Description
Book SynopsisHistorians have long claimed that a tradition of fear of Japan dominated Australian thinking about foreign affairs and defense after Japan''s defeat of Russia in 1905 and that this fear remained widespread throughout the Australian population until the Pacific War. This study of Australian reporting on Japan challenges that claim by exposing a culture of state censorship, intimidation of the media, and neglect of official public discussion of foreign affairs in the years 1931-1941 which resulted in newspapers, radio, and news reels projecting a collective national consciousness of Japan as a nation of little importdespite very real fears in senior political ranks about Japanese designs on Australia. Jacqui Murray''s argument for the Australian media''s underestimation of Japan''s threat is sustained by close examination of media practices, publications, and broadcasts which clearly show misleading representations of Japan before the Pacific War. Watching the Sun Rise details not only government peace-time media censorship but also war-time propaganda flows from Australian, British, and Japanese sources into the Australian media and examples of cooperation and/or espionage among media personnel.
Trade ReviewJacqui Murray brings to life the world of international reporting in the 1930s: tough, often dangerous, and with a somewhat romantic aura. Her subject is Japan's aggression in Manchuria and the looming war in Asia, as seen by the Australian media. She tells of both press and radio, timid, complacent, and beset by propaganda, censorship, and disinformation from all sides. It is, unexpectedly, a story of war, espionage, collaboration, conspiracy, and treason—an exciting revelation of an era we have largely forgotten. -- Alan Rix, University of Queensland
Spin doctors and the manipulation of news stories are nothing new. In this highly readable and compelling account Jacqui Murray draws on experience as journalist and historian to show how Australian perceptions of East Asia in the 1930s were distorted in the media. Interference by an Australian government nervous of dissent and controversy worked on news stories already gathered from inadequate sources. The result was that Australia entered the Pacific War under-prepared and under-informed. Jacqui Murray's story has resonances reaching beyond Australia, and carries lessons for the present day. -- Geoffrey Bolton, Murdoch University
Jacqui Murray's <Watching the Sun> weaves fine strains of detail into a fascinating tapestry that presents much more than its prosaic subtitle suggests? Murray has produced a work that challenges conceptions of the media's role in Australian history? Thematerial presented amply demonstrates the limits of professionalism in the thoroughly politicized field of media.... -- John Tebbutt, LaTrobe University
Murray?s superbly critical hard-hitting analysis of pre-World War Two Australian journalism is a solid piece of historical analysis derived from a review of public and private primary sources, many now available for the first time as official papers from the era of World War Two are declassified. -- Charles C. Kolb, National Endowment for the Humanities * H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online *
The thesis is a triumph both of research and analysis. It produces new and compelling insights into many aspects of Australian media regarding Japan in the lead-up to the Pacific War. It also effectively demolishes some strands in the history of Australian foreign policy, which suggested much more prescience and fear of the coming Japanese threat, than is justified by the evidence. -- Rodney Tiffen, University of Sydney
Jacqui Murray's weaves fine strains of detail into a fascinating tapestry that presents much more than its prosaic subtitle suggests… Murray has produced a work that challenges conceptions of the media's role in Australian history… The material presented amply demonstrates the limits of professionalism in the thoroughly politicized field of media. -- John Tebbutt, LaTrobe University
"Murray’s superbly critical hard-hitting analysis of pre-World War Two Australian journalism is a solid piece of historical analysis derived from a review of public and private primary sources, many now available for the first time as official papers from the era of World War Two are declassified." -- Charles C. Kolb, National Endowment for the Humanities * H-Net: Humanities and Social Science Reviews Online *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Incident at Mukden Chapter 2 In News Just to Hand Chapter 3 The Big Hookup Chapter 4 Agency Wars, Australian Woes Chapter 5 Flattery and Facts Chapter 6 Radio Wars Chapter 7 Broadcasting for Peace Chapter 8 Trading Propaganda Chapter 9 Lies and Spies Chapter 10 In Service to the Master Chapter 11 Eastern Adventures
