Before discussing the height of the crisis, it may be useful to discontinue briefly our review of diplomatic events and consider the very important role of the press on both sides of the Atlantic, but especially in America. The diplomacy of the period is surely more easily understood if one is first aware of the atmosphere created largely by the communications media. Generally speaking, American journalists considered the British occupation of Greece and subsequent efforts to put down a rebellion led by the EAM as efforts to squelch legitimate Greek aspirations for a democracy without a monarch. Media criticism peaked within days of 3 December 1944, when fighting first broke out. Although Roosevelt's Administration for the most part maintained rather low-keyed support for British policy in Greece, it was put under considerable pressure by the strident criticism of American media. Consequently, on 5 December, the American Secretary of State criticised British policy in a statement to the press, a clear effort to distance the American Government from Britain's undertaking in Greece. Stettinius's statement is discussed in greater detail in the next chapter, so it is sufficient here to say that it added fuel to the blaze of media criticism, helping it reach a high point and simultaneously sinking Anglo-American relations to one of the lowest levels of the war.