The US Army and the Media in the 20th Century
Abstract
This study surveys how the US Army communicated its missions to the American public during periods of conflict within the context of the national policy toward information management. The phrase information management is used to suggest a host of interrelated terms to include censorship, information operations, information warfare, propaganda, public affairs, public information, psychological operations, psychological warfare, and strategic communications. The Army has always found its contribution to the US Governments information management policies challenging. With operational security a key objective of military planning, military commanders strive to deny information to the enemy. Information management, broadly speaking, serves two purposes. One purpose is to effect domestic morale. The second purpose is to undermine the enemy or enemies morale and operational effectiveness. The proper relationship between these two functions has generated a long-running tension regarding the proper nature of the US Government writ large and, more specifically, the Army with regard to information management. On several occasions, specific practices of information management have blurred the distinctions between its two functions, which frequently leads to a domestic backlash against those information management structures and practices that develop in periods of tension. In almost all cases, it has been the preference of Government and military authorities to stress the importance of information management. At the same time, as Abraham Lincoln rightly noted in one of his celebrated debates with Stephen Douglas, Public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2009
- Accession Number
- AD1118120
Entities
People
- Robert T. Ii Davis
Organizations
- Fort Leavenworth Combat Studies Institute Press