Newshawks in Berlin
The Associated Press and Nazi Germany
Larry Heinzerling, Randy Herschaft, and Ann Cooper’s cultural history Newshawks in Berlin explores how the Associated Press operated during World War II.
During the rise of the Nazi party in Germany, the Associated Press was a vital source of news for the global audience. The AP dodged restrictions, pressures, edicts, and concessions to cover the Nazi expansion across Europe and their ruthless attempt to exterminate Europe’s Jewish population. The need to gather and share information weighed on those reporting for the AP, even as avoiding censorship and retribution from the German government made their work fraught. Stalwart reporters and photojournalists recorded the war from inside Nazi Germany as best they could; still, much of their work was redacted or destroyed.
Diary entries, letters, memos, filed stories, and photographs appear to flesh out the journalists’ stories and a sense of their work through the war. Most important are the stories themselves; the book makes note of what was reported, how it was reported, and why. How the AP covered the end of the war and the Holocaust is also explored. The result is a fascinating portrait of how the news agency functioned under the influence of a dictatorship while still informing as wide an audience as possible. The book also notes that some eschewed their journalistic ethics to remain operational—a drastic decision during wartime. Facts and first-hand perspectives ground this historical work, which avoids casting blame or criticizing people’s decisions.
Drawing an a wealth of resources, the memorable history text Newshawks in Berlin examines the Associated Press’s operations during WWII, showing how its journalists met challenges in Nazi Germany.
Reviewed by
John M. Murray
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