“Man buying The Evening Star from newsboy, Washington, D.C. - headline reads ‘U.S. at War with Germany.’” Library of Congress, 7 Apr. 1917.
Newspapers were bombarded with Wilson press releases disguised as news articles. 20,000+ US newspapers eager to appear patriotic daily published these verbatim. The CPI also distributed 115,000 copies daily of its own newspaper, the Official Bulletin.
However, not all of it was factual. Creel was caught diverting war news cables to restrict media access, fabricating stories, and exaggerating the war situation. This caused a huge backlash from the initially compliant, but increasingly cynical media.
"The American newspapers were misled, the American people deceived, by a statement describing the attack on our ship by German submarines…the statement was prepared by Mr. George Creel, Chair of the Committee on Public Information, who is understood to have explained that in writing the statement, he 'elaborated' the brief description of the combat forwarded by our naval officers…" - "The Committee on Public Misinformation," The New York Times
(7 July 1917) [1]
“Read the official Bulletin...WAR Information...Ask For It Here.” National Archives and Records Administration, 1917-1918.
“‘Official Bulletin’: Government is to Issue Paper of Its Own.” The Liberal Democrat, 10 May 1917. , Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.
CPI agencies also censored anti-war messages and monitored foreign-language and socialist publications, backed by the Espionage Act (1917) and Sedition Act (1918). This drove many out of business: "Freedom of speech and press is more in peril today…it is tossing the people's press to the winds…God save our last liberties when The Northwest Worker is forced to suspend." - "'Comrades of Washington'—Letter to the Editor from W. Ruble, Centralia, WA." The Northwest Worker (26 April 1917) [2]
"Official Bulletin No. 259." The United States World War One Centennial Commission, 16 Mar. 1918.
Header image: Official Bulletin, vol. 1, issue 68, The United States World War One Centennial Commission, 30 July 1917.
[1] Ponder, Stephen. “The Committee on Public Misinformation.” The New York Times, 4 Feb. 1918.
[2] “‘Comrades of Washington’—Letter to the Editor from W. Ruble, Centralia, WA.” The Northwest Worker, 26 Apr. 1917. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, Library of Congress.