Scoops and Scamps: The Story of American War Correspondents- Introduction

I admit from the start that writing a blog of any kind is a wholly new experience for me! But now, in retirement, I'm excited to have a creative outlet for the knowledge of history and the interests I've developed in 35 years of teaching, mostly at the high school level: most notably US history, European history, human evolution, and environmental history. Before I became a history teacher, my focus in college and grad school was in anthropology: especially on the archaeology and ethnohistory of Native Americans (my dissertation was on the Dakota people of southern Minnesota and their contact with white Americans in the early 19th century). Anthropology's focus on the concept of "culture" has certainly informed my outlook, as much as the viewpoint of an historian.

Along these lines, I want to begin this blog by laying out certain threads, storylines of how American culture has evolved over time, and how those components (and people) have impacted our society. Plus, I simply want to tell some rattling good stories about interesting characters!

My first such "thread" will be the evolution, from the 19th century to 21st, of a distinct media job within our nation: that of "war reporter" or "war correspondent." Just mentioning that phrase might bring up certain romantic notions: of the daring individual, making contact with high-ranking leaders or resistance fighters; of sneaking across borders by dangerous trails and/or in disguise; of following combat soldiers into the heat and horror of battle, by foot, horse, or helicopter, wherever there's an important story to be (vividly) told. But how did such an occupation even start, and why? What has the job been like in the "real world"? Who has gained fame, if not fortune, by doing such reporting? And how has the image, as well as the tasks, of such correspondents changed from one American conflict to the next?

These are the questions I want to tackle in my first set of posts, which will start in Mexico in the 1840's, and continue up through the First World War. I will always be happy to hear responses and suggestions from my readers!

Stephen Crane, as correspondent in Greece, 1897- Public Domain

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