Joseph C. Harsch was born in Toledo, Ohio, on May 25, 1905. He graduated in 1927 from Williams College in Williamstown, Masschusetts, and went on to earn another baccalaureate at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, England, in 1929.
After his return from Britain in 1929, Harsch was offered, and accepted, a position with the Christian Science Monitor. The years 1929-1939 are notable for two significant events in Harsch's career. In 1935 and 1936, he was sent to report the London Naval Conference. His second major assignment came in 1936 when he covered the Harlan Trial in Kentucky. These two assignments did much to establish Harsch in the world of journalism and paved the way for more important responsibilities.
From 1939 to 1941, Harsch enjoyed the tremendous advantage of being “on the spot” when the big news stories of World War II began to break. He covered Berlin, London, Rome, and Paris; he traveled with the Nazis as they rolled around the end of the Maginot Line into France; and he made a wager with Laval in Vichy France that the Hitler regime would be destroyed. Harsch's impressions of early wartime Germany are summed up in his book, Pattern of Conquest.
December 7, 1941, found the globe-trotting Harsch vacationing in Hawaii. The only war correspondent in the area stood helplessly by, however, while an amateur reporter monopolized the only remaining communication to the United States. By the time Harsch was able to file his first report (December 12), the islands were swarming with top-notch newsmen.
Harsch moved next to the Dutch East Indies, but was forced to evacuate shortly after the Japanese invaded Java. His next reports came in from Australia and record the waves of enthusiasm that swept through that country as General MacArthur arrived from Bataan.
Although Harsch had been heard now and then over radio “pinch hitting” for William L. Shirer from Berlin and William J. Dunn in Australia, he did not broadcast regularly until he returned to the Washington desk of the Christian Science Monitor. Here he began his long period of news analysis in 1943 with the radio series, Meaning of the News. This was presented over the Columbia Broadcasting System from March, 1943, to March, 1951, and over the Liberty Broadcasting System from April, 1951, to July, 1952. This series, along with his other series, Report from Washington, of January 2 - March 13, 1943, and the National Broadcasting Company newscasts of 1953 through 1955, afford an excellent analysis and review of the second world war, the politics-both national and international-of the post World War II period, the Korean War, and the post Korean war picture.
Harsch's popularity and reputation grew during the war years. This is reflected by increasing demands on him to lecture and publish. Trips to Europe in 1947, 1949, 1951, 1952, and 1953 gave him new material and kept the old up to date. Observations made on his journeys in Eastern Europe resulted in a second book in 1950, The Curtain Isn't Iron.
A great deal has been written about Harsch. Many personal comments on his works can be found in the correspondence. Examples are letters from General Douglas A. MacArthur (March 15, 1945), James A. Farley (November 23, 1954), Chester Bowles (August 28, 1950), General Omar Bradley (July 18, 1950), and Edward R. Murrow (August 31, 1954). No appraisal, however, does him as much justice as does this statement by the press department of NBC: “Harsch was chosen for the post of analyst for the Background series not only for his wide experience and reportorial background, but more important, for his voice and quiet wisdom which for years have combated fear, hysteria, and distortion.”
Joseph Close Harsch died on June 3, 1998.
