This is the first comprehensive study on the relationship of propaganda to participatory democracy in the United States during the twentieth century. The Muckrackers were the first critics to question whether the standard practices of communications industries, such as advertising and public relations, undermined the ability of citizens to gather enough reliable information in order to participate meaningfully in society. The communications industry has countered that propaganda merely circulates socially useful information in an efficient manner and further, that propaganda is harmless to...

Television news and the Cold War grew simultaneously in the years following World War II, and their history is deeply intertwined. In order to guarantee sufficient resolve in the American public for a long term arms buildup, defense and security officials turned to the television networks. In need of access to official film and newsmakers to build themselves into serious news organizations, and anxious to prove their loyalty in the age of blacklisting, the network news divisions acted as unofficial state propagandists. This book analyzes the shocking extent of their collaboration.