From Burma battles to 'the bright lights of Brisbane': how an Australian wartime prime minister won, lost, and recaptured American journalists’ support, 1941 to 1945
Article
Article Title | From Burma battles to 'the bright lights of Brisbane': how an Australian wartime prime minister won, lost, and recaptured American journalists’ support, 1941 to 1945 |
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ERA Journal ID | 7361 |
Article Category | Article |
Authors | |
Author | Coatney, Caryn |
Journal Title | Journalism History |
Journal Citation | 40 (4), pp. 229-239 |
Number of Pages | 11 |
Year | 2015 |
Place of Publication | Athens, Ohio, USA |
ISSN | 0094-7679 |
Web Address (URL) | http://scrippsjschool.org/publications/journalismhistory.php |
Abstract | At the height of the Pacific war, Australian Prime Minister John Curtin elevated American journalists’ roles in his governance to elicit U.S. enthusiasm for his country’s defense. This study reveals new insights into how another Allied nation’s leader expanded American press interactions to influence the White House during World War II. As a former journalist, Curtin extended his candid press talks and the fledgling Australian radio and newsreel media to involve U.S. reporters in his campaign for an escalated offensive from America’s Southwest Pacific headquarters in Brisbane, Australia. Yet he lost key American press support for preventing some of his country’s troops from fighting in the Allies’ battles in Burma. Through a rare analysis of secret diaries, confidential briefings, and unscreened newsreels, this article shows how Curtin developed remarkably uncensored American journalistic reports to reclaim positive news coverage of the U.S.-led advance from Australia to help win the war. |
Keywords | journalism history; media history; World War II; Pacific war; government-media relations; censorship; John Curtin; Franklin Delano Roosevelt |
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020 | 470105. Journalism studies |
Public Notes | Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions. |
Byline Affiliations | School of Arts and Communication |
Institution of Origin | University of Southern Queensland |
https://research.usq.edu.au/item/q2x99/from-burma-battles-to-the-bright-lights-of-brisbane-how-an-australian-wartime-prime-minister-won-lost-and-recaptured-american-journalists-support-1941-to-1945
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