A Different Fourth Estate

This summer in our Readings Course on the Pacific Theater of World War II, my students were assigned Guadalcanal Diary by Richard Tregaskis.  Tregaskis, a Harvard-educated journalist, was an "embedded" reporter with US Marines as they embarked on one of the first major amphimbious landings of the War. The prize was an airstrip the Japanese were building in the Solomon Islands.

My students were struck by a number of interesting aspects of the narrative--each sharp contrasts with today's print media.  The curse words were each represented by the first letter and then a series of dashes. We all had a good laugh at that!

 Another major departure from today's writings was the absence of political correctness. The Japanese were consisitently referred to as the "Japs." The Americans hated the enemy, not because they were Japanese, but because they were the enemy; they were the enemy because they bombed Pearl Harbor. There were no apologetic passages about name-calling or racism.

Another key difference between this brave journalist and today's reporters was that Mr. Tregaskis seemed to be on America's side!!!  Imagine that!  He didn't seem determined to report every misstep or mistake; he didn't show sympathy for the enemy and he certainly didn't reveal secrets that compromised the security of the war effort or the nation.  Where is that Fourth Estate today?