Committee on Public Information

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The Committee on Public Information, also known as the CPI and the Creel Committee, was an independent agency of the government of the United States intended to influence U.S. public opinion regarding American intervention in World War I. It was established by President Woodrow Wilson through Executive order 2594, April 13, 1917. The committee consisted of George Creel (Chairman) and Secretaries of: State (Robert Lansing), War (Newton D. Baker), and the Navy (Josephus Daniels) as ex officio members. The committee was abolished in 1919.

Contents

[edit] Purpose

"U.S. Official War Pictures", propaganda poster by Louis D. Fancher
"U.S. Official War Pictures", propaganda poster by Louis D. Fancher

The purpose of the CPI was to influence American public opinion toward supporting U.S. intervention in World War I via a prolonged propaganda campaign. Among those who participated in it were Wilson advisers Walter Lippmann and Edward Bernays, the latter of whom had remarked that "the essence of democratic society" was the "engineering of consent", by which propaganda was the necessary method for democracies to promote and garner support for policy. Many have commented that the CPI laid the groundwork for the public relations (PR) industry. The CPI at first used material that was based on fact, but spun it to present an upbeat picture of the American war effort. Very quickly, however, the CPI began churning out raw propaganda picturing Germans as evil monsters. Hollywood movie makers joined in on the propaganda by making movies such as The Claws of the Hun, The Prussian Cur, To Hell With The Kaiser, and The Kaiser, the Beast of Berlin. These titles illustrated the message the CPI tried to convey.

This raw propaganda included complete fabrications, such as images and stories of German soldiers killing babies and hoisting them on bayonets. CPI pamphlets were created and warned citizens to be on the lookout for German spies. Dozens of "patriotic organizations," with names like the American Protective League and the American Defense Society, sprang up. These groups spied, tapped telephones, and opened mail in an effort to ferret out "spies and traitors." The targets of these groups was anyone who called for peace, questioned the Allies' progress, or criticized the government's policies. They were particularly hard on German Americans, some of whom lost their jobs, and were publicly humiliated by being forced to kiss the American flag, recite the Pledge of Allegiance, or buy war bonds.

The committee used newsprint, posters, radio, telegraph, cable and movies to broadcast its message. There was a volunteer services corps, called the Four-minute men whose 75,000 members spoke around the country. The Four-minute men worked in 5,200 communities and gave 755,190 speeches.[1] During its lifetime, the organization had over twenty bureaus and divisions, with commissioner's offices in nine foreign countries.[2] In addition to the Four-minute men both a Films Division and a News Division were established to help get out the war message. What was missing, Creel saw, was a way to reach those Americans who might not read newspapers, attend meetings or watch movies. For this task, Creel created the Division of Pictorial Publicity[3].

Charles Dana Gibson was America's most popular illustrator - and an ardent supporter of the war. When Creel asked him to assemble a group of artists to help design posters for the government, Gibson was more than eager to help. Famous illustrators such as James Montgomery Flagg, Joseph Pennell, Louis D. Fancher, and N. C. Wyeth were brought together to produce some of World War I's most lasting images.

Committee work was curtailed after July 1, 1918. Domestic activities stopped after the Armistice was signed on November 11, 1918. Foreign operations ended June 30, 1919. The CPI was abolished by executive order 3154 on August 21, 1919.

[edit] Quotations

“ In no degree was the Committee an agency of censorship, a machinery of concealment or repression. Its emphasis throughout was on the open and the positive. At no point did it seek or exercise authorities under those war laws that limited the freedom of speech and press. In all things, from first to last, without halt or change, it was a plain publicity proposition, a vast enterprise in salesmanship, the world's greatest adventures in advertising...We did not call it propaganda, for that word, in German hands, had come to be associated with deceit and corruption. Our effort was educational and informative throughout, for we had such confidence in our case as to feel that no other argument was needed than the simple, straightforward presentation of the facts. --George Creel [4] ”

Creel urged Wilson to create a government agency to coordinate:

“ Not propaganda as the Germans defined it, but propaganda in the true sense of the word, meaning the "propagation of faith".--George Creel [5] ”

[edit] Literature

  • George Creel: How We Advertised America: The First Telling of the Amazing Story of the Committee on Public Information That Carried the Gospel of Americanism to Every Corner of the Globe, Kessinger Pub Co (Januar 2008), ISBN 0548820929 (10), ISBN 978-0548820926 (13)

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Snow, Nancy (2003). Information War American Propaganda, Free Speech and Opinion Control since 9-11. Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1-58322-557-9. p. 52
  2. ^ Jackall, Robert; Janice M Hirota (2003). Image Makers: Advertising, Public Relations, and the Ethos of Advocacy. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-38917-0.  p. 14
  3. ^ US government. "The Most Famous Poster". Retrieved on 2007-01-2. 
  4. ^ Snow, Nancy (2003). Information War American Propaganda, Free Speech and Opinion Control since 9-11. Seven Stories Press. ISBN 1-58322-557-9.  p. 51 Quoting Creel, George (1920). How We Advertised America. New York: Harper & Brothers.  p. 4-5
  5. ^ Jackall, Robert; Janice M Hirota (2003). Image Makers: Advertising, Public Relations, and the Ethos of Advocacy. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 0-226-38917-0.  p. 13 Information Warfare An Air Force Policy for the Role of Public Affairs. School of Advanced Airpower Studies. Retrieved on 2006-07-03. p. 19 [PDF] Quoting Creel, George (1947). Rebel at Large: Recollections of Fifty Crowded Years. New York: G.P. Putnam's Son's.  p. 158, Jackall states, "Although not explicit, the reference is to the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of Faith (de propaganda fide) established by Pope Gregory XV (1621-1623) to train priests for battle against the Protestant Reformation and for the conversion of the Heathens."

[edit] External links