Jane Chapman

Journalism today : a themed history

The aim of this book is to use history to reveal underlying trends, causes and conditions that affect modern journalism and its practice. The approach to history is thematic rather than strictly chronological and by definition selective. Social histories of the press have shown how institutional and technological factors have shaped news over the last 200 years, reinforcing the doctrine that news is, more than anything else, a culturally constructed category. This book traces some of these influences, not as an all-embracing chronological history (for these exist elsewhere), but more as a thematic ‘potpourri’, highlighting in particular those journalistic functions that relate to and interact with wider society. In doing so, we take a long view, stressing continuities as well as change.

Comics and the World Wars: A Cultural Record

Comics and the World Wars argues for the use of comics as a primary source by offering a highly original argument that such examples produced during the World Wars act as a cultural record. Recuperating currently unknown or neglected strips, this work demonstrates how these can be used for the study of both world wars. Representing the fruits of over five years team research, this book reveals how sequential illustrated narratives used humour as a coping mechanism and a way to criticise authority, promoted certain forms of behaviour and discouraged others, represented a deliberately inclusive educational strategy for reading wartime content, and became a barometer for contemporary popular thinking.

Dominion cartoon satire as trench culture narratives: complaints, endurance and stoicism

Abstract Although Dominion soldiers’ Great War field publications are relatively well known, the way troops created cartoon multi-panel formats in some of them has been neglected as a record of satirical social observation. Visual narrative humour provides a ‘bottom-up’ perspective for journalistic observations that in many cases capture the spirit of the army in terms of stoicism, buoyed by a culture of internal complaints. Troop concerns expressed in the early comic strips of Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders and British were similar. They shared a collective editorial purpose of morale boosting among the ranks through the use of everyday narratives that elevated the anti-heroism of the citizen soldier, portrayed as a transnational everyman in the service of empire. The regenerative value of disparagement humour provided a redefinition of courage as the very act of endurance on the Western Front.

AN OUTLAW EDITOR IN THE ENDGAME OF THE INDIAN EMPIRE

The career in India of the Fleet Street journalist F.W. Wilson as editor of The Pioneer (1928–29) is a fascinating episode in the endgame of empire. Catapulted into the editorship of this reactionary colonial newspaper by a British management anxious to rescue its waning fortunes, Wilson sought to widen its appeal beyond a colonial British readership by embracing an anti-government, campaigning agenda which would enlist Indian middle-class audiences. This paper assesses the evidence for Wilsons radicalisation of The Pioneers editorial stance in the context of Indias freedom struggle, and the extent to which new editorial methods and approaches were introduced. It explores Wilsons contacts with leading Indian politicians, his efforts to ‘Indianise’ the content of the paper, the success of this editorial strategy in attracting advertising and key episodes which brought about The Pioneers outright conflict with the government of India and his removal as editor.

Women and the press in British India, 1928-1934 : a window for protest?

Purpose - The aim of this paper is to understand how, in tough economic times, British-owned, English language newspapers such as Design/methodology/approach - Using qualitative and quantitative methods to assess communications by and about pro-nationalist women, coverage of female activities was categorised into two groups: first, educational, social and peaceful campaigns and second, direct action such as strikes, burning of British cloth and business/land rent boycotts. Findings - Direct action provided “bad news” coverage, but it simultaneously gave a small window for publicity. Less threatening peaceful campaigns provided a bigger window – enhanced by the novelty value of female activism. Research limitations/implications - Historians need to look specifically at Indian newspapers during the struggle for independence for a counter-hegemonic discourse that reached a wide public. When evidence of womens activism is paired with financial news, it becomes clear that women had a negative impact on British business. Furthermore, Originality/value - This is the first time that the colonial press in India itself has been scrutinised in detail on the subject of the rising nationalist movement and women. Findings underline female influence on both economics and ideology – a neglected aspect of Indian gender scholarship and economic history.

The argument of the broken pane: Suffragette consumerism and newspapers

Within the cut-throat world of newspaper advertising the newspapers of Britains Womens Social and Political Union (WSPU) Votes for Women and the Suffragette managed to achieve a balance that has often proved to be an impossible challenge for social movement press—namely the maintenance of a highly political stance whilst simultaneously exploiting the market system with advertising and merchandising. When the militant papers advocated window smashing of West End stores in 1912–1913, the companies who were the target still took advertisements. Why? What was the relationship between news values, militant violence and advertising income? ‘Do-it-yourself’ journalism operated within a context of ethical consumerism and promotionally orientated militancy. This resulted in newspaper connections between politics, commerce and a distinct market profile, evident in the customisation of advertising, retailer dialogue with militants and longer-term loyalty—symptomatic of a wider trend towards newspaper commercialism during this period.

George Sand: thwarted newspaper publisher or pioneer literary journalist

This article argues that Sands newspaper publishing activities—from their inception in 1841 to their decline at the end of the Second Republic—deserve recognition within the history of the press. Hitherto neglected writings are analysed as a hybrid form of literary journalism according to some definitions of the genre provided by Norman Sims. This permits a focus on Sands ‘flights of imagination’, articles written under pseudonyms and in the voices of fictional characters, created as a tool for idealistic political education. The now classic Benedict Anderson paradigm of ‘imagined communities’ is used to contextualise Sands use of the vernacular and helps to position her contribution towards the use of newspapers as a vehicle for the communication of democratic and progressive ideas.

Illustrating war-time: cartoons and the British and Dominion soldier experience during the Great War, 1914-1918

This article assesses how time was depicted within illustrated narratives published in trench newspapers and regimental journals by British and Dominion soldiers as a means of adapting to and enduring the experience of the First World War. Through an extensive archival study of these sources, soldiers’ ‘comic strips’ have been used to demonstrate that time is illustrated as a personal and social experience that enables individuals to comprehend their role within the army. Previous assessments of the experience of time on the battlefields have been dominated by the perception that mechanized warfare induced a fractured and disorientating sense of time. This has traditionally been heralded by scholars as indicating the arrival of a new ‘modern era’. However, research findings demonstrate the way in which soldiers illustrated time, the passing of time, the use of order, experience and progress are evident. Far from reflecting the alienating effect of modern warfare, soldiers illustrate ‘war-time’ as a means by which they inculcate themselves into a military culture and continue their role in the war.

Repatriation Testimonies as Uncomfortable History

Uncomfortable history tends to be neglected history: yet literary voices provide evidence of enhanced racial awareness, even when they exist only as ‘traces.’ Yet incomplete personal stories can still add a human dimension to economic and political issues. Changes in perceived identity emerged during 1919–1922, in the context of the dismal employment situation in merchant shipping. Almost all written statements mentioned poverty—whether in Britain, Africa, or the West Indies. Written communications were used as a means of self-defence but also as an attack: ‘Why should this Government make flesh of one class of His Most Gracious Britannic Majesty’s subjects and bone of others?’, asked William McIntyre. When it came to mixed marriages, white wives remained fiercely loyal to their husbands.

Interrogating Neglected Voices

This introductory chapter introduces three main arguments: first, that the sheer volume of racist expressions was accompanied by expansive articulations of black protest, underlining the importance of close reading of language in communications. Secondly, the centrality of economic factors is illustrated by human stories, in particular, lack of employment and appallingly financial hardship. Thirdly, there is a transnational flavour to the particular communications and events which resonated throughout Britain and elsewhere in its empire. Scholars have addressed this change of attitude towards black empire contributions in Britain by reference to the race riots, but have not analysed in any detail what happened afterwards, especially in terms of individual voices. This study emphasises use of language by acknowledging letters and petitions as works of non-fiction literature.