Unmasking codes of power: expanding the relatively new media to escalate war, 1941-45

Unmasking codes of power: expanding the relatively new media to escalate war, 1941-45

Abstract: As wartime leaders, Australian Prime Minister John Curtin and US President Franklin D. Roosevelt expanded film communication technologies and practices to develop codes of language signifying their personal relationships with target audiences to win endorsement for escalating the Pacific conflict. Despite the gaps in the literature of the Curtin and Roosevelt newsreels, an investigation of their visual and oral performances reveals they used the relatively new media disingenuously to appear that they were involving citizens in their Pacific decisions. This paper conducts a new semiotic comparison of rarely viewed samples of unscreened and public newsreels to show how the two leaders created rehearsed images of their close friendships with mass audiences. Although they appeared to inform and engage citizens, they selectively used film propaganda and censorship to influence public perceptions of their nations’ military roles in the Pacific battles from 1941 to 1945. Through the cinematic depictions, news film teams accomplished what Michel Foucault later described as masking power, divisive struggles and governmental tensions. The expanding wartime media provided opportunities for Curtin and Roosevelt to restructure social cinema spaces, increasingly encouraging audiences to view the national leader in an equal relationship with citizens. Few broadcast journalists challenged the two leaders’ image manipulations and they cooperated to replicate homespun messages of Curtin and Roosevelt as interacting with “the people” that resonated with wartime listeners, cinema audiences and radio magazine readers. Although the use of communication technologies has developed unevenly with successive Australian and US governments, more democratic leaders have used the relatively new media to interact with citizens by appearing more ordinary than extraordinary, showing their rapport with voters. This historical analysis indicates a continuing need for journalists to delve beyond the relatively new forms of political leaders’ communications and create substantive discussions for an informed, engaged citizenry. ©