"St. Bride's, situated in an alley just off Fleet Street, is known as the journalists' church. Having weathered not a few disastersthe Great Fire of London, in 1666, the Luftwaffe in 1940it now advertises itself as A Space for Silence, offering an hour of contemplation each weekday afternoon, yards from the world's most famous newspaper street. On a recent rain-soaked day, I arrived to find only one umbrella in the porch bucket and a church filled with lit candles and the chill of old sermons."
"In the left aisle was a book of remembrance honoring media workers who died in the line of duty, titled Truth at All Costs. Just behind it, wooden pews displayed commemorative plaques. Sir Keith Murdoch, one read. A great journalist. Murdoch, the son of a Scottish clergyman, was, for a while, a managing editor of the United Cable Service, an Australian overseas news agency."
"Murdoch's detailed reportlater known as the Gallipoli Letterexposed the way incompetent British officers were herding Australasian soldiers to their deaths. I shall talk as if you were by my side, he typed on the first page, marked Personal. He described visiting positions in Suvla Bay, wandering for miles through trenches, interviewing whatever leaders and officers he could. Many young men, he reported, were sent to the front lines without water, and were dying of thirst."
St. Bride's sits in an alley off Fleet Street and serves as a quiet space for contemplation, with lit candles and a book of remembrance for media workers titled Truth at All Costs. Wooden pews display plaques, including one for Sir Keith Murdoch. Murdoch, son of a Scottish clergyman and former managing editor of the United Cable Service, was posted to Turkey in 1915 to cover Gallipoli. On September 23rd he wrote to Australian prime minister Andrew Fisher, fearing a winter offensive and imminent slaughter. His Gallipoli Letter described troops sent to the front without water, dying of thirst, and accused British officers of conceit, self-complacency and appointments based on friendship and social ties.
Read at www.newyorker.com
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