They were quick to balk whenever that guiding hand pushed any harder. A significant portion of the troops assigned to work on the paper had been newspaper professionals stateside. Many of these men felt that their experience entitled them to speak up when ordered to publish something they thought to be journalistically tactless. In December 1918, an article by the British Colonel Repington commending the American army's contributions to ending the hostilities in Europe had been circulating among American officers. The staff at G-2-D headquarters asked the Stars and Stripes to reprint the full text of the article in the next issue. Captain Watson, formerly of the Chicago Tribune, strongly objected to the move. He argued that reprinting an article …show more content…
Watson, the acting officer-in-charge, bucked at the order and mounted an impassioned defense for the paper's editorial freedom. He argued that “Just as soon as The Stars and Stripes abstains from printing the whymsical [sic], humorous, harmless grouches of the soldier, just at that time will The Stars and Stripes be regarded as a GHQ organization... and when that time comes there is one man who will suffer and that is the Commander-in-Chief.” Along with boosting morale, one of the paper's main functions was to publish columns alongside general orders explaining their meaning and importance. At a time when many troops' first instinct was to be distrustful of any official communications from GHQ, the Stars and Stripes played a critical role of the middle man between the army's top voices and the soldiers on the ground. Watson maintained that the doughboy's trust was …show more content…
The paper was a part of the army's Censorship and Press division, but the chain of command between the few officers working at the paper and the G-2-D staff was unclear. It was directly called into question during the Viskniskki investigation in an interview with Lt. Milton Ayers, who when asked about his understanding of that structure, said, “Frankly I never knew where the official staff of the Stars and Stripes was accountable.” The status of the paper’s staff was not entirely clear either. In Gen. Nolan's view, the paper was a civilian auxiliary to the army, and the men assigned to work on it were not responsible for adhering to the same military duties as those men assigned to other roles. The Stars and Stripes personnel themselves were proud to call themselves doughboys within the AEF. Cartoons published in the paper depicted them as such, highlighting their participation in relatable, regular army activities. In late May 1919, Capt. Watson responded to a proposed plan for a still or motion picture presentation of the story of the Stars and Stripes. Watson outlined a few of the most important aspects of life at the paper that the proposed film should highlight. Among his notes to include shots of the daily work of the editorial department, distribution staff, couriers, and other departments was a note to show the men in a queue for