Cold War Propaganda: Infiltration Of Ideology Into Us Society By Media 

The Cold War, that began in 1945 after the end of World War II, was all about the geopolitical tension that was led by two parties, the United States and the Soviet Union. The difference in the ideology that each side carried was the fundamental cause for the enormous conflict that emerged throughout the world, which involved many nations’ political and economic understandings and relationships. It was a period of war that was fought not with weapons but with knowledge and words. Therefore, unlike other wars, it was not those on the bloody battlefields that were most affected but the lives of the nations’ civilians that were greatly impacted. In such an unstable social environment, the US had to find a way to keep their citizens as whole and to have them stand by their side during important political decision makings. Many media sources were used as propaganda to influence and manipulate the citizens’ way of thinking. The films, movies, and literatures contained thoughts and expressions that supported US’s ideology and actions throughout the Cold War. This paper will further deal with how the media was used as a tool in infiltrating ideology into the US society.

Background on Cold War Propaganda

During Cold War, the US went through an ideological struggle against Soviet Union’s communism. Even though the disconnection between the U.S.-Soviet Union relationship started out after the World War II because of their differences in ideology, they each fought to dominate in other areas as well. Development in technology and atomic weapons became a race between the two, each investing huge amounts of human and financial assets. The Cold War also extended out to space as they competed in exploration of outer world. All these events were reported to the public and it was of everyone’s interest on who the winner was going to be. If one seemed to be losing, it brought out the insecurity of the society. For example, on October 4, 1957, the Soviets succeeded in launching a Soviet R-7 intercontinental missile. This was the world’s first artificial satellite and this accomplishment was Soviet’s to be recorded in world history as the first man-made object to enter the Earth’s orbit . Such unpleasant surprises and successes of the Communists acted as a trigger to the hassles of US’s society. This is when the works of US’s propaganda comes in to relieve civilian’s worries and keep their support of Liberalism continuously rolling.

According to Cambridge Dictionary, propaganda is “information, ideas, opinions, or images, often only giving one part of an argument, that are broadcast, published, or in some other way spread with the intention of influencing people's opinions” (n.d.) . This is just what the US government gave to their citizens with their one part of an argument being the ideology of Liberalism. During the Cold War, the US government actively used media as a propaganda for several purposes. They controlled the reporting and coverage of the news on Cold War to the public by interacting with television network organizations . The government tried to disseminate the idea that US was superior than the Soviet Union and their allies by producing films, movies, and literatures that penetrate their enemies as either evil or incompetent. The arts produced during the 1950s were a representation of an ideal, white masculinity which induced pride into the citizens of the US . Overall, the works of the Cold War propaganda was to promote one political system over the other by constantly painting US as more superior, regardless of whether it was true or not.

House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC): Strict Watchdogs

The House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) was a committee of the U.S. House of Representatives that was responsible for investigating any movement of Communism within the US society . Their power and approval from the public rose right after the end of World War II due to the fear and distrust for the Soviet Union. Their target was not fixed or limited which meant that everyone, whether they were public organizations or private citizens and employees, were subjected to be captured and summoned for hearings and testimonies. They looked thoroughly into various parts of American life looking for disloyalty and during the late 1940s, the movie industry including Hollywood caught their eyes.

The motion picture industry was known to harbor a large number of Communists. Also, it was important for the House Un-American Activities Committee and the US government to take care of such intrusion of Communism in the media network. The field of media was able to impose enormous power on the thoughts of the civilians through their work, so it was crucial for the States to control them. The HUAC were persistent in ferreting out suspected Communists working in Hollywood who were regarded as potential traitors to the country. The most well-known event during the period of HUAC’s obsession over the film industry was the “Hollywood Ten” which occurred in 1947 . It was a case where a group of 10 male who were all engaged in the film industry were suspected and called in court to testify. However, they all refused to cooperate and tried to appeal their case to the public. The result for such disobedience towards the government during HUAC’s work of exiling Communism at that time was being ruled for contempt of Congress and sentenced to prison for years. This was not the only consequence for being labeled as a Communist in the Hollywood industry. Hundreds of scriptwriters, directors, actors and other staffs were added in the Hollywood blacklist which banished them from working in that industry and ran them out of business .

This had a tremendous effect on turning the media industry over to the Liberalism side. The cleanness in ideology within the industry allowed the US government the freedom to use media as a propaganda during the Cold War. Those who wished to engage in the Hollywood industry did not want to get on the wrong side of the authorities and therefore most of them followed by the Congress’s tactic guidelines. The strict blacklist policy against workers in Hollywood were continuously applied to people involved in Communist activities. This is one of the major reasons why the US society was mostly provided with media and arts that painted United States as the winner and the Soviet Union and other Communists as failures.

The Media and Arts

The peak period for the propaganda by media and arts was in the 1950s and the 1960s. In the beginning, many of the works were produced and directed by the government and they did not go to in to great lengths to hide their purpose. Messages of the movies, books, and radio series, therefore, were outspoken and straightforward. Later on, in the 1960s, the government handed over many rights to private filmmakers and industries, so the propaganda became more subtle. However, the thought that Communists were under the heels of the US government was always there as the baseline and expressed constantly through the media and arts.