Smith-Mundt

Swedish Meatballs’s post on Smith-Mundt, with its rare quoting of Dave Grossman (perhaps SM was motivated by this post), shows how the Smith-Mundt Act has been distorted over the years to become something it was never intended to be. Because of this, as SM points out, Smith-Mundt needs to be drastically revised, or better, yet, ditched.

Forgotten is the purpose and focus of the Act. The Act focused on raising the quality of American information programs that was so dysfunctional as to actually aid the enemy (sound familiar?). Discussions about domestic broadcasting were focused on Free Speech and guaranteeing the government wouldn’t compete with rich domestic broadcasters.

Meatball One asks

Might an abolition of Smith-Mundt open the door to aggressive, intelligent, and creative methods for manufacturing a reformed and resilient Will among the homeland’s citizenry for the long and grinding wars we are told to expect and accept?

Current mythical “prohibitions” limiting the Defense Department are seemingly based on Defense moving into the realm of State and assuming its liabilities, but only partially. For example, for State to even discuss any literature or photos it is broadcasting overseas requires clearance, a series of hurdles Defense has not adopted.

Unlike today, there were memories of not only Hitler’s effective ownership and thus monopolizing broadcast mediums, but also of the Creel Committee (See ZenPundit for a short bit on Creel) in the United States. There was a strong public backlash against what was perceived as an attempt to manipulate domestic public opinion.

If the Executive Branch fully embraced the prohibition against propagandizing the domestic public, the roles of the President’s press secretary’s, including Tony Snow and Dana Perino, would have a very different role (perhaps their office would look and sound more like their United Kingdom’s counterpart… note the references to the PM and the “PMOS” and the overall failure to state the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman has his or her own identity or beliefs).

Meatball One closes his post with these two questions:

So what do you say, Bernays – any hidden costs? Is this where democracy ends or perhaps where democracy only truly can begin?

The answer: Yes and no to both. In part, Smith-Mundt included a response to Bernays’ activities thirty-five years earlier, namely the avoidance of active and direct domestic engagement, but not silencing the conversation or denying transparency. During the massive restructuring of the United States to counter the emerging ideological threat coming from all angles (remember the National Security Act of 1947 was passed during the two years of debate on Smith-Mundt), Smith-Mundt was to protect democracy, not from itself but from the outside. Protection inside was mainly for the broadcasters, which Benton vigorously and successfully courted the broadcasters and continued to do so afterward its passage in a period of increasingly rapid (relatively) news cycles and accessibility.

The Swede is right, something significant needs to be done with Smith-Mundt, but attempts at an outright dismissal will be met by a swift and emotional counter-reaction. What is necessary is a conversation on the topic to understand its purpose and intent.

See quotes on the Act or about the Act here and here.

One thought on “Smith-Mundt

  1. The IO against self is really propaganda directed at the domestic audience to build and maintain support for the war effort, and counterpropaganda to neutralize enemy propaganda and mitigate its effect on national will.PSYOP products designed to bolster national will are no longer accepted by half the domestic audience. Look at the reaction to the Freedoms Watch spots. We are a divided nation. We can’t even agree on what propaganda is.
    Products designed to counter enemy propaganda would quickly receive push back from the domestic purveyors of it and their partners in the Legislative Branch, the same body that would have to repeal Smith-Mundt. Not going to happen.
    NGO’s, .org’s and individuals aren’t subject to Smith-Mundt. IO against self will be conducted by political parties and their surrogates and cut outs.

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