The Newspaper Axis: Six Press Barons Who Enabled Hitler

by Kathryn S. Olmsted

How six conservative media moguls hindered America and Britain from entering World War II
 
“A damning indictment. . . . The parallels with today’s right-wing media, on both sides of the Atlantic, are unavoidable.”—Matthew Pressman, Washington Post
 
“A first-rate work of history.”—Ben Yagoda, Wall Street Journal
 
As World War II approached, the six most powerful media moguls in America and Britain tried to pressure their countries to ignore the fascist threat. The media empires of Robert McCormick, Joseph and Eleanor Patterson, and William Randolph Hearst spanned the United States, reaching tens of millions of Americans in print and over the airwaves with their isolationist views. Meanwhile in England, Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail extolled Hitler’s leadership and Lord Beaverbrook’s Daily Express insisted that Britain had no interest in defending Hitler’s victims on the continent.
 
Kathryn S. Olmsted shows how these media titans worked in concert—including sharing editorial pieces and coordinating their responses to events—to influence public opinion in a right-wing populist direction, how they echoed fascist and anti-Semitic propaganda, and how they weakened and delayed both Britain’s and America’s response to Nazi aggression.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, World War II, Journalism, Politics, Audiobook, Germany

314 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Marshall · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s amazing to see that in America very little has changed. The poisonous rhetoric that press barons such as Hearst, Col McCormick and his Patterson cousins indulged in is still alive and well. The insistence on racial superiority, white Protestant racial superiority (though these days more Fundamentalist, than not), fear of immigrants, fear of Asians, distrust of international organizations, envy of authoritarian governments (viewing their simple hatred as somewhat superior to tolerance) is very much with us. Even their slogan, “America First” is still much in evidence, despite all the taint of cowardice and appeasement that these words undoubtedly conjure up. The pro-Nazi press, like Fox News and the other sewer media outlets of today, took a populist tone to promoting bigotry and ignorance in the name of patriotism. The results sadly include six million dead due an infantile fear of immigration (back when the ancestors of these publishers entered America, there was no such thing as “illegal migration,” something to keep in mind.

The British were not spared their own coterie of pro Nazi publishers. They too live on, one need only look to their own Murdoch problem and the current crop of morons polluting Downing Street to see that despite a World War, which should demonstrate the bankruptcy of the ideas that Rothermere and Beverbrook espoused, the problem remains.

This is an excellent book which ought to remind us of just how much a difference people such as Roosevelt and Churchill can make in the face of the malignant forces that these American and British press lords represent and the need to unconditionally oppose everything that they represent.

[Vovka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating history of print news media focused on the period before, during, and after WWII. In short, the newspaper tycoons profiled here supported Nazi Germany through a variety of methods, from fake news to one-sided editorial policies. It's a convention of history writing to avoid certain types of analysis and this book, true to genre form, avoids topics that would have helped paint a fuller picture of the issues. I didn't feel like reading this book led me to deeply understand the full suite of motivations behind the pro-Nazi coverage. Of course anti-semitism, racism, greed, and other motivations are touched on, but I wish there had been some way to vivisect, display, examine, and diagnose the rot and get to root causes of it. These behaviors didn't start with WWII, and resentment over the treaty of Versailles doesn't explain the unflagging energy of pro-Nazi newsrooms.

There are also not enough attempts to tie the events of this history to the modern news media landscape. The origins of Rupert Murdoch are discussed briefly, but (unless I'm mistaken), OAN, Truth Social, Elon Musk/Twitter, and the like aren't discussed at all. There is a deeper analysis just below the surface that this book's narrow scope hints at. I'd love to read a cross-disciplinary history of the media focused on these questions.

[Ernest Spoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating little book. Growing up as I did, in the 1950´s and 60´s, on a diet of World War II era animated cartoons, in the afternoons after school, and an occasional matinee movie showcasing the heroics of our fighting men in Europe and the Pacific I, wrongly as it turns out, thought Americans of all classes and political persuasions where solidly behind Pres Franklin Roosevelt´s conduct of the war. Au contraire.

Sad to report that the editorial decisions of the four American newspaper moguls profiled herein bordered on the treasonous. The fact that the Roosevelt administration let the newspapers operated unhindered belies their charges that FDR had dictatorial aspirations.

What is further eyeopening is that many of the ¨anti´s¨ current-anti-tax, anti-immigrant, anti-Semitic, etc., of today´s so-called populism have their roots in editorial positions of the newspapers and their flamboyant owners. Personally, I stopped believing in a ¨liberal¨ media long ago.

[Armaan Srivastava · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book explores how the press barons worked in both the US and the UK and the impact and they had over domestic politics and foreign policy. I've read many books on wars but this book gave a very deep insight into how media influence played a role within the allied countries. Although the book is a great read, I felt that the author was trying too hard to link anti-semitism in the press in both the countries to the atrocities of the the nazis in Germany. Yes, had the press barons pushed for their respective countries to save people being persecuted by the nazis many lives could have been saved but I'm of the view that it would have not led to Hitler and his gang to just stop with the atrocities.

[Margot Sheehan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining, despite the unnecessarily lurid cover. Author Olmsted seems to think the Groton School is in Connecticut...why did Yale University Press not catch this error? Groton CT is big submarines, not in prep schools.

I think Cissy Patterson was a star. Author Olmsted rather over-eggs the pudding with her accusations of "anti-semitism" for most of these people, something that is posthumously libelous and can easily be refuted.

The title,"Newspaper Axis," comes from Leftist newspapers of the early 1940s, who applied that term to the newspapers run by the Medill family (Cissy Patterson, her brother Joe, their cousin Robert McCormick). Odd that this derivation is not glossed anywhere in the text.

[John Chidley-Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating analysis of media bias in the 1930s and 40s. Obviously, anti-Semitism and racism were widespread at the time but learning of the coordinated efforts of the six largest press barons in the United Kingdom and United States to push false narratives and enable Hitler is shocking.

Olmsted's writing style is fresh and easy to read and the narrative never gets bogged down, a pitfall common in a lot of historical non-fiction. She makes a convincing argument in the epilogue that these six press lords (well, and one lady) cast the die for future conservative media powerhouses like Rupert Murdoch who continue to shape our world.

[Armin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating exploration of a very important--yet nearly unknown--chapter in the history of WWII. I would have given it 5 stars if it hasn't been for the author's clumsy attempts to draw parallels between the pro-fascist press lords of the 1930s and 40s and contemporary conservatives. She completely overlooks the fascism and antisemitism coming from the left, which is far more similar to the fascist antisemites of the past.

[Ginger Gritzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

We have been here before, the only difference is that we are being led by someone who has been told he will not be held accountable for any of his crimes.

In the words of Churchill, "If we do not stand up to the dictators now, we shall only prepare the day when we have to stand up to them in far more adverse conditions."

[harvey l kaminski · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one terrific book. The author has taken a very important part of American history and put It into a very readable and fascinating story. Her anecdotal form and extensive research are alsoimpeccable. I loved this book which is amust read in light of all the media Issues(eerily similar to the 1930s) we are facing today
A five star masterpiece.

[Angel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick impressions: I really liked this one. The narrative is interesting, and the history is well researched. I found particularly interesting the parallels to today, and that makes it a good reason to pick this up.

(Detailed review with reading notes coming to my blog soon.)

[Maryanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

very well sourced, but ultimately not too interesting. we knew about these news barons before.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

solid and interesting study of how six newspapers and their owners played down the threat of fascism, flirted with outright supporting it, and then in many cases undermined the war effort.

[Comaskeyk001 · Rating 5 out of 5]

if You Think for a Moment That Fox News Is New Read This Book

I didn’t realize what a long standing and pervasive hold the “right” wing had on media until I read this book

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Racism is a hell of a drug. I’d read a whole book about Cissy Patterson. Great usage of public opinion polling, too!

[Berry Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting look into the media environment leading up to the Second World War. However, I don’t think it quite sticks the landing on its thesis.

[Dylan Groves]

Mckormick Patterson Patterson Hearst Beaverbrook Rothermere