The American Press and the Government during

War

The Alien and Sedition ActsPrompted by a conflict with France’s navy after

the French revolutionMade it illegal to criticize the federal governmentSigned by John AdamsLasted from 1798-1801

the Civil WarAbraham Lincoln closed over 300 opposition

newspapersHe also censored dispatches sent by telegraph

World War IWoodrow Wilson signs both the Espionage and the

Sedition ActsMakes it illegal to print, write or even speak

anything disloyal to the government of America

HUAC and WW II Just prior to World War II in 1938,

the Congress forms a special committee to investigate anyone who is disloyal to America in the House of Representatives

This is called the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC)

They investigate people suspected of being radicals or socialists – even going after the Boy Scouts and Shirley Temple

Korea Conflict: the 1950sJoe McCarthy and the Red ScareSenator uses his power on the

HUAC to create paranoia about communists

He even goes after the army angering President Eisenhower a former general

Eventually Edward Murrow defuses is power on television

Vietnam: the 1960s Television coverage of the war is unprecedentedMany blame the images and commentary for

turning public opinion against the warEspecially after Walter Cronkite says on the CBS

news that he feels the war is not winnable

First Gulf War: 1991Coalition forces invade Kuwait to repel Saddam

Hussein’s takeoverThe Press are only allowed to visit the command

base and go in large groups to battle sites while supervised by the military

The military contact is reserved almost entirely to Press conferences held by top military leaders

In the wake of 9-11President Bush signs the Patriot Act and the

Homeland Security Act which increase the government’s ability to investigate suspected citizens without warrants and without disclosure

Polls show that Most Americans are willing to give up some freedoms for a greater sense of security

The Digital AgeWikileaks begins to post secret and sensitive

documents online gaining wide exposure in 2010Several countries have indicted Julian Assange for

stealing government documentsEdward Snowden, former CIA employee, leaks

sensitive National security documents to the press which reveal the massive scope of surveillance done under the Homeland Security Act

Currently he has been granted asylum by Russia to avoid prosecution in America