HCJ 2 – The Dreyfus Affair & Anti-Semitism

THE DREYFUS AFFAIR

The Dreyfus Affair occured in the late 1800s in France. The basics are: Military information was found in a wate bin in the German embassy, Dreyfus was accused and charged for this, and was therefore stripped of his military rank and exiled to Devil’s Island. Soon after, there was evidence of a French Army Major, Ferdinand Esterhazy, actually being the culprit, but this was rejected. J’Accuse was then published, and this led to Dreyfus being acquitted and reintergrated into the army again.

At the time, the French Republic was divided. It was the age of revolutions (1775 – 1848).

Why is this important in journalism? 

The Dreyfus Affair lead to one of the most poignant examples of investigative journalism, a very raw and real type of journalism. It was scandalous at the time to right out accuse people publicly of wrongdoing when most of society would disregard your attempt to seek justice in a prejudice-filled country. Without Emile Zola’s journalism, Dreyfus would still be unjustly imprisoned.

Anti-Dreyfus media applied themselves to ‘yellow journalism’ to denounce and make fun of traditional newspapers such as ‘L’aurore’ (the newspaper that published ‘J’Accuse’). Yellow journalism consists of large pictures and basic headlines, just like what we use today, to connect with all members of the public with varying intellectual abilities.

ANTI-SEMITISM

Dreyfus was a victim of anti-Semitism. He was accused despite there being evidence of a french army major because it was easier to demonise the jews in the media and in the law at the time than it was their own. They would protect their own people. Zola worked to expose this.

Lazare proposed that the only way to stop anti-Semitism was to give the jews their own land. Anti-Semitism is caused by their ‘unsociable’ ways, and are exclusive politically and religiously. They were allowed ‘a state within a state’ wherever they settled. He went on to say that they were granted privileges, making their living conditions higher than others. Anti-Semites ensured that jews could never integrate into society.