The Frequency of War References in MTSU Student Newspaper throughout WWII

Abstract

The United States citizens’ attitudes concerning the overseas combat during World War II greatly changed as the conflict grew closer to native soil. Political leaders viewed the conflict with trepidation until the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on December 7, 1941, which immediately lead to the fervid desire of the people to actively join the war effort. College-age men and women, who made up the majority of volunteers, could have been greatly affected by the information and opinions represented in their student newspapers. This research aims to determine the frequency that the war is mentioned in a student newspaper over the course of WWII, the content of each instance, and the frequency of each type of content. The content subjects are categorized as either: direct overseas accounts; persons involved in the war; changes and contributions of campus; other miscellaneous accounts such as opinions, advertisements, propaganda and US government action.  To understand student newspaper activity during this period, the MTSU semi-monthly, student newspaper, The Sidelines, was examined from 1939 to 1945. Each issue was studied to ascertain how often the war was mentioned. Using this style of analysis, it was determined that mention of WWII was not made regular until the fall semester of 1940 upon which the war is mentioned one to three times per issue. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the average article or advertisement that mentions the war more than doubles. Towards the end, war articles decrease and are replaced with overseas relief advertisements.