Page 128 - Dragon Flood

Poster Created by the CPI

Following is a summary of the activities of the CPI.

The absence of public unity was a primary concern when America entered the war on
April 6, 1917. In Washington, unwavering public support was considered to be crucial to
the entire wartime effort. On April 13, 1917, Wilson created the Committee on Public
Information (CPI) to promote the war domestically while publicizing American war aims
abroad. Under the leadership of a muckraking journalist named George Creel, the CPI
recruited heavily from business, media, academia, and the art world. The CPI blended
advertising techniques with a sophisticated understanding of human psychology, and its
efforts represent the first time that a modern government disseminated propaganda on
such a large scale. It is fascinating that this phenomenon, often linked with totalitarian
regimes, emerged in a democratic state.

Although George Creel was an outspoken critic of censorship at the hands of public
servants, the CPI took immediate steps to limit damaging information. Invoking the
threat of German propaganda, the CPI implemented "voluntary guidelines" for the news
media and helped to pass the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. The CPI
did not have explicit enforcement power, but it nevertheless "enjoyed censorship power
which was tantamount to direct legal force..."

Censorship was only one element of the CPI's efforts. With all the sophistication of a
modern advertising agency, the CPI examined the different ways that information flowed
to the population and flooded these channels with pro-war material. The CPI's domestic
division was composed of 19 sub-divisions, and each focused on a particular type of
propaganda...

One of the most important elements of the CPI was the Division of News... According to
Creel, on any given week, more than 20,000 newspaper columns were filled with material
gleaned from CPI handouts. Realizing that many Americans glided right past the front
page and headed straight for the features section, the CPI also created the Division of