When the newspapers get it right: Orwell records two reports from August 1939

In our cynical age it
is easy to forget that sometimes the newspapers get it right. I was struck
while reading George Orwell's diaries by the reports he cites in August 1939,
just weeks before World War II began in Europe.

The Manchester Guardian
comes off particularly well. It reports that month that "German
mobilization will be at full strength halfway through August & that some
attempt to terrorise Poland will be made."

A few days later, Orwell
notes, the same paper's diplomatic correspondent predicted that "Spain
will almost certainly remain neutral in case of war."