Diary Of 1984

A critical comparison of a newspaper article and a diary as Historical Source Material.
This essay will compare the use of newspaper articles and diaries in the study of the Miners’ Strike of 1984-1985. The Miners’ Strike of 1984 to 1985 was a defining part of Margret Thatcher’s time as Prime Minister. The catalyst was the closure of Cortonwood colliery in South Yorkshire, before this many other pits had been closed and unemployment was rising. The Cortonwood branch of the National Union of Mineworkers voted to go on strike to prevent pit closure and it wasn’t until twelve months later they marched back to work. There are many different views from opposing sides of the strike and primary sources allow us to explore the reasons behind this,

Wakefield was a supporter of the strikes and extensively photographed them, from the downtime at pickets to the violent scenes of the battle of Orgreave. The diary, specifically its description of the Battle of Orgreave was used to inform a live re-enactment on Channel 4. The diary offers a day by day insight into the miner’s strike from its beginning in March 1984 to its end 361 days later, including pictures and newspaper cuttings that Wakefield found interesting. In the diary Wakefield makes many references to ‘scabs’ and the abuse that is given to them from the side of the striking miners, although in his descriptions some men who arrived to work at the pits early ‘walked by [the strikers] and the police unchallenged’ suggesting the treatment of those who didn’t strike was not always negative. This shows a contradiction between the two sources, however in this instance, miners treating each other with kindness would not create an interesting news story. Also, in the case of writing a diary that someone else may read, Wakefeild would not want to appear negatively and so would potray himself and the other miners in a more positive