‘My object is to be of service to you’: Carl Ackerman and the Wilson administration during World War I

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-19-2017

Abstract

The press was outraged in the 1970s when investigations exposed the CIA’s use of American journalists as undercover informants during the Cold War. This was treated as a shocking break in the traditional line between journalism and government. A study of journalist Carl W. Ackerman’s activities in the Great War, however, reveals such cooperation had precedents. While reporting oversees, Ackerman, later dean of Columbia Journalism School, worked behind the scenes with officials to shape and promote the Wilson administration’s foreign policy. This paper is a first step to understanding that pervasive, close relationships between journalists and government were well established at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Intelligence and National Security

First Page

743

Last Page

757

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