This 1953 Journalism Quarterly article Burton Paulu (3.7mb PDF) is required reading for anyone interested in the subject of public diplomacy, international broadcasting, and Smith-Mundt. It is a good overview of the debates at the time that have a striking resemblance to modern debates. Note the discussion of the Act’s prohibition on domestic dissemination by the State Department is not on government influence of the people but the unintended consequences of exposure and distrust of the State Department (vice Government in general).

The United states Information and Education Exchange Act of 1948 authorized our government for the first time in its history to conduct international information and educational exchange activities on a permanent basis.’l The United States had developed international information services on a limited scale in World War I, and on a global scale during World War II, justifying both operations as war measures. In peacetime, however, we had always opposed government information services, although we had officially sanctioned some cultural and educational exchange activities. The passage of this legislation, therefore, marked a significant departure from traditional American policy.

With only a few exceptions all present United States Government international information and educational exchange activities are carried on under this act. Our information services include
the widely publicized Voice of America broadcasts, the news bulletins distributed abroad by the Department of State and a comprehensive motion picture program. The cultural and educational exchange work consists mainly of the operation of American reference libraries abroad, the interchange of teachers. students and specialists and the extension of financial aid to American-sponsored schools in other countries.

…

It is impossible to review these events without noticing parallels between them and many current developments. Some of the basic issues are still being debated: the loyalty of State Department advisers and officials; the efficiency of State Department operations; and the question of whether it is safe to expose the . American people to uncensored radical opinions, especially those from abroad.

Download the whole thing here (3.7mb PDF).