Harold Hutchison has this post at Strategy Page today (HT: Hedgehog Blog). Two days ago was the anniversary of Doolittle's 1942 air raid on Tokyo, after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The raid was featured at the end of the recent movie, Pearl Harbor, which is the only reason many younger people have even heard of the raid.
Hutchison's post gives his view of how that event would have been reported if today's media had been doing the reporting. Here's an excerpt.
New York Times Editorial, April 21, 1942: "Without a doubt, the decision to risk two carriers and their escorts to launch a raid that could do so little damage can only be described as incredibly stupid. The fact that the cost of this raid included all sixteen bombers, with most of the aircrews missing, only increases the level of disaster involved. By allowing this mission to go forward, Secretary of War Stimson and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox have shown that they lack the judgment to carry this war to victory. If they will not resign, then President Roosevelt should fire them."
Of course, this is an editorial and not a straight news items. You'll have to read the whole thing to get the news.
The benefit of Doolittle's raid on Tokyo was not its military effect. It was the effect it had on the morale of the American people, who had been demoralized by the losses at Pearl Harbor the previous December. At last our country had some payback. At last we were able to take Japan by surprise and hit them on their own home turf. And the press at the time played up that part of the success. They didn't second guess the President. They didn't couch every success in a context that screamed "failure." The mainstream media of 1942 was on America's side.
That's not true of the media anymore.
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