Freedom of the press and national security in four wars: World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the War on Terrorism

This thesis evaluates the freedom of the U.S. press in World War I, World War II, the Vietnam War, and the first years of the War on Terrorism and examines how the press, in these wars, balanced its duty to report the news with protecting national security. This thesis conducted a qualitative synthesis of primary and secondary sources dealing with the U.S. press in wartime. Most primary documents were from the National Archives in College Park, Maryland, or the U.S. Army Center of Military History.;The government and military controlled the press in the wars by, among other ways, conducting censorship, passing laws against sedition, and blocking press access to cover war operations. Nevertheless, in each subsequent war the press generally became freer from governmental and military control. In each war, most members of the press agreed to rules of voluntary censorship to protect security. Still, there were multiple times when members of the press reported information that could have been dangerous. The rules varied throughout the years but primarily protected members of the military because they have been in direct danger (e.g. a rule banned mentioning troop movements). However, in World War I and World War II some rules protected U.S. civilians because of the threat of attacks by enemies on the homeland (e.g. a rule banned mentioning the location of bomb shelters). In the War on Terrorism, no rules have protected civilians, but the government should devise such rules because terrorists pose a direct danger to civilians.