Radio propaganda
Radio propaganda is propaganda aimed at influencing attitudes towards a certain cause or position, delivered through radio broadcast. The power of radio propaganda came from its revolutionary nature. The radio, like later technological advances in the media, allowed information to be transmitted quickly and uniformly to vast populations. Internationally, the radio was an early and powerful recruiting tool for propaganda campaigns.
Before television, radio was by far the most effective way to prevent or promote social change. In many areas, it still is. Radio propaganda can be broadcast over great distances to a large audience at a relatively low cost. Through radio, a propagandist can bring his voice and all the persuasive power of his emotions to millions of people. A similar approach is used in every war employing radio propaganda: aside from convincing those on the home front of the necessity of war, a different kind of propaganda must be directed towards the enemy. Radio became a powerful propaganda tool because it ignored national borders and made enemy lines more accessible. One of the most common ways hosts got the civilian and enemy populations to listen to their broadcasts was by dropping leaflets from hot air balloons or airplanes. Most programs were broadcast on selected stations at certain times of the day; the dropped leaflets explained exactly when and where the broadcasts could be heard.
World War II
The use of radio as a wartime propaganda tool was made famous during World War II by broadcasting organizations such as Voice of America and by shows such as Tokyo Rose, Axis Sally, and Lord Haw Haw.Nazi Germany
The radio was an important tool of the Nazi propaganda efforts and it has been argued that it was the Nazis who pioneered the use of what was still a relatively new technology. A few months after the break out of World War II, German propagandists were transmitting no less than eleven hours a day of programs, offering most of them in English as well. In the first year of Nazi propaganda programming, broadcasters attempted to destroy pro-British feeling rather than arouse pro-German sentiment. These propagandists targeted certain groups, including capitalists, Jews, and selected newspapers/politicians. By the summer of 1940, the Nazis had abandoned all attempts to win American sympathy and the tone of German radio broadcasts towards the United States had become critical.German propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, claimed the radio was the "eighth great power" and he, along with the Nazi party, recognized the power of the radio in the propaganda machine of Nazi Germany. Recognizing the importance of radio in disseminating the Nazi message, Goebbels approved a mandate whereby millions of cheap radio sets were subsidized by the government and distributed to German citizens. It was Goebbels' job to propagate the anti-Bolshevik statements of Hitler and aim them directly at neighboring countries with German-speaking minorities. In Goebbels' "Radio as the Eighth Great Power" speech, he proclaimed:
As well as domestic broadcasts, the Nazi regime used the radio to deliver its message to both occupied territories and enemy states. One of the main targets was the United Kingdom to which William Joyce broadcast regularly, gaining him the nickname "Lord Haw-Haw" in the process. Broadcasts were also made to the United States, notably through Robert Henry Best and 'Axis Sally', Mildred Gillars.
United Kingdom
British propaganda during the First World War set a new benchmark that inspired the fascist and socialist regimes during the Second World War and the Cold War; Marshal Paul von Hindenburg stated, "This English propaganda was a new weapon, or rather a weapon which had never been employed on such a scale and so ruthlessly in the past." It was clear that large numbers of civilians could be mobilized for a massive war effort through persuasive techniques derived from the emerging disciplines of behavioral psychology and social sciences.An example of effective radio propaganda by the United States for the United Kingdom is the news reports of Edward R. Murrow. When the United Kingdom was at the time the only remaining nation opposing Germany in the autumn of 1940, Murrow covered the Battle of Britain and particularly the nightly bombing raids on London. His reports described the falling of the bombs, their impact, and the destruction they brought. As he described his approach to a London newspaper in 1941, "The official news is perhaps less important than the more intimate stories of life, work, and sacrifice."
Murrow's objective was to focus on reaching the common man through his broadcasts, intimating to the world that the United Kingdom was fighting a "people’s war," not a war for its colonies, as the American isolationists charged. He wanted Americans to know that the UK was standing tall, united in its cause and protecting Western liberties and European civilization. He wanted Americans to see the UK as their natural ally and hurry to extend a helping hand. Many say he had far greater influence than the American ambassador to London; "He was an ambassador, in a double role, representing Britain in America as well as America in Britain.... He was a diplomat without a portfolio, a spokesman for a cause."
United States
Historians believe the moment when American radio made its debut as the preeminent means of foreign news was the Munich Crisis in September 1938. Early that month, Hitler began implementing his plans to dominate Europe by demanding self-determination for Germans living in a region of Czechoslovakia known as the Sudetenland. He left few doubts that he meant to annex the Sudetenland as part of an enlarged German Reich. High-level negotiations ensued, during which Britain's Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain, journeyed to Germany three times in less than three weeks in a desperate attempt to save the peace. Fearful that a European war would once again entangle them, Americans became glued to their radios for daily and sometimes hourly updates and interpretations of the latest developments of the crisis. Within a couple of days, American listeners were bombarded with news programs, special news bulletins, and expert commentary on the crisis.America's first real venture into international broadcasting was in 1940 after Nazi victories in Europe, when the Roosevelt administration was becoming increasingly concerned about the effects of Nazi propaganda, both domestically and internationally. In August 1940, President Roosevelt issued an Executive Order establishing the Office of Coordination of Commercial and Cultural Relations to promote the use of government/private radio, and the Office of the Coordinator of Information. By 1942, the most famous radio program airing overseas became known as the "Voice of America." Even before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. government's Office of the Coordinator of Information began providing war news and commentary to commercial American shortwave radio stations for use on a voluntary basis.
A popular government wartime radio show, performed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, was known as "fireside chats". Two of the most famous programs on the radio show were entitled "On National Security" and "On the Declaration of War with Japan". "The Arsenal of Democracy" was a slogan coined by President Roosevelt during his national security radio broadcast delivered on 29 December 1940. Roosevelt promised to help the UK fight Nazi Germany by providing them with military supplies in a program known as Lend-Lease, while the United States stayed out of the actual fighting. This announcement was made a year before the attacks on Pearl Harbor, at a time when Germany had occupied much of Europe and threatened the UK. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Roosevelt delivered his famous Infamy Speech to the United States, which was broadcast to the American people. The President called for a formal declaration of war on the Empire of Japan. The Infamy Speech was brief, running to just a little over seven minutes, and Roosevelt made a point of emphasizing that the United States and her interests were in grave danger. In so doing, he sought to end the isolationist stance the United States had previously been advocating concerning involvement in the war. The overall tone of the speech was one of determined realism. Roosevelt made no attempt to glaze over the extensive damage that had been caused to the American armed forces, noting the number of American lives lost in the attack. However, he emphasized his confidence in the strength of the America to face the challenge posed by Japan.
With this declaration of war, radio became part of the propaganda campaign. Throughout the war, the attack on Pearl Harbor was frequently used in American propaganda. Direct wartime programming began shortly after the United States entry into the war. The first live broadcast to Germany, called Stimmen aus Amerika took place on 1 February 1942. It was introduced by "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and included the pledge: "Today, and every day from now on, we will be with you from America to talk about the war.... The news may be good or bad for us – We will always tell you the truth."
The Armed Forces Radio Service created a number of radio shows for American GIs stationed overseas. The most popular of these "mosquito networks" was GI Jive. In Agra, India, Virginia C. Claudon Allen broadcast nightly to counter Tokyo Rose.
Famous radio shows
During World War II, American GIs in both the Pacific and European theaters of war heard anonymous voices on the radio playing carefully selected American music and extolling the virtues of Japanese and Nazi causes. The DJs continuously encouraged GIs to stop fighting and constantly made false claims of American defeats and Japanese or Nazi victories. They frequently referred to specific American units and individuals by name, and in rare cases mentioned the names of loved ones back home. GIs dubbed the voice from Japan "Tokyo Rose"; two popular voices from Germany were "Axis Sally" and "Lord Haw-Haw"."Tokyo Rose": After being stranded in Japan while visiting her sick aunt after the United States refused to let her reenter the country after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Iva Toguri wound up at Radio Tokyo as a typist, preparing English-language scripts drafted by Japanese authorities for broadcast to the Allied troops in the Pacific. At Radio Tokyo, Toguri met captured Australian Major Charles Cousens and his associates, American Captain Wallace Ince and Filipino Lieutenant Normando Reyes. A supporter of the Allies in the war, she was delighted to meet soldiers who had been fighting for her side. Put off by her overt friendliness and pro-Americanism, the POWs initially suspected her of being a Kempeitai spy, but over the next few months they eventually came to trust her. When Radio Tokyo directed Cousens to include a woman DJ in his Zero Hour program, he asked for Toguri by name. Since their capture and conscription into Radio Tokyo, the Allied POWs had waged a covert campaign to sabotage the Japanese propaganda effort through the use of on-air innuendos, satire, and sarcastic, rushed or muffled readings. Now they had to bring a fourth party into the conspiracy, and the only person they could trust to support their efforts was Toguri. She was dubbed with the name "Tokyo Rose" and listeners came to know her by that name.
After the war, the Army Counter Intelligence Corps, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the press continued to refer to Toguri by that name as she was taken into custody and brought to trial. Those defending Toguri stated that she was clearly "forced" to broadcast for the Japanese and was always a loyal American, shown by her many attempts to return home, which were continuously rejected. They also pointed to the lack of "tangible" evidence; American investigators never discovered any Japanese documents with the name "Tokyo Rose" because "Tokyo Rose" was a name coined by American GIs. However, under the United States Constitution, treason is the act of providing "aid and comfort" to an enemy. It does not say that force, loneliness, trickery, coercion, or fright are mitigating factors in favor of traitors. On 6 October 1949, Toguri was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $10,000. She served less than half that time and was pardoned by President Gerald Ford.
"Axis Sally" was the pseudonym of Mildred Gillars, an American broadcaster employed by the Third Reich in Nazi Germany to proliferate propaganda during World War II. By 1941, the U.S. State Department advised American nationals to return home, but Gillars chose to stay in Germany after her fiancé, a German citizen named Paul Karlson, refused to marry her if she returned to the United States. Shortly afterwards, Karlson was sent to the Eastern Front, where he died in action. In 1940 she obtained work as an announcer with the Reichs-Rundfunk-Gesellschaft, German State Radio. On 7 December 1941, Gillars was working in the studio when the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was announced. She broke down in front of her colleagues and announced her allegiance to the East. However, since she decided to stay in Germany, Gillar was faced with the prospect of joblessness or prison, so she produced a written oath of allegiance to Germany and returned to work, her duties being limited to announcing records and participating in chat shows. She soon acquired several names amongst her GI listeners, including Berlin Bitch, Berlin Babe, Olga, and Sally, but the one that became most common was "Axis Sally."
Her most successful show was known as Home Sweet Home. Home Sweet Home attempted to exploit the fears of American soldiers about the home front. The broadcasts were designed to make the soldiers cast doubt on their mission, their leaders, and their prospects after the war. Another show was known as Midge at the Mike, broadcast to late fall 1943. Gillar played American songs interspersed with defeatist propaganda and anti-Semitic rhetoric, as well as G.I.’s Letter box and Medical Reports in 1944, in which Gillars used information on wounded and captured U.S. airmen to cause fear and worry in their families. She was convicted of treason by the United States in 1949 following her capture in post-war Berlin. Her arrest came about after the U.S. attorney general specially dispatched prosecutor Victor C. Woerheide to Berlin to find and arrest Gillars. He only had one solid lead: Raymond Kurtz, a B-17 pilot shot down by the Germans, recalled that a woman who had visited his prison camp seeking interviews was the broadcaster. Gillars was indicted on 10 September 1948, and charged with 10 counts of treason, but only eight were presented at her trial, which began on 25 January 1949. The prosecution relied on the large number of her programs recorded by the Federal Communications Commission to demonstrate her active participation in propaganda activities against the United States. It was also shown that she had made an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler. She was sentenced to 10 to 30 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
"Lord Haw-Haw" was a pseudonym for William Joyce, German radio's most prominent English-language speaker. He hosted a propaganda show on a radio program called Germany Calling, broadcast by Nazi German radio to audiences in the UK on the station
Reichssender Hamburg. The program started on 18 September 1939 and continued until 30 April 1945, when Hamburg was overrun by the British Army. Through his broadcasts, the Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda attempted to discourage and demoralize British, Canadian, Australian, and American troops and the British population within radio range to suppress the effectiveness of the Allied war effort through propaganda and to motivate the Allies to agree to peace terms leaving the Nazi regime intact and in power. The Nazi broadcasts prominently reported on the shooting down of Allied aircraft and the sinking of Allied ships, presenting discouraging reports of high losses and casualties among Allied forces. Although listening to his broadcasts was highly discouraged, many Britons did indeed tune into them. In 1940, at the height of his influence, Joyce had an estimated 6 million regular and 18 million occasional listeners in the United Kingdom.
At the end of the war, Joyce was captured by British forces at Flensburg, near the German border with Denmark. Spotting a dishevelled figure resting from gathering firewood, intelligence soldiers engaged him in conversation, asked if he was Joyce, and when he reached in his pocket for his false passport, the soldiers, believing he was armed, shot him in the buttocks, leaving four wounds. Joyce was charged on the basis that, even though he had misstated his nationality to gain possession of a British passport, until it expired this entitled him to British diplomatic protection in Germany, and therefore he owed allegiance to the King of England at the time he commenced working for the Germans. Joyce was convicted and sentenced to death on 19 September 1945.