Britain and France’s main method of persuading people to help the war effort was based on posters however, upper class citizens and mainly the Americans tended to read the newspaper regularly, therefore the British and American government started manipulating the public’s minds and even lied about the destruction and harm the enemy’s side were causing, making people believe they were fighting for justice and what was right. If newspapers weren’t covering the atrocities of Germany during WW1, they reported on the successes of the allies, British newspapers wrote about the aid and soldiers pride the war had given them, whereas France wrote that the USA was soon joining the war, which was intended to lead to victory.
The Daily Mirror on 4 August 1914-hours after Britain declared war on Germany became increasingly biased in its news reports, illustrating stories with pictures of soldiers waving final farewells. Stories read "'We could not stand aside!': Britain will not allow Germany's fleet to batter France's undefended coast.” "The thoughts of all Britishers went out to sea yesterday, for with the statement of Sir Edward Grey in Parliament, the safety and sanctity of the empire may easily again depend upon the Navy which has given us such heroic a history," the Daily mail stated in one of its coverage stories of the war. The Daily mail continued to be the most read paper during WW1. Stories showing the Germans brutality read: “Belgian mother and daughter found dead in German pilot’s home.” The story was based on a woman and child that were captured by a German pilot when he had crash landed nearby. Both of the victims were raped then killed and found naked in the bathroom of his home in Berlin. After this story was released, along with a few others, recruitment offices had more soldiers signing up to fight. It was revealed however that no such incident happened, and the journalist writing for the newspaper was sacked.Some artists were hired from the Times newspaper to paint scenes from the war. However in the first scene of the war, only paintings showing officers ‘lounging about’ in the trenches were shown, to show that life in the army wasn’t bad. Pictures of soldiers in uniform were published to show that these were the men that were respected and were living well in their position in the war. Such portraits made others want to follow. Photographs were only ever taken of soldiers smiling, marching and never in pain as it would dishearten the public and any potential recruits.
The Daily Mirror on 4 August 1914-hours after Britain declared war on Germany became increasingly biased in its news reports, illustrating stories with pictures of soldiers waving final farewells. Stories read "'We could not stand aside!': Britain will not allow Germany's fleet to batter France's undefended coast.” "The thoughts of all Britishers went out to sea yesterday, for with the statement of Sir Edward Grey in Parliament, the safety and sanctity of the empire may easily again depend upon the Navy which has given us such heroic a history," the Daily mail stated in one of its coverage stories of the war. The Daily mail continued to be the most read paper during WW1. Stories showing the Germans brutality read: “Belgian mother and daughter found dead in German pilot’s home.” The story was based on a woman and child that were captured by a German pilot when he had crash landed nearby. Both of the victims were raped then killed and found naked in the bathroom of his home in Berlin. After this story was released, along with a few others, recruitment offices had more soldiers signing up to fight. It was revealed however that no such incident happened, and the journalist writing for the newspaper was sacked.Some artists were hired from the Times newspaper to paint scenes from the war. However in the first scene of the war, only paintings showing officers ‘lounging about’ in the trenches were shown, to show that life in the army wasn’t bad. Pictures of soldiers in uniform were published to show that these were the men that were respected and were living well in their position in the war. Such portraits made others want to follow. Photographs were only ever taken of soldiers smiling, marching and never in pain as it would dishearten the public and any potential recruits.
Literature featured in the Times of 4 August with the publication of the first "war poem" by Henry Newbolt. War poems were then published by the paper almost daily. However literature, letters, painting from war artists and even photographs that were published in the newspapers were censored. For example, poetry that was written by Wilfred Owen, depicting how awful life was in the trenches was not allowed to be shown in public till after his death (and after the war) as it would have put soldiers off going to war. Here is the first verse for “Anthem for Doomed Youth”