The Telegraph, Censorship, and Politics at the Outset of the Civil War

Abstract

A century before satellites flashed televised news reports to the nation, the telegraph offered many of the same possibilities—and posed many of the same problems—associated with instantaneous communication. When used by an aggressive metropolitan daily in the 1860s, the telegraph could put reports in readers' hands just hours after a correspondent had gleaned the information at a faraway site. More than journalism, however, was affected by this quickened pace of news transmission; institutions whose activities responded to news coverage—notably government and business— synchronized their practices and rhythms to accord with electrified journalism.1 During the Civil War, the telegraph made censorship both necessary and feasible. The speed at which stories moved over the wires could compromise wartime decision making and activities, while the telegraph was a convenient pressure point for constricting the flow of news. Reports of military preparations presented obvious problems because Northern papers quickly found their way into the hands of Confederate generals. But what about news of civil affairs? The unprecedented administrative tasks imposed on government by the Civil War, and the attendant political stresses, yielded a bonanza of news stories for the Washington press corps. Should correspondents file stories about sensitive matters—dissension in the cabinet, secret diplomatic negotiations, forthcoming presidential messages, and the like— knowing that such news could precipitate swings in already volatile public opinion, encourage business speculation, and perhaps imperil policies under