People celebrate the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945 in Toronto. The Star broke the news the day when it published a 200-word report from the Associated Press, whose reporter was the only reporter to break an
The May 7, 1945 front page of the pc28Daily Star announces Germany’s surrender, ending the war in Europe 80 years ago. AP reporter Edward Kennedy was fired after breaking an embargo and filing 200 words over the news wire. Kennedy believed the news was too important to hold another day.
German General Alfred Jodl (C), flanked by German Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg (R) and German Major Wilhelm Oxenius (L), and Major-General Kenneth Strong of the British Army standing behind them, signs the act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany that ends the Second World War in Europe, at the Allied headquarters in Reims, eastern France, on May 7, 1945.
People celebrate the end of the war in Europe on May 8, 1945 in Toronto. The Star broke the news the day when it published a 200-word report from the Associated Press, whose reporter was the only reporter to break an
The pc28Daily Star that was published 80 years ago on this day was a real bargain. You got 32 pages for just 3 cents. And you got one of the greatest scoops in the history of journalism. The headline was written in font so big you could see it from across the street. UNCONDITIONAL SURRENDER. Germany had waved the white flag, and the European part of the Second World War was over.
The May 7, 1945 front page of the pc28Daily Star announces Germany’s surrender, ending the war in Europe 80 years ago. AP reporter Edward Kennedy was fired after breaking an embargo and filing 200 words over the news wire. Kennedy believed the news was too important to hold another day.
Freelance
For news that was so monumentally important, the accompanying story was surprisingly short. Here’s why. Only one reporter in the world was reporting the story, and his transmission of the details from Europe was cut off.
Seventeen reporters had been taken on May 7, 1945, to the city of Reims, north of Paris, to witness the formal surrender of Germany. They were all sworn to secrecy, told they could not report the news until later the next day, 36 hours after it had happened. One of the reporters was . He later wrote that having witnessed the surrender, “The absurdity of attempting to bottle up news of such magnitude was too apparent.”
German General Alfred Jodl (C), flanked by German Admiral Hans-Georg von Friedeburg (R) and German Major Wilhelm Oxenius (L), and Major-General Kenneth Strong of the British Army standing behind them, signs the act of unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany that ends the Second World War in Europe, at the Allied headquarters in Reims, eastern France, on May 7, 1945.
- AFP via Getty Images
So, when he returned to Paris with the other correspondents he phoned the AP office in London, and before the connection was lost, dictated 200 words. Those words went out at 9:36 a.m. ET. In newsrooms around the world, there was great confusion. Just 200 words about news everyone had been praying for since 1939? And why wasn’t anyone else reporting it? From the other major wire-services, United Press, Canadian Press, International News Service, Reuters, the big radio networks like the BBC, CBS, and CBC, and from major newspapers like the New York Times, the Daily Mirror, and the Daily Mail, there was nothing.
Was the AP story wrong? Would newspapers run the story? Every news editor wants to be first with big news, but with something this big, no one wants to be wrong. North American newspapers, facing tight deadlines that morning, went with the news because AP had the greatest commodity in journalism, something sorely lacking in so many news organizations today, a reputation that it could be trusted.
It sounds as if this is a journalistic tale with a happy ending, but it isn’t. Edward Kennedy became a hated man. The public relations division of Allied Supreme Headquarters immediately suspended filing facilities of the Associated Press in the European theatre for breaking the embargo. It also stripped Kennedy of his credentials. His fellow journalists were furious that they’d been scooped. Fifty-four correspondents wrote to General Dwight Eisenhower, the Allied Commander, complaining that because they had followed the rules they had suffered, “the most disgraceful, deliberate, and unethical double cross in the history of journalism.”
Two days later (when you might think everyone had greater matters to deal with), the New York Times published an editorial that argued Kennedy had committed a “grave disservice to the newspaper profession.” Time magazine said Kennedy had given the press a black eye.
Stacks of the pc28Daily Star are for sale in pc28when the war in Europe ended.
pc28Star Archives
The Associated Press did not revel in its world-wide exclusive. It decided to bring Kennedy back home. When he arrived in New York he was met by reporters as he stepped off the ship and told them he was proud of what he had done, and he’d do it again. The AP fired him. It released a statement that said, “The Associated Press profoundly regrets the distribution of the report of the total surrender in Europe…”
That was AP’s position until 2012, when it apologized to Kennedy. It finally agreed that, “you can’t hold back information.” Kennedy might have appreciated the vindication, but .
Scoops are still hard to come by. We should be grateful there are still journalists working for credible news organizations uncovering what the powerful want hidden.
Mark Bulgutch is the former senior executive producer of CBC News.
Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
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