If Contemporary Journalists Covered The Zimmermann Telegram

Today marks the 90th anniversary of the Zimmermann Telegram:

On this day in 1917, the text of the so-called Zimmermann Telegram, a message from the German foreign secretary, Arthur Zimmermann, to the German ambassador to Mexico proposing a Mexican-German alliance in the case of war between the United States and Germany, is published on the front pages of newspapers across America.

In the telegram, intercepted and deciphered by British intelligence in January 1917, Zimmermann instructed the ambassador, Count Johann von Bernstorff, to offer significant financial aid to Mexico if it agreed to enter any future U.S-German conflict as a German ally. If victorious in the conflict, Germany also promised to restore to Mexico the lost territories of Texas, New Mexico and Arizona.

U.S. President Woodrow Wilson learned of the telegram's contents on February 26; the next day he proposed to Congress that the U.S. should start arming its ships against possible German attacks. He also authorized the State Department to make public the Zimmermann Telegram. On March 1, the news broke. [...] Public opinion in the United States now swung firmly toward American entrance into World War I. On April 2, Wilson went before Congress to deliver a message of war. The United States formally entered the conflict four days later.

We all know how impactful this news was to Americans as well as to the fate of Western Europe. But this happened back in the old days when newsmen were Americans first, and journalists second. So let's imagine how our contemporary media might cover this kind of news if it happened today:


The Headlines Read:

• Wilson Beats The Drums Of War
  
• Decisions Based On Limited Intelligence
  
• Why Do They Hate Us?
  
• Experts Doubt Mexico Would Have Attacked, "Wilson wants an empire"

From The Editorial Page:

• Wilson Cabinet Misunderstands German Nuance
  
• For Cause Of Telegram, US Needs To Look Inward
  
• Wilson's Planning For War Predated Telegram
  
• We Could Learn A Lot From The Ottomans

If you think these headlines are over the top, you're probably right. After all, President Woodrow Wilson wasn't a Republican.

I wanted to contrast the disparate nature of today's New York Times with that of the past, but I couldn't find a scan of their actual front page on the day the Zimmermann Telegram was reported. But if these front page scans are any indication, I think today's journalists could learn a lot from their predecessors:

• NYT WWI Lusitania
  
• NYT WWI Invasion
  
• NYT WWI Victory

Now compare that with this Times piece that gave us the Venezuelan perspective on the strengthening anti-American alliance between Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Hugo Chavez. My how the Times have changed.

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More satirical headlines can be found here:

• If Contemporary Journalists Covered Pearl Harbor
  
• If Contemporary Journalists Covered The Revoultionary War
  
• Contemporary Journalists Actually Cover Donald Rumsfeld