During the Civil War, the only piece of technology worth censoring was the telegraph, used for fast communication over long distances. New telegraph lines developed in the 1850s allowed war correspondents to cover battles as they unfolded. They outlining troop movements and strategies. President Lincoln quickly saw this as a liability, so when the Civil War began in 1861, the government censored all telegraph communications coming in and out of Washington.¹
About seven months later, however, the judiciary committee issued a statement saying that the U.S. government should be unable to interfere with telegraph communications unless absolutely necessary.¹
In World War I & II, radio replaced the telegraph as the major method of communication across a wide scale. Censors were placed on all forms of mass communication during these times, including radio broadcasts. Broadcasters were prohibited from discussing specific details ranging from information about troop movements to simple mentions of the weather.³ Anything that fell into the category of “too much information” was banned from being shared, for fear that even the slightest slip-up would provide the enemy with an advantage.
The OWI created a dedicated radio broadcast — called Voices of America — that would provide the American people with entertainment and information on the government’s own terms.²
Because the television did not become widely accessible until the Vietnam war when censorship became obsolete, it did not suffer the same treatment as other mass communication technologies. Despite this, there were still shows and movies released that would serve as propaganda, endeavoring to boost morale and driving Americans to support the war effort. In some cases, this could even be done through self-censorship, which was highly encouraged at that time.
² Video Lesson Week 11