Reporters and “Willing Propagandists”: AEF Correspondents Define Their Roles

Abstract

World War I occurred at a pivotal time in the development of journalistic norms and press-military relations. Correspondents accredited to the American Expeditionary Force and the army officers who censored them entered the war in 1917 without clear guidelines on reporters' roles. Early clashes over censorship dissolved after a few months as reporters demonstrated they could be trusted with sensitive information and the army liberalized regulations. Still, correspondents grappled with whether they should report independently about all newsworthy events, regardless of whether they might be perceived as critical, or act as “propagandists” deliberately producing stories to support the war effort. This article, drawing from AEF correspondents' letters in the National Archives, argues that reporters sought to maximize access and minimize censorship in order to report freely stories that would be both accurate and patriotic. Among those who sought propagandistic roles were Westbrook Pegler and Heywood Broun.