The American Press and the Cold War

Beschreibung

During the Cold War, the United States enabled the rise of President Syngman Rhee’s repressive government in South Korea, and yet neither the American occupation nor Rhee’s growing authoritarianism ever became particularly controversial news stories in the United States. Could the press have done more to scrutinize American actions in Korea? Did journalists fail to act as an adequate check on American power? In the first archive-based account of how American journalism responded to one of the most significant stories in the history of American foreign relations, Oliver Elliott shows how a group of foreign correspondents, battling U.S. military authorities and pro-Rhee lobbyists, brought the issue of South Korean authoritarianism into the American political mainstream on the eve of the Korean War. However, when war came in June 1950, the press rapidly abandoned its scrutiny of South Korean democracy, marking a crucial moment of transition from the era of postwar idealism to the Cold Warnorm of American support for authoritarian allies.
During the Cold War, the United States enabled the rise of President Syngman Rhee’s repressive government in South Korea, and yet neither the American occupation nor Rhee’s growing authoritarianism ever became particularly controversial news stories in the United States. Could the press have done more to scrutinize American actions in Korea? Did journalists fail to act as an adequate check on American power? In the first archive-based account of how American journalism responded to one of the most significant stories in the history of American foreign relations, Oliver Elliott shows how a group of foreign correspondents, battling U.S. military authorities and pro-Rhee lobbyists, brought the issue of South Korean authoritarianism into the American political mainstream on the eve of the Korean War. However, when war came in June 1950, the press rapidly abandoned its scrutiny of South Korean democracy, marking a crucial moment of transition from the era of postwar idealism to the Cold Warnorm of American support for authoritarian allies.
Features the first scholarly study of American press coverage of South Korea in the 1940s and 1950s Examines the political, military, institutional, cultural, ideological, and personal factors that influenced American journalists covering South Korea Documents the largely forgotten stories of the foreign correspondents who sought to warn the United States about the rise of authoritarianism in South Korea as well as the efforts of the South Korean government to influence American public opinion Appeals to scholars of U.S. foreign relations, Cold War history, Korean history, and history of journalism

Autor*in

Oliver Elliott

Themen in »The American Press and the Cold War«

The Korean War Syngman Rhee Cold War history American Press U.S.-ROK relations American journalism South Korea's independence North Korean invasion Korean democracy American occupation of Korea authoritarian regimes American foreign policy history of American media Diplomatic history American public opinion

Stimmen zu »The American Press and the Cold War«

Details

Link teilen