Overview
War brings out the worst and the best in news. False information, bias, jingoism, and sensationalism run rampant. Yet, somewhat miraculously, detail, fairness, context, and truth shine through. That's what makes newspapers so interesting when they report war.And in the history of western civilization, there is one war above all others. It's the war for the future of everything; the war for America, the war for an idea, the war to prove that all men really are created equal---the Civil War. And it was a war, more than any other, which was brought to be through the newspapers.
In Volume Two of this series, you will witness the turn of the war and is resolution. Read of the North's confidence, when Harper's takes a break from the war to report midgets Tom Thumb and Lavina Warren marrying under P.T. Barnum's publicity tent. See The Liberator's rejoicing in the Emancipation Proclamation.
The Newseum, the world's one and only museum of news, has had the great fortune to exhibit many of these historic newspapers. They show that the diversity of voices in the news stream still struggles to be heard. It can be heard---if you will read and use these books. We will, here at the museum.