Smith-Mundt Act
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The US Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (Public Law 402), popularly referred to as the Smith-Mundt Act, was a piece of federal legislation in the United States, passed by the U.S. Congress and signed into law by president Harry S. Truman on January 27, 1948.
Contents |
[edit] Provisions
The legislation funded global propaganda outreach using all the latest communication technologies. As a Cold War measure, it was directed particularly against the Soviet Union.
- The act also prohibited domestic distribution of information intended for foreign audiences. While this ensured that the Executive Branch could not distribute propaganda at home, it also meant that essentially the US taxpayer was not permitted to know how the VOA (and its successor agencies) operated or what their programming content was. In a nutshell, this act both protected the American public from slanted information by its own government and turned government-funded broadcasting and information programs into a Cold War classified weapon.
- A 1998 U.S. Court of Appeals ruling indicated that this act exempts Voice of America from releasing transcripts in response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
- As such, it established the programming mandate that still serves as the foundation for U.S. overseas information and cultural programs at the Department of State.
[edit] International Exchanges created
It also expanded the Fulbright Program to include countries other than those Lend-Lease countries originally specified in the original 1946 Fulbright law. It also facilitated the establishment of bi-national centers around the world to coordinate the exchanges between the countries.[1]
[edit] Excerpts
Section 501(a) of the Act (care of the Voice of America website) provides that
- information produced by VOA for audiences outside the United States shall not be disseminated within the United States ... but, on request, shall be available in the English language at VOA, at all reasonable times following its release as information abroad, for examination only by representatives of United States press associations, newspapers, magazines, radio systems, and stations, and by research students and scholars, and, on request, shall be made available for examination only to Members of Congress.
[edit] References
- Voice of America News's online press kit, retrieved March 22, 2005
- rcfp.org media update on the Court of Appeals ruling, Feb 23, 1998
- Kenneth Osgood, Total Cold War: Eisenhower's Secret Propaganda Battle at Home and Abroad, (University Press of kansas, 2005) p. 37.
