I recently read Assignment to Berlin by Harry Flannery (1942); he was the CBS correspondent who replaced William Shirer in Berlin in 1940. As many are aware, Shirer also wrote down his memories as a correspondent in Berlin Diary. Shirer and Flannery were two of many American reporters stationed in Berlin between September 1939 and December 1941. Censorship was rife and reporters were monitored so they did not deviate from their approved scripts. But Flannery's book made it clear that most correspondents retained their journalistic integrity and gave an accurate picture of life and events in wartime Nazi Germany. Many reporters, on their return to the US, divulged everything they were unable to say while still in Germany, causing great consternation on the part of the Nazis.
What if Goebbels banned American reporters from Germany at the outbreak of war? (Most likely the ban would apply to all neutral countries.) How might American attitudes towards the war have been different if there was no direct news coming out of Berlin? Might postwar attitudes regarding Nazi Germany have been different?
What if Goebbels banned American reporters from Germany at the outbreak of war? (Most likely the ban would apply to all neutral countries.) How might American attitudes towards the war have been different if there was no direct news coming out of Berlin? Might postwar attitudes regarding Nazi Germany have been different?