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Old May 10th, 2017 #1
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Post Amid collusion allegations, AP releases review of its coverage of Nazi Germany

NEW YORK (AP) — The Associated Press has conducted an in-depth review of its operations in Nazi Germany, concluding that the news agency acted as “forthrightly and independently as possible.” But the review also found AP handled some situations inadequately.

The review was undertaken after an article published last year contended that the AP allowed Nazi propagandists to exert some influence over its news photo report in the 1930s by maintaining a photo subsidiary in Germany, registered under a restrictive Nazi press law.

The author, historian Harriet Scharnberg, also identified AP German photographers who were drafted into or joined Nazi military propaganda units during World War II, some while still being paid by AP.

AP’s review disputed Scharnberg’s conclusion that the news agency was in any way complicit with the Nazi regime during the years 1933-41, when the agency was present in the country. The AP was kicked out of Germany when the United States entered World War II in December 1941.

“We recognize that AP should have done some things differently during this period, for example protesting when AP photos were exploited by the Nazis for propaganda within Germany and refusing to employ German photographers with active political affiliations and loyalties,” the report says.

“However, suggestions that AP at any point sought to help the Nazis or their heinous cause are simply wrong,” it adds.

“Due in large part to the AP’s aggressive reporting, the dangers of the Nazis’ ambitions for domination in Europe and its brutal treatment of its opponents were revealed to the wider world.”

The report spells out instances in which AP editors clashed with Nazi censors and also demanded that stronger steps be taken to keep the AP German photo service free of Nazi propaganda. It also cites AP reporting in the 1930s that alerted readers in the United States to the acts of anti-Semitism and cruelty of the Nazi regime both in words and photos.

AP Executive Editor Sally Buzbee said the AP’s coverage of Nazi Germany reflected its core newsgathering principles.

“It is essential to cover tyrannical regimes and other undemocratic movements, when possible from within the borders they control, in order to accurately relay what is happening inside,” she said. “That is what we do, without compromising AP’s independence or standards.”

“AP believes it is important to know one’s own story — warts and all — and so we have re-examined the period, taking a hard look,” says the report’s introduction, written by John Daniszewski, AP’s vice president and editor at large for standards.

The report was written by Larry Heinzerling, an adjunct assistant professor at the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism and retired AP deputy international editor, with contributions by AP investigative researcher Randy Herschaft.

Adolf Hitler, left, shakes hands with 12-year-old Alfred Czech, a Hitler Youth soldier, after the young veteran of battles in Pomerania a

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read full article at source: http://www.timesofisrael.com/amid-co...-nazi-germany/
 
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