 The events of the truce were not reported for a week , in an unofficial press embargo which was eventually broken by the New York Times , published in the then @-@ neutral United States , on 31 December . The British papers quickly followed , printing numerous first @-@ hand accounts from soldiers in the field , taken from letters home to their families , and editorials on " one of the greatest surprises of a surprising war " . By 8 January pictures had made their way to the press , and both the Mirror and Sketch printed front @-@ page photographs of British and German troops mingling and singing between the lines . The tone of the reporting was strongly positive , with the Times endorsing the " lack of malice " felt by both sides and the Mirror regretting that the " absurdity and the tragedy " would begin again . 
