Sowing the seeds of war the New York Times' coverage of Japanese-American tensions, a prelude to conflict in the Pacific, 1920-1941 /

by 1970- Schreindl, David Robert

SOWING THE SEEDS OF WAR: THE NEW YORK TIMES’ COVERAGE OF JAPANESE-AMERICAN TENSIONS, A PRELUDE TO CONFLICT IN THE PACIFIC, 1920-1941 David Robert Schreindl Department of Communications Master of Arts This thesis examines the New York Times’ coverage of unique generational influences between Japan and the United States from 1920 through the start of hostilities at Pearl Harbor in December 1941. The purpose of this project was to see if the Times gave Americans an accurate picture of the relationship between the two countries or to determine if there was a lapse in coverage exhibiting negligence on the part of this prominent paper. This thesis concludes that the New York Times was not negligent in its coverage of the issues prior to World War II. However, it was the Times’ inconsistent placement of its news articles about Japan with them never being in the same place in the newspaper and the gaps of time between coverage of specific topics. That meant only those with a v keen interest in what was happening in Japan and Japan’s attitude toward America would have had the determination and ability to put all the puzzle pieces together from the truck load of material to realize Japan’s increasing irritation with America and its view of an unavoidable war. The warnings were there if you were willing to look for them. vi