Hot news/cold war: The British state, propaganda, and the news media, 1948--1953

State propaganda came into its own in the 1940s as a major component of psychological warfare---first in World War II and then in the Cold War. The nuclear standoff between the Soviets and the Americans that emerged in 1949 meant that propaganda became an even more important tool in the Cold War. The British, as well as the Soviets and Americans, knew that one of the best ways to spread propaganda---language and symbols mobilized for persuasion---was through the news media. This dissertation takes a two-track approach toward the subject. First, it analyzes how British news media practices and structures developed and helped fashion a Cold War discourse. Secondly, it examines how the British state sought to use news to help build domestic consensus and to project influence overseas.; The Cold War led to greater state involvement in the domestic news media, as it became a major producer of authoritative "common sense" about real and suspected Communists. The Soviets and British Communists tried unsuccessfully to compete. The boundaries of acceptable journalism shifted. In the mainstream media, Communists were quietly purged. But the state gave up legal attempts to suppress "treasonous" Communist journalism---as long as it remained on the fringes. Overseas, British diplomats relied increasingly on propaganda to maintain prestige and influence as Britain's real power waned. The London-based international communication network, which developed with Britain's rise to world power and persisted after its decline, gave British diplomacy enormous propaganda leverage.; The dissertation uses several case studies to demonstrate how the state, the media and others negotiated a perceptual framework for Cold War news. First it examines the gyrations in the portrayal of the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1948. Then it examines covert propaganda and its connections with journalists. State and media come together in the main case study---the propaganda battle over the meaning of "peace." Finally, the dissertation examines the unsuccessful attempts to limit dissent during the first year of the Korean War, and the heightened reliance on covert propaganda that emerged from that crisis.