Photo by James Seeley

The day was May 6, 1937. The colossal German zeppelin called the Hindenburg was late in arriving at its final destination of Lakehurst, New Jersey. The journey had began four days earlier in Frankfort, Germany, and was fairly commonplace in aviation travel. German commercial zeppelins had transported thousands of passengers over millions of miles without a single injury (Mooney 231). This was of course before the hydrogen filled Hindenburg caught fire and exploded, killing nearly 36 people and injuring many more in a matter of just 35 seconds. Most of the photographers and broadcasters sent to Lakehurst that day were there unwillingly. Many of them were merely hoping to catch a snapshot of a trans-Atlantic celebrity. Little did they know about the catastrophe waiting to unfold. Through my research I will be exploring the several different types of media used to capture the Hindenburg explosion. 

PHOTOGRAPHIC COVERAGE

Even though the Hindenburg had made 10 successful trips prior to the disaster, its arrival still attracted a great deal of media interest. 22 press photographers were present, as well as a radio reporter and newsreel crew (Sherman). One of the photographers was James Seeley (see above picture) who was on hand for William Hearst's News of the Day. His description is as follows: "I was panning my camera across the body of the ship when the terrific explosion took place near the stern. Flames leaped hundreds of feet into the air. I was stunned by what I was witnessing, but the training every newsreel man gets to hold his ground stood me in good stead. Not until my film ran out did I cease grinding my camera." (Fielding 217). Amongst all the shock and confusion, none of present photographers knew if they had truly succeeded in capturing the Hindenburg explosion. Movietone's Al Gold said later "We didn't know if we had actually gotten the Hindenburg bursting into flames. One Eyemo roll would answer that terribly pressing query---one hundred feet of film which would make or break the sensational story" (Mooney 233). Despite all their concerns, most of the photographers had been successful in contributing to the first, most complete disaster coverage by the media in history. The most complete recount of the disaster however, was not done by one of the professional photographers, but by an amateur. Arthur Cofod Jr. was originally there to pick up a package of photographs arriving on the Hindenburg for LIFE magazine (Cofod 28). He ended up methodically snapping out the entire disaster in razor sharp clarity. You can see his complete series of photos at the attached link:   http://collections.si.edu/search/results.jsp?q=Arthur+Cofod+Jr

Photo by Arthur Cofod Jr.

RADIO AND NEWSREEL COVERAGE

One of the reporters present represented WLS, a large AM radio station associated with NBC news. Up until that day, NBC had never pre-recorded a radio program to be broadcasted at a later time (Goldberg 42). The announcer was Herbert Morrison, who was there to record a program for the anniversary of the zeppelins first trans-Atlantic flight. There was never any intention to broadcast the program over the air, it was solely for their recording library (Fielding 216). Morrison was midway through describing the landing of the airship when it burst into flames. The original newsreel footage with his commentary can be seen here (click to see video).  The original radio recording was done separately from the newsreel footage, however they were later dubbed together creating the false impression that the words and the film were one unit. Herb Morrison's highly emotional account of the explosion went on to change the course of journalism and news coverage. NBC broke its rules and broadcasted the recording the next day to the entire nation (Porten 1). The breath-taking footage electrified and terrified viewers around the world. The Hindenburg explosion was far from the first instance of disaster journalism, but what made it different was how immediate and un-calculated it was. It was far from Muckraking, as the media didn't really speculate on the cause of the disaster, it was more emotional and gut wrenching, known as "shock disaster" news. His report was so powerful that his famous words: "Oh the humanity!" have been a widely used reference for disaster in popular culture. 

Bibliography

Archbold, Rick. Hindenburg: An Illustrated History. Toronto: Viking Studio/Madison Press, 1994. ISBN 0-670-85225-2

Cofod, Arthur. "Amateur Photographs Hindenburg's Last Landing." LIFE 17 May 1937: 28-30. Google Books. Web. 1 Mar. 2011. <http://books.google.com/booksid=xkQEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA26&dq=Hindenburg+life+magazine+1937&cd=6#v=onepage&q&f=false>.

Dick, Harold G. and Douglas H. Robinson. The Golden Age of the Great Passenger Airships Graf Zeppelin & Hindenburg. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1985. ISBN 1-56098-219-5

Fielding, Raymond. The American Newsreel 1911-1967. U of Oklahoma, 1972. Print.

Goldberg, V., The Power of Photography: How Photographs Changed our Lives (1991)

Morrison, Herbert. "Live Radio Account of Arrival and Crash of Hindenburg”. Radio Days via OTR.com. Retrieved: October 27, 2010.

Porten, Russell B. "Hindenburg Burns in Lakehurst Crash; 21 Known Dead, 12 Missing; 64 Escape." New York Times [New York] 9 May 1937: 1. The New York Times. The New York Times. Web. 02 Mar. 2012. <http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0506.html>.

Sherman, Todd L. The Hindenburg Photos: A Mystery. February 1995. Web. 02 Mar. 2012. <http://www.afn.org/~afn42211/genealog/sterner/hindenburg/>.