United States Information Agency

The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. The agency's primary mission was to promote favorable view of the United States abroad, focusing exclusively on international audiences until 1990. USIA sponsored various educational and cultural programs, such as cultural exchanges and international broadcasting, aiming to influence foreign perceptions of American democracy and market principles.

Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies worldwide since World War II became the field operations offices of the USIA. In 1978, USIA was merged with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the Department of State into a new agency called the United States International Communications Agency (USICA). Use of the name United States Information Agency (USIA) was restored in 1982.

Stated mission

thumb|right|A propaganda poster produced by USIA, exhorting Northern Vietnamese residents to move South, in 1954.

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the United States Information Agency on August 1, 1953, The USIA's mission was "to understand, inform and influence foreign publics in promotion of the national interest, and to broaden the dialogue between Americans and U.S. institutions, and their counterparts abroad". The USIA was established "to streamline the U.S. government's overseas information programs, and make them more effective". The USIA "exist[ed] as much to provide a view of the world to the United States as it [did] to give the world a view of America". Films produced by the USIA could by law not be screened publicly within the United States due to the Smith–Mundt Act. This restriction also meant that Americans could not view the material even for study at the National Archives.

Within the US, the USIA was intended to assure Americans that "[t]he United States was working for a better world". Abroad, the USIA tried to preserve a positive image of the U.S. regardless of negative depictions from communist propaganda. One notable example was Project Pedro. This secretly funded project created newsreels in Mexico during the 1950s that portrayed communism unfavorably and the United States positively. Articles reflecting the views promoted by the USIA were frequently published under fictitious bylines, such as "Guy Sims Fitch".

Another project, this one aimed at Middle Eastern audiences, is “Tales from the Hoja.” It consists of 23 films, most of which featured marionettes made by puppeteer Mary Chase. Made between 1953 and 1958, most of the films tell variations of Hodja fables with pro-United States and anti-communist messages. For example, one film tells the story of the blind men and the elephant. The films were made available to the public through the National Archives in 2019.

The agency regularly conducted research on foreign public opinion about the United States and its policies, in order to inform the president and other key policymakers. It conducted public opinion surveys throughout the world. It issued a variety of reports to government officials, including a twice-daily report on foreign media commentary around the world. Voice of America was intended as an unbiased and balanced "Voice from America", as originally broadcast during World War II. The VOA was used to "tell America's stories ... to information deprived listeners behind the Iron Curtain".

Incidents

During the 1954 Lavon Affair Israeli operatives targeted the libraries of the U.S. Information Agency in Alexandria and Cairo, with homemade bombs, consisting of bags containing acid placed over nitroglycerine, which were inserted into books and placed on the shelves of the libraries just before closing time. Several hours later, as the acid ate through the bags, the bombs would explode. They did little damage to the targets and caused no injuries or deaths.

Abolition and restructuring

The Foreign Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act of 1998, Division G of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act, 1999, , abolished the U.S. Information Agency effective October 1, 1999. Its information and cultural exchange functions were folded into the Department of State under the newly created Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs.

When dismantled, the agency budget was $1.109 billion. After reductions of staff in 1997, the agency had 6,352 employees, of which almost half were civil service employees in the United States (2,521). About 1,800 of these employees worked in international broadcasting, while approximately 1,100 worked on the agency's educational and informational programs, such as the Fulbright program.

References

External links

Records of the United States Information Agency (USIA) in the National Archives
USIA website archives
Archive of agency Web site
Papers of Abbott Washburn (Special Assistant to the Director of the USIA, 1953 & Deputy Director of the USIA, 1953–1961), Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library