"Could a more aggressive press in the United States during World War II have saved lives?" This question was the basis for an online exhibit on the Newseum's website that traced the shocking choice of the mainstream US press to downplay the increasing human death toll at the hands of the Nazis.
The exhibit cites a few reasons why the editors, during the time that the Holocaust was happening, placed the development of a million innocent people being killed on page six or page ten. Basically the editors couldn't bring themselves to believe that what was happening was real. Supposedly there was a lack of eyewitness accounts, a lack of photographic evidence, and the US had it's own anti-semitism that affected the coverage of the time.
But ultimately, I would say the press is to be faulted and blamed for not contributing to ending this atrocity against humanity.
It makes me wonder, what are the stories of today that are similarly being relegated to the back pages. What events are not being covered by the mainstream press that could be saving lives?
(Photo: Grant MacDonald / Flickr)
No comments:
Post a Comment