ROLE OF MEDIA DURING WWII

Role of Media during the Second World War By the time the Second World War broke out, the news media had already reached a matured stage of development. Besides newspapers, magazines and journals, radio had become quite popular and television had also arrived, though on a limited scale. The media acted like a bridge connecting people and places. News of the war was spread by the press all around the globe. Speeches were published in the newspapers and were also relayed on the radio. Since television was in its infancy and had a limited reach, motion pictures or films were made on war-related themes. Plays on war themes became very popular in Europe and America. Interestingly, a pigeon was used by Reuter’s special correspondent for carrying news in the reverse direction as the war raged furiously in Northern France reported ‘The Times of India’ (Bombay) on June 7, 1944. Print Media: Newspapers covered the events of the war in great detail. Reports from the battle fronts and their analysis became a common feature of the newspapers. Some newspapers also started the trend of publishing cartoons of the leading politicians, leaders, dictators and statesmen. War supplements were also published by some newspapers. Some of the prominent newspapers that gave exclusive coverage of the war by employing special war correspondents were The London Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Morning Post, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Times of India (Bombay), The Statesman (Calcutta), Amrit Bazaar Patrika (Calcutta), The Hindu (Madras), etc. The Times of India (Bombay) not only covered events of the war from various fronts in the form of front page reports and dispatches but also started a new trend of publishing advertisements on Air Raid Precautions (December 12, 1941) and the looming Japanese threat to India. The role of Indian soldiers in different theatres of war was periodically reported by The Times of India. The paper also published advertisements on the front page on Bombay War Effort, Bombay War Fund and Bombay War Gifts Fund for raising money to help victims of the war. A special victory supplement was issued on May 8, 1945 to commemorate the Allied Victory in the war. Besides the English Press, nationalist newspapers in the local and native languages also did a commendable job in covering the war from different perspectives and brought out the different dimensions of the war. While the Italian, German and Japanese newspapers were state controlled and, therefore, toed the line of their respective governments in the coverage of the war, newspapers in France reflected anti-fascist and pro-allied stand. Magazines and journals also covered the events and developments of the war on a regular basis. The prominent magazines that gave wide coverage to the war were The Economist, The Time, The Spectator and The News Week. Electronic Media: Radio played an equally important role during the war period. Like the newspapers it gave wide coverage to the war through news bulletins, analysis, speeches and talks. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and the Voice of America (VOA) sent their war correspondents to different battle fronts to dispatch their updates on a regular basis. Special news bulletins were relayed by the BBC not only for England but also for the European mainland and Asian countries. The BBC established its credibility as a leading broadcasting station with the latest and the accurate information about the day’s fighting. Besides news, patriotic and nationalist songs were also relayed by the BBC and other radios to inspire the people and inculcate a sense of national pride in their minds. The Nazis, therefore, made it a crime for the people in Germany and German occupied lands to listen to BBC broadcasts. In 1942, the Voice of America, a US government radio service began broadcasting to Axis-occupied countries. The All India Radio, Delhi and Bombay also started broadcasting war-reports and messages on a regular basis. A number of films were made on the Second World War. War films such as the Bridge on the River Kwai, From Here to Eternity, The Last War, The Day Earth Caught Fire, etc., became immensely popular all over the world. Special news-reels were screened in the theatre halls of Europe and American, before the film shows to create awareness among the people about the war. All the participating nations in the war used propaganda to win support for their policies. Newspapers, Pamphlets, Posters, Radio and Films were used by the governments of the rival military camps to reach out to their own people and also to demoralize and mislead the enemy. The Nazis skillfully used propaganda to spread their ideology. Joseph Goebbels, the minister of propaganda and enlightenment used radio, films, newspapers and other publications to spread the policies and programmes of the Nazi regime and crush the opponents of Nazism in Germany and German occupied territories. Ironically it was the same Nazi-controlled German Radio which announced the death of the Fuehrer on May1, 1945. Thus media played a major role before, during and after the war.