Wartime Newspapers
During World War One, Canada used newspapers to spread propaganda and to enhance its overall war effort. In the early 1900s, people relied on newspapers as a main source of information, especially in terms of the war effort. The newspaper was used to sell the war, and the publications often encouraged enlistment and recruitment into the Canadian military, rationing of food and other goods, buying victory bonds, contributing to the Canadian Victory Loan, and promoting patriotism and the overall war effort. Newspapers also spread information on the home front and overseas, which kept civilians and soldiers updated about Canada’s involvement in the war. Conscription became a topic that was reported in the news articles since newspapers often reached a wider audience, and encouraged men that had not yet enlisted to sign up with the Canadian Armed Forces. However, Canadian newspapers, and other media such as letters, were subject to censorship policies that were in place, which was done to safeguard the general public and to allow the government to control media outlets in Canada during World War One.
Although newspapers were often common and popular on the home front, soldiers overseas also relied on newspapers for updates about the war and Canada’s role within it. Those that had fought overseas often read the Canada Gazette, which was a popular newspaper at the time. Another form of newspapers that emerged during World War One were written by the soldiers themselves. These newspapers gave civilians and historians a better understanding of what was happening on the front lines, and it give insight into the battles and oversea conflicts that took place during World War One. These newspapers were known as trench newspapers, which were used by the soldiers to publicly express their thoughts on the war.[1] Some Canadian trench newspapers included, The Listening Post, The Dead Horse Corner Gazette, The Canadian War Pictorial, The McGilliken, The Rouelles Camp Magazine, In & Out, The Brazier, The Iodine Chronicle, Vie Canadienne, Western Universities Battalion, 196th, and Chevrons to stars, which are available online from: First World War Trench Journals. The trench newspapers often contained articles about the hardships soldiers faced, as well as poetry, satire, jokes, and cartoons that related to Canada’s overall war effort. Despite the censorship, some of the trench newspapers were still blunt, and would provide soldiers with puns and messages to help them get through the war. There are over thirty Canadian trench newspapers that were published during World War One.[2]
Soldiers were not the only ones who used newspapers to spread their thoughts and frustrations about the war; civilians also used the newspapers to write about their views and promote anti-war propaganda. Although many articles were geared towards encouraging civilians on the home front to get involved in the war by rationing and buying victory bonds, as it was often viewed as their patriotic duty, others were not as supportive of the Canadian war effort. Anti-war poetry had been published in newspaper articles, and was often done to express fear, sorrow, and grief.[3] Contrarily, newspapers were still predominantly used to encourage people to support the war effort and the soldiers fighting overseas. Moreover, the war was costly, so the government often used newspapers to print advertisements promoting the buying of victory bonds and loans. The government also used newspapers to encourage voluntary enlistment; however, by 1917 conscription made military service compulsory, which was promoted through newspapers and other form of media propaganda.[4] The newspapers were often a way for civilians to remain updated about the soldiers overseas and the Canadian contribution in World War One.
While Canadian newspapers were often used to promote the war, censorship policies were still implemented by the government, as a way to control the media output during World War One. In 1914, war broke out and the public opinion was strongly in favour of Canada joining the war effort alongside Britain. However, shortly after the war began, Parliament passed the War Measures Act, which introduced censorship policies, gave Canadian authorities the right to detain and arrest, and to control Canadian property or persons considered a potential threat to Canada.[5]The implementation of the act affected the Canadian newspapers. In the first year, censorship was not enforced as strongly, and only the obvious pro-German and anti-British papers were shut down. By 1915, as the Canadian war effort overseas increased, the government became more cautious and strict in terms of censorship in newspapers and other media.[6] Newspapers were still mainly in support of the war effort, yet news companies often competed to publish stories about the war, which was often discouraged by the government. As a result, Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden established the Chief Press Censor, which ensured critical articles about the Canadian military were not published in the press.[7] In addition, a gap began to grow between what Canadians read and what was the actual truth about the war. Nonetheless, the press kept civilians and soldiers consistent in upholding their obligations to the King and Canada.
Finally, newspapers were often used to maintain Canada’s war effort, yet it was also used to keep Canadian’s updated on Allies and enemy war contributions. Canadian newspapers often contained articles about how to defend democracy against the Hun (German) barbarism. There was information that was aimed to encourage and strengthen the beliefs of Anglo-Canadians to support and contribute to the war.[8] Newspapers were also used to hone masculinity in Canadian men, and to prevent further growth in women’s influence in Canada during World War One.[9] Indeed, approximately 253 foreign titles had been banned by the censorship, which inhibited several Canadian newspapers. As a result of the censorship and limitations placed on Canadian newspapers, fear of socialism arose in the post-war era.[10] Thus, although censorship limited newspapers, yet the news still promoted the Canadian war effort and enhanced propaganda.
Overall, the Canadian newspapers during World War One were useful insofar that they promoted propaganda and the Canadian war effort, and met government guidelines and censorship policies.
[1] Canadian War Museum, “Trench Culture - Trench Newspapers,” Canada and the First World War, http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/life-at-the-front/trench-culture/trench-newspapers/
[4] Canadian War Museum, “The Home Front - Government Intervention,” Canada and the First World War, http://www.warmuseum.ca/firstworldwar/history/life-at-home-during-the-war/the-home-front/government-intervention/
[5] Library and Archives Canada, “Thematic Guides - The Public - Library and Archives Canada,” Collections Canada, http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/le-public/005-1142.27-e.html.
[6] Ira Basen, “‘A Keen Patriotic Desire’: Why Canadian Media Embraced Censorship during WWI,” August 1, 2014, http://www.cbc.ca/news/why-canadian-media-embraced-censorship-during-wwi-ira-basen-1.2722786.
[7] Basen, “A Keen Patriotic Desire,” 2014.
[8] Jeff Keshen, Propaganda and Censorship During Canada’s Great War (Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1996), 127.
[9] Keshen, Propaganda and Censorship, 128
[10] Pearce J. Carefoote, “Censorship in Canada,” Historical Perspectives on Canadian Publishing, http://hpcanpub.mcmaster.ca/case-study/censorship-canada