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Since the days of William Randolph
Hearst, the pro-war message has been delivered to the people by the news
media.
Buy a Liberty Bond. Help Furnish the Sinews of War.
But it was after World War II that the press, the radio networks, and
the fledgling television industry became fully integrated into the newly
emerging military-industrial complex.
With the "Cold War" getting under way, this complex had its work cut out
for it. Charles Wilson, Chairman of the Board of General Electric (whom
Truman had just appointed to head the Office of Defense Mobilization),
spelled out what this work was in a speech to the Newspaper Publishers
Association in 1950:
"If the people were not convinced [that the Free World is in mortal
danger] it would be impossible for Congress to vote the vast sums now
being spent to avert this danger. With the support of public opinion, as
marshalled by the press, we are off to a good start. It is our job --
yours and mine -- to keep our people convinced that the only way to keep
disaster away from our shores is to build up America's might." [125]
Charles Wilson and his cronies at GE were, of course, very eager to see
a massive military build up.
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