding ground for strife, rather than the source of a collective military endeavor (2). In creating this army, the communists assigned themselves all the officer and leader positions, angering the socialist, anarchist, and other leftist militias. Once again, a lack of cooperation and solidarity tripped up the communist effort in Spain.

Within three years, Franco, at the head of the Nationalists, had gained control of Spain. A forty year military dictatorship, not a proletariat controlled government as the communists had once ardently hoped for, was to ensue.

Bibliography

1. "History of Communism." History World. History World. Web. 20 Mar 2013. <http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?groupid=548&HistoryID=aa58>rack=pthc>.

2. Colberg, Barbara. "The Effect of Communist Party Policies on the Outcome of the Spanish Civil War." . Ohio State University, May 2007. Web. 20 Mar 2013. <https://kb.osu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/1811/25217/Barbara_Colberg_Thesis.pdf>.

3. Infomanize, . The Spanish Civil War - Part 1 - Prelude to Tragedy. 2011. Video. YoutubeWeb. 20 Mar 2013. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NSfnOKXDn_0>.

4. Broue, Pierre. "TROTSKY and the Spanish Revolution." . Trotsky and the Spanish Revolution, Fourth International, 01 Apr 1967. Web. 20 Mar 2013. <http://www.marxists.org/history/etol/writers/broue/works/1967/04/trotsky-spanish-revolution.htm>.

5. "Trotskyism vs. Popular Frontism in the Spanish Civil War."International Communists League, Fourth International. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar 2013. <http://www.icl-fi.org/english/esp/61/spain.html>.

6. Grobman, Gary. "Adolf Hitler." The Holocaust: A Guide for Teachers. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Mar 2013. <http://remember.org/guide/Facts.root.hitler.html>.

7. "Benito Mussolini." Bio: True Story. A&E Television Networks, LLC, 2013. Web. 20 Mar 2013. <http://www.biography.com/people/benito-mussolini-9419443?page=1>.

Whilst walking to the metro one morning. Once I got to class, grabbed my paper and pen. (2.7.13)

Clear, cool air made up the early morning as I stepped out from the residence parking lot and through the heavy metal gate that rose a good foot above my head, tall as I was. Painted red, it appeared more a rusty brown in this early light, which was yet weak with the day's infancy. 

As I tracked through the building-less plot of sandy gravel that lies across Palmera Street--a triangular void that most likely could have aspired to be a panadería or another Santander bank had it not been for the gnawing teeth of recession--I noticed the blue-gray clouds far across on the edge of the sky, hovering high above seven story brick apartment buildings. Their floating underbellies were a brilliant electric pink, given color by the forthcoming sun. 

Hands in my pockets, chin tucked into the scarf about my neck against the cold wind, I nonetheless felt, inexplicably and on a sudden whim, that today was going to be a good day. 

Assignment: Present a chronicle on the process of modernization in Spain during the first third of the twentieth century. Select a specific topic and develop. (Completed 2.25.13)

Gran Vía: Madrid’s Road to Modernization

by Megan Webster

April 4^th, 1910 dawned sunny but bitterly cold in Madrid, Spain (1). Still locals began to gather at the corner of Alcalá and Torres Street to witness an inauguration. Thousands of people were milling about around a rather ordinary two story parish when, just before eleven o’clock, the royal family of Madrid drove up the street in various Hispana Suiza roadsters (1). The royals, specifically Alfonso XIII, were here to herald in the age of modernization in Spain. Ironically, the then twenty-four year old king wore a hussar’s uniform, likely in reference to the grandeur of costume of those select brigades of Napoleon’s revolutionary army who had fought fiercely for revolution just a century before (2).

Following several preliminary speeches, the young monarch took a silver pick from one of his government administrators, raised it high above his head, and struck the wall of the parish house for all the crowd to see (1). That house would be the first building to be demolished to make way for the new “Grand Road”, Gran Vía, the construction of which trumpeted the beginning of Spain’s path to modernization in the 20^th century.

Begun in 1907 and finished in 1911, Gran Vía’s best known architectural masterpiece, the Metropolis Building, showcased a mix of both old and new ideas. French designers Jules and Raymond Février modeled the building after the Beaux-Arts still, including symbolic statues for four core ideas: Trade, Agriculture, Industry, and Mining (3). While the first two of these certainly can be interpreted as either old age or new values, the last two signify the coming of the 20^th century to Spain. The Industrial Revolution had begun in earnest in Europe in the mid 1800’s, but Spain was slow to join the fevered rhythm of mass production. At the end of the 19^th century “Spain was still mainly an agricultural country and it was still poor” (4). Such architectural feats as the Metropolis Building demonstrated both physically, and symbolically through the usage of suggestive decoration, that Spain fully intended to join in the societal and technological advances of Europe.

Taking care to preserve its history however, Spanish construction of what would come to be known as the “Broadway of Spain” still respected several structures, among them the Oratorio de Caballero de Gracia (5). This church, originally built in 1654, was later ruined midway through the 18^th century (6). Therefore renowned Spanish architect Juan de Villanueva, who also designed el Museo de Prado, was contracted by King Carlos III to renovate the church (7). As such, given the great pains taken to preserve the clerical monument of the past, 20^th century designers opted to respect this and construct a false façade, which protected the Oratorio from traffic.

Perhaps the single best emblem of Gran Vía’s birth and subsequent adolescence as the harbinger of Spain’s route to modernization is the Telefónica Building. Standing at just shy of ninety meters, the concrete and steel skyscraper was Europe’s first. Primary or not however, the simple materials of its construction give it away as a true 20^th century building. That architect Ignacio de Cárdenas Pastor took just three years, from 1926 to 1929, to complete the Baroque-styled edifice is a feat in and of itself (7).

Gran Vía was meant to remove the growing pressures of traffic, commerce, and general populace-related strain that continued to mount upon la Puerta de Sol with the increases in urban population so common to industrializing countries. That the creation of this avenue engendered “the beginnings of Spanish consumerism” as well served as an added perk for the economy of the city of Madrid (7).  

Bibliography

1.      Fraguas, Rafael. "REPORTAJE: 100 años de la Gran Vía - El día que empezó todo." N.p., 04 Apr 2010. Web. 25 Feb 2013.

2.      Hofschroer, Peter, M Townsend, and J Jaye, eds. "French Cavalry During the Napoleonic Wars." Napolun. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb 2013. <http://www.napolun.com/mirror/web2.airmail.net/napoleon/cavalry_Napoleon.html

3.   

"Metropolis Building." A View on Cities. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Feb 2013. <http://www.aviewoncities.com/madrid/edificiometropolis.htm>.

4.   

   Lambert, Tim. "A Brief History of Spain." A World History Encyclopedia. Google, n.d. Web. 25 Feb 2013. <http://www.localhistories.org/spain.html>.

5.    

  Lopez, Aday. "Madrid’s Gran Via Marks 100 Years of History, Modernity and Glamour." Latin American Herald Tribune. N.p.. Web. 25 Feb 2013. <http://laht.com/article.asp?CategoryId=13003&ArticleId=354697>.

6.    

  "Oratorio del Caballero de Gracia." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 04 Oct 2012. Web. 25 Feb 2013. <http://translate.google.es/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oratorio_del_Caballero_de_Gracia&prev=/search?q=oratorio+de+caballero+de+gracia+madrid&hl=en&biw=1366&bih=643&sa=X&ei=ar8rUYW6M8TCswaR2YHQAw&ved=0CEcQ7gEwAg>.

7.     

"ARCHITECTURE GRAN VÍA IN TEN BUILDINGS." esMadrid. Madrid Visitors & Convention Bureau, S.A. Web. 25 Feb 2013. <http://www.esmadrid.com/en/gran-via>.

While musing one evening in Madrid . . . (2.13.13)

Can I admit that my breath is gone 
and that my limbs tremble beneath the faintest whispers?
My lips themselves are silent.

Can I confide that my eyes gaze down
and cannot lift the weight of cinder block eyelids, heavy with shame?
My vision itself is gone. 

But can I confess that my knees are locked
and my legs, like pillars of granite, are strong because they do NOT move?
My ground, I shall always stand. 

Assignment 1: International Journalism: Write an essay on how wartime news coverage has evolved from the beginning of the 20th century until now. (Completed 2.10.13)

The Evolution of Wartime News Coverage

by Megan Webster

Amidst the terrible clash of the renowned Persian War, fought around 490 BC, there emerged quite possibly the first war news correspondent: Philippides (7). Herodotus, sometimes referred to as “the father of history” in light of his chronicling of battles and pertinent events, claims that a soldier named Philippides ran from Marathon, Greece to Sparta under orders to request aid against the invading Persians; the round trip distance was a staggering 150 miles, which he covered in just two days. The following day, after the battle was won, the soldier then ran 26.2 miles—the length of today’s modern marathons—to carry the news to the Athens city officials: “Joy to you! We’ve won!” (7). The faithful correspondent is then said to have died, his last breath dedicated to the delivery of his message. Since then, the 17^th century witnessed early forms of the newspaper in countries such as Denmark, moving to the introduction of political pamphlets, satirical cartoons, and the spread of information which became available en masse around the beginning of the 19^th century thanks to the Industrial Revolution (5). Now, with the use of a handheld device no larger and not much heavier than a deck of playing cards, any individual can film a video clip and upload it to the Internet within seconds, a phenomenon that is beginning to occur with greater frequency in areas such as the Middle East where everyday people record scenes of battle and death from the region under siege by both foreign powers and its own governments. This immediacy of information diffusion also applies to pictures and any sort of (uncensored) commentary one might wish to make via such cyber hubs as Facebook and Blogger, to name just a couple. Inexorably, the media has grown by leaps and bounds in terms of its accessibility, contributors, and manifestations.

At the beginning of the 20^th century, media and news reporting found their main outlets of communication in the forms of radio broadcasting and mass print newspapers. However, by the end of the first decade of this century of unprecedented progress, a new variety of media coverage emerged. Beginning in 1911, only roughly one year behind the first emergences in France and Britain, American’s silver screens made acquaintance with the newsreel in a debut that was not soon to be forgotten. Running twice a week every week through 1967, the newsreel filled the void between actual, historical, groundbreaking events and their visual recreation for the viewing of the common everyday citizen. From this point onward, newspapers and radios were not the sole source of information; now pictures were available—moving pictures. Further advancements included the addition of sound, which led to the enhancement of news footage by sound effects and narration, all carefully selected by the editor.

Here though, an outlet for criticism appears: due to the careful selection of narrators and their scripts, editors and the broadcasting companies whom they worked under were able to “[set] the tone of the story and [influence] interpretation” (2). During this early era of newsreel supremacy, from 1911 to the start of the 1930’s, the five major companies selling their ten minute productions to the thousands of movie theaters across the country enjoyed relative freedom in regards to censorship. That they were free to ban certain stories or images without external discretion, or to present prominent figures such as celebrities and foreign dignitaries in almost exclusively “a positive light”—vastly different from the approach of modern tabloids—blurred the line between the competing goals of informing the public and providing works solely for the purposes of entertainment (2).

Once the United States entered World War II, the scene took a drastic change; all content was sent to the War and Navy departments of the US government and subjected to “review before being edited and distributed by producers” (2). Resulting in homogenous programs distributed to each of the five major companies, the wartime newsreels were used to unite the American people in a common cause and often depicted the war as a cut and dry battle of good vs. evil. All footage thus used was collected by cameramen, carting along bulky equipment. These men served as the backbone of the industry, providing all the material that, once sorted through and approved by the US government, would eventually be shown to vast audiences. Due to the inconvenience of their equipage, however, sound capturing devices many times did not enter warzones; it was far easier to later add war sound effects in the studios back at home.

This war era introduced the method of shared footage known as the “rota pool” system, and it inevitably spelled the demise of newsreels, especially when coupled with growing availability of television sets in the 1940’s. Television broadcasting as we know it today began in 1948 when NBC launched the first daily news program, delivered in just fifteen minute segments (1). From this point onward, the public obtained their news primarily from TV and newspapers. For the latter, sales continued to increase annually until about 2003 after which point they plunged, correlating with the rise of the Internet and the ability to instantly stream news stations live (6). Myriad calamities affront the dying newspaper industry, including “down soaring newsprint prices, slumping ad sales, the loss of much classified advertising and precipitous drops in circulation” (5). Some debate the survival of the printed media, which perhaps may currently be experiencing its final death throes, just as the newsreel did in the 1960’s.

It’s a sharp contrast, the one drawn between World War II news coverage—wherein it might take planes up to two weeks to return from the battlegrounds with film and information—and the 21^st century version of news—wherein one pulls out one’s iPhone, records a video, and in under a minute posts the video to youtube, for example, where it can be viewed by billions of people from anywhere around the planet.

Nowadays, amateurs comprise a large portion of the photographers and camera people who supply news stations, and sometimes independent sites, with clips of battles, refugees, and other assorted scenes of war. With such an enormous influx of material, censorship becomes a very difficult thing to mandate, allowing “individuals and groups to shift the loci of power away from state/militaristic discourses” or simply away from a governing body in general, never mind its intentions (4). Consequently though, this technology and increasingly prevalent ability to broadcast one’s experiences leads to a pool of information in which the facts may become mired in personal agendas and/or ignorance of certain individuals or groups. Also to be considered is the unavoidable truth that “malevolent interests have benefited from the same modes of technology”, according to two writers from the Institute for Citizenship and Globalization at Deakin University who cite insurgents and terrorists as examples (4).

On the other, far more optimistic hand, journalists such as Wadah Khanfar, former Director General of news company Al Jazeera, believe that social media such as Facebook and similar sites allows the everyday citizens to have a voice in political and social matters. By believing their words and opinions can be heard, the people gain courage and are better able to face and rise peacefully against the oppressions they may face in their home countries. These members of the general public are also sometimes able to provide video and/or information about dangerous war zones that can be valuable to news stations trying to report about a particular crisis.

That’s not to say that media in war zones has made a black and white transition to solely depending upon amateurs; quite the contrary. However, nowadays reporters find their lives increasingly put at risk in attempting to cover war zones in that “many conflicts can only be covered by going solo on the rebel side” (3). Whereas traditionally, a news crew comprised of several correspondents might be stationed with friendly troops—and therefore benefit from military protection—combat styles have changed drastically since the days of the World Wars in the sense that there are no clearly defined battlefields or zones under the control of one country or another. Every alleyway, every riverbed, every hillock, every rocky crevasse can serve as a battleground and, even if one side is triumphant at a given location on a particular day, that territory is not necessarily won. Because fighting has turned to “battling ragtag groups of rebel fighters”, reporters who crave the best stories must travel with such groups (3). Dangerous as it is, brave correspondents journey into foreign lands in pursuit of the truth such that information can be made available to the masses.

From the birth of printed newspapers to radios to newsreels to television broadcasts and now to social media and the age of the individual as a reporter, media coverage inarguably has undergone drastic changes spanning its many facets i.e. collection of information, distribution, censorship, presentation, and the list carries on. War coverage in particular has gone from a team of reporters under the protection of an army  in the early 1900’s to individual reporters travelling and living with rebel forces to everyday people simply using basic camcorders or even cell phones to bring the story to the folks at home. We’ve come a long way from running hundreds of miles, expelling our last breath to bring the tidings of war and, difficult though it is to predict the changes that will continue to affect the media, one truth remains clear: the format of the news is never set in stone.

Bibliography

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2.       "Newsreels." Dead Media Archive. NYU Department of Media, Culture, and Communication. Web. 09 Feb 2013. <http://cultureandcommunication.org/deadmedia/index.php/Newsreel>.

3.       Myre, Greg. "Why War Reporters Go Solo, Despite The Risks." NPR. National Public Radio, 23 Feb 2012. Web. 10 Feb 2013. <http://www.npr.org/2012/02/23/147290996/for-war-reporters-the-risks-of-going-solo>.

4.       Walsh, Lucas, and Julien Barbara. "Speed, International Security, and "New War" Coverage in Cyberspace ." Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication. 12.1 (2006): n. page. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. <http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol12/issue1/walsh.html>.

5.       "Newspaper." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 06 Feb 2013. Web. 07 Feb 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newspaper

6.       "Newspaper Circulation Volume." Newspaper Association of America: Advancing Newspaper Media. NAA, 04 Sept 2012. Web. 10 Feb 2013. <http://www.naa.org/Trends-and-Numbers/Circulation/Newspaper-Circulation-Volume.asp&xgt;.

7.       Cummings, Denis. "The Myth of Pheidippides and the Marathon." Finding Dulcinea: The Librarian of the Internet. Dulcinea Media, Inc. , 04 Nov 2011. Web. 09 Feb 2013. <http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/sports/2010/april/Myth-of-Pheidippides-and-the-Marathon.html>.