An Analysis of a Newsmap From January 3, 1944
by
Ardil
Newsmaps were weekly posters published by “the Magill-Weinsheimer Company … [of] Chicago, under contract with the War Department.”[1] The posters were given out “to military installations, government and civilian groups working on War Department projects, certain depository libraries as designated by Congress, and one copy to Congressmen, if requested.”[2] The Newsmaps were part of a series published from April 1942 to March 1946.[3] This paper focuses on the Newsmap published on January 3, 1944, which described events from December 22-29, 1943. The poster used a variety of techniques to increase morale, from specific omission of facts to a newspaper-like color scheme. It was, in short, a piece of propaganda.
The Newsmaps were “prepared and distributed by Army Orientation Course, Morale Services Division,”[4] meaning that these maps were published specifically to increase the morale levels of the soldiers. Selection of stories was biased toward raising morale, by telling of the great Allied victories on all fronts. It left out almost all Axis victories. For example, there was an entire heading devoted to the sinking of a single destroyer, the KMS Scharnhorst, but it completely left out the sinking of five other major Allied vessels in the same week. The destroyer USS Brownson was bombed by the Japanese off of Cape Gloucester, but it was only given a word or two. In the earliest sinking that week, the HMS Worcester hit a mine, but somehow it merited no mention. There were three sinkings in that week involving U-boats, but none of them were mentioned, even though one was the sinking of a U-boat. This may be because Newsmap thought that U-boats were too intimidating for the public because they were hard to see or escape from,[5] and that the thought of a U-boat in any situation could be demoralizing. References to attacks by the Axis powers either avoided discussing or minimized the impacts.
Details and statistics were also curated to encourage a positive outlook for the Allied forces. The Newsmap showed some tools that were used by Axis powers to retreat, such as a ripping hook for railroad tracks, and showed the readers images demonstrating their results. The reference to retreating Germans and their ineffective measures to destroy the tracks would almost certainly have raised morale. The poster claimed that 300 tons of bombs were dropped on the Cape Gloucester area, but according to the New York Times, only 200 tons were dropped.[6] This is a significant variation of 50% extra. The poster also stated the losses of airplanes on each side in the battle for Cape Gloucester. These statistics were not easily verifiable; given the tendency of pilots to claim as theirs every plane that they shot at that went down, the statistics were likely to be significantly skewed. There are some problems that can easily be fixed, yet nearly all planes that went down were often claimed as kills by multiple nearby aircraft.[7] This resulted an overstatement of total planes downed. Consistent with other choices, these exaggerated statistics inflated Allied accomplishments. The authors were under contract with the War Department, so it would make sense that in order to please their clients, they would select whatever viewpoint was the most advantageous for morale. The authors do not seem to have made any attempt to provide an unbiased news source.
This Newsmap used a black, white, and blue color scheme, conjuring up images of newspapers and feelings of reliability in those who read it.[8] The similarity to a newspaper made it seem more credible, obscuring the bias and enhancing effectiveness.
As can be expected of a nation at war, there was a contrast between the treatment of allied and enemy combatants in the propaganda. All named people were American allies whereas all enemies were described merely as targets, forces, or other impersonal phrases.
The concluding text of the Newsmap issued a call for “every man and woman, from the front line to the remotest hamlet to do his or her full duty,” implying that it was everyone’s duty to support the war in any way that they could. While this aligned with patriotic feelings, it ignored those who did not support the war, such as pacifists.
Overall, this propagandistic message had the potential to improve the morale of the soldiers on the front lines and those working in production at home. This was very important to the military, because a loss of morale could mean the loss of the will to fight, creating potentially reluctant troops and overcautious commanders. On the other hand, when troops were presented only with good news, true analysis became nearly impossible. If readers accepted the message presented in the poster, they would think that the Allies were going to win, and feel encouraged and goal-oriented in their work.
This was probably a relatively efficient use of resources, because the major technique used - omission - is so effective. As long as victories existed somewhere, victories could be reported. A continual impression of progress toward final victory could create a significant increase in morale, enough to persuade a soldier to keep fighting. While the scale of the actual impact of this propaganda is debatable and challenging to measure, it is almost certain that they had some positive effect on the United States military.
This poster represents propaganda in one of its purest forms. It was issued with the specific aim of raising the morale of those helping in the war effort. The Newsmap offers an initial impression of completeness; on closer analysis, the authors have omitted many important events, while picking out Allied victories to include in the Newsmap for a given week. The Newsmap quotes statistics that are either incorrect or questionable. It neither argues nor persuades, but simply omits all bad news. This projects an incorrect picture of the war’s progress, without requiring the Newsmap distributor to place anything blatantly false on the posters. This Newsmap was published to raise morale, but as a news source, it left much to be desired.
Appendix A: full list of major ships sunk Dec 22-29, 1944
Primary Sources
Footnotes
[1] "Newsmaps Produced by the Army Service Forces Relating the Week's Military Events during World War II, 4/1942 - 3/1942," National Archives and Records Administration, , accessed October 28, 2018, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/533027.
[2] Ibid.
[3] "World War Two Newsmaps," Digital Library, , accessed October 30, 2018, https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/NMAP/.
[4] Army Orientation Course, "Newsmap. Monday, January 3, 1944 : Week of December 22 to December 29, 1943, 225th Week of the War, 107th Week of U.S. Participation," Digital Library, October 19, 2006, , accessed October 28, 2018, https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc942/#who.
[5] "Anti-Submarine Detection," Juno Beach Centre, October 22, 2018, , accessed October 30, 2018, https://www.junobeach.org/canada-in-wwii/articles/anti-submarine-detection/.
[6] FRANK L. KLUCKHOHN. 1943. “RECORD BLOW HITS CAPE GLOUCESTER; 200 Tons of Bombs Smash Area -- Australians Make a Gain in New Guinea.” The New York Times. The New York Times. December 9, 1943. https://www.nytimes.com/1943/12/09/archives/record-blow-hits-cape-gloucester-200-tons-of-bombs-smash-area.html.
[7] "Military History Journal - Vol 5 No 1," Myths of the Battle of Britain - South African Military History Society - Journal, April 20, 2007, , accessed October 30, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20070420131221/http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol051dt.html.
This includes an example of this effect in action.
[8] John Williams, "Your Brand's True Colors," Entrepreneur, March 07, 2007, , accessed October 30, 2018, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/175428.
[9] V & W Destroyer Association, HMS Worcester, , accessed October 28, 2018, http://vandwdestroyerassociation.org.uk/HMS_Worcester/index.html., "HMS Worcester," U-Boat Records - Allied Warships, , accessed October 28, 2018, https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4254.html.
[10] "Official Web Site of the USS Leary DD/DDR 879 Reunion Group," USS Leary, , accessed October 28, 2018, http://www.usslearyddr879.com/.
[11] "HMS Hurricane (H06)," HMS Cavalier Association, , accessed October 28, 2018, http://hmscavalier.org.uk/H06/.
[12] "USS Schenck (DD-159/ AG-82)," Encyclopedia of Military History, , accessed October 28, 2018, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_USS_Schenck_DD159.html.
[13] Sanderson, Bob. n.d. “USS Brownson.” USS Brownson Association. Accessed October 28, 2018. http://ussbrownson.com/blog/?page_id=15.
[14] "THE BATTLESHIP SCHARNHORST," Battleship Scharnhorst, , accessed October 28, 2018, http://www.kbismarck.com/scharnhorst.html.
The Newsmaps were “prepared and distributed by Army Orientation Course, Morale Services Division,”[4] meaning that these maps were published specifically to increase the morale levels of the soldiers. Selection of stories was biased toward raising morale, by telling of the great Allied victories on all fronts. It left out almost all Axis victories. For example, there was an entire heading devoted to the sinking of a single destroyer, the KMS Scharnhorst, but it completely left out the sinking of five other major Allied vessels in the same week. The destroyer USS Brownson was bombed by the Japanese off of Cape Gloucester, but it was only given a word or two. In the earliest sinking that week, the HMS Worcester hit a mine, but somehow it merited no mention. There were three sinkings in that week involving U-boats, but none of them were mentioned, even though one was the sinking of a U-boat. This may be because Newsmap thought that U-boats were too intimidating for the public because they were hard to see or escape from,[5] and that the thought of a U-boat in any situation could be demoralizing. References to attacks by the Axis powers either avoided discussing or minimized the impacts.
Details and statistics were also curated to encourage a positive outlook for the Allied forces. The Newsmap showed some tools that were used by Axis powers to retreat, such as a ripping hook for railroad tracks, and showed the readers images demonstrating their results. The reference to retreating Germans and their ineffective measures to destroy the tracks would almost certainly have raised morale. The poster claimed that 300 tons of bombs were dropped on the Cape Gloucester area, but according to the New York Times, only 200 tons were dropped.[6] This is a significant variation of 50% extra. The poster also stated the losses of airplanes on each side in the battle for Cape Gloucester. These statistics were not easily verifiable; given the tendency of pilots to claim as theirs every plane that they shot at that went down, the statistics were likely to be significantly skewed. There are some problems that can easily be fixed, yet nearly all planes that went down were often claimed as kills by multiple nearby aircraft.[7] This resulted an overstatement of total planes downed. Consistent with other choices, these exaggerated statistics inflated Allied accomplishments. The authors were under contract with the War Department, so it would make sense that in order to please their clients, they would select whatever viewpoint was the most advantageous for morale. The authors do not seem to have made any attempt to provide an unbiased news source.
This Newsmap used a black, white, and blue color scheme, conjuring up images of newspapers and feelings of reliability in those who read it.[8] The similarity to a newspaper made it seem more credible, obscuring the bias and enhancing effectiveness.
As can be expected of a nation at war, there was a contrast between the treatment of allied and enemy combatants in the propaganda. All named people were American allies whereas all enemies were described merely as targets, forces, or other impersonal phrases.
The concluding text of the Newsmap issued a call for “every man and woman, from the front line to the remotest hamlet to do his or her full duty,” implying that it was everyone’s duty to support the war in any way that they could. While this aligned with patriotic feelings, it ignored those who did not support the war, such as pacifists.
Overall, this propagandistic message had the potential to improve the morale of the soldiers on the front lines and those working in production at home. This was very important to the military, because a loss of morale could mean the loss of the will to fight, creating potentially reluctant troops and overcautious commanders. On the other hand, when troops were presented only with good news, true analysis became nearly impossible. If readers accepted the message presented in the poster, they would think that the Allies were going to win, and feel encouraged and goal-oriented in their work.
This was probably a relatively efficient use of resources, because the major technique used - omission - is so effective. As long as victories existed somewhere, victories could be reported. A continual impression of progress toward final victory could create a significant increase in morale, enough to persuade a soldier to keep fighting. While the scale of the actual impact of this propaganda is debatable and challenging to measure, it is almost certain that they had some positive effect on the United States military.
This poster represents propaganda in one of its purest forms. It was issued with the specific aim of raising the morale of those helping in the war effort. The Newsmap offers an initial impression of completeness; on closer analysis, the authors have omitted many important events, while picking out Allied victories to include in the Newsmap for a given week. The Newsmap quotes statistics that are either incorrect or questionable. It neither argues nor persuades, but simply omits all bad news. This projects an incorrect picture of the war’s progress, without requiring the Newsmap distributor to place anything blatantly false on the posters. This Newsmap was published to raise morale, but as a news source, it left much to be desired.
Appendix A: full list of major ships sunk Dec 22-29, 1944
- On December 23, the HMS Worcester struck a mine in the North Sea, and was declared a total structural loss.[9]
- On December 24, the USS Leary was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic by U-275.[10]
- On December 24, the HMS Hurricane was torpedoed by U-415 and scuttled next day.[11]
- On December 24, U-645 was depth charged by USS Schenck,NE of the Azores.[12]
- On December 26, the USS Brownson was bombed off Cape Gloucester, New England by Japanese bombers.[13]
- On December 26, KMS Scharnhorst was sunk about 100 miles North of Norway, in the Barents Sea.[14]
Primary Sources
- Army Orientation Course. 2006. “Newsmap. Monday, January 3, 1944 : Week of December 22 to December 29, 1943, 225th Week of the War, 107th Week of U.S. Participation.” Digital Library. [United States.] Army Orientation Course. October 19, 2006. https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc942/m1/1/.
- This is the source of a higher-resolution image of the Newsmap used. This was accessed due to the low quality of the scan provided with the assignment.
- FRANK L. KLUCKHOHN. "RECORD BLOW HITS CAPE GLOUCESTER; 200 Tons of Bombs Smash Area -- Australians Make a Gain in New Guinea." The New York Times. December 09, 1943. Accessed October 29, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/1943/12/09/archives/record-blow-hits-cape-gloucester-200-tons-of-bombs-smash-area.html.
- “Anti-Submarine Detection.” 2018. Juno Beach Centre. October 22, 2018. https://www.junobeach.org/canada-in-wwii/articles/anti-submarine-detection/.
- “HMS Hurricane (H06).” n.d. HMS Cavalier Association. Accessed October 28, 2018. http://hmscavalier.org.uk/H06/.
- “HMS Worcester.” n.d. U-Boat Records - Allied Warships. Accessed October 28, 2018. https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4254.html.
- “Newsmaps Produced by the Army Service Forces Relating the Week's Military Events during World War II, 4/1942 - 3/1942.” n.d. National Archives and Records Administration. National Archives and Records Administration. Accessed October 28, 2018. https://catalog.archives.gov/id/533027.
- “Official Web Site of the USS Leary DD/DDR 879 Reunion Group.” n.d. USS Leary. Accessed October 28, 2018. http://www.usslearyddr879.com/.
- Sanderson, Bob. n.d. “USS Brownson.” USS Brownson Association. Accessed October 28, 2018. http://ussbrownson.com/blog/?page_id=15.
- “THE BATTLESHIP SCHARNHORST.” n.d. Battleship Scharnhorst. Accessed October 28, 2018. http://www.kbismarck.com/scharnhorst.html.
- “USS Schenck (DD-159/ AG-82).” n.d. Encyclopedia of Military History. Accessed October 28, 2018. http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_USS_Schenck_DD159.html.
- V & W Destroyer Association. n.d. HMS Worcester. Accessed October 28, 2018.http://vandwdestroyerassociation.org.uk/HMS_Worcester/index.html.
- Williams, John. 2007. “Your Brand's True Colors.” Entrepreneur. March 7, 2007. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/175428.
- “World War Two Newsmap Collection.” n.d. Connecticut Digital Archive | Connect. Preserve. Share. University of Conneticut. Accessed October 28, 2018. https://archives.lib.uconn.edu/islandora/object/20002:860233405.
Footnotes
[1] "Newsmaps Produced by the Army Service Forces Relating the Week's Military Events during World War II, 4/1942 - 3/1942," National Archives and Records Administration, , accessed October 28, 2018, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/533027.
[2] Ibid.
[3] "World War Two Newsmaps," Digital Library, , accessed October 30, 2018, https://digital.library.unt.edu/explore/collections/NMAP/.
[4] Army Orientation Course, "Newsmap. Monday, January 3, 1944 : Week of December 22 to December 29, 1943, 225th Week of the War, 107th Week of U.S. Participation," Digital Library, October 19, 2006, , accessed October 28, 2018, https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc942/#who.
[5] "Anti-Submarine Detection," Juno Beach Centre, October 22, 2018, , accessed October 30, 2018, https://www.junobeach.org/canada-in-wwii/articles/anti-submarine-detection/.
[6] FRANK L. KLUCKHOHN. 1943. “RECORD BLOW HITS CAPE GLOUCESTER; 200 Tons of Bombs Smash Area -- Australians Make a Gain in New Guinea.” The New York Times. The New York Times. December 9, 1943. https://www.nytimes.com/1943/12/09/archives/record-blow-hits-cape-gloucester-200-tons-of-bombs-smash-area.html.
[7] "Military History Journal - Vol 5 No 1," Myths of the Battle of Britain - South African Military History Society - Journal, April 20, 2007, , accessed October 30, 2018, https://web.archive.org/web/20070420131221/http://rapidttp.com/milhist/vol051dt.html.
This includes an example of this effect in action.
[8] John Williams, "Your Brand's True Colors," Entrepreneur, March 07, 2007, , accessed October 30, 2018, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/175428.
[9] V & W Destroyer Association, HMS Worcester, , accessed October 28, 2018, http://vandwdestroyerassociation.org.uk/HMS_Worcester/index.html., "HMS Worcester," U-Boat Records - Allied Warships, , accessed October 28, 2018, https://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/4254.html.
[10] "Official Web Site of the USS Leary DD/DDR 879 Reunion Group," USS Leary, , accessed October 28, 2018, http://www.usslearyddr879.com/.
[11] "HMS Hurricane (H06)," HMS Cavalier Association, , accessed October 28, 2018, http://hmscavalier.org.uk/H06/.
[12] "USS Schenck (DD-159/ AG-82)," Encyclopedia of Military History, , accessed October 28, 2018, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/weapons_USS_Schenck_DD159.html.
[13] Sanderson, Bob. n.d. “USS Brownson.” USS Brownson Association. Accessed October 28, 2018. http://ussbrownson.com/blog/?page_id=15.
[14] "THE BATTLESHIP SCHARNHORST," Battleship Scharnhorst, , accessed October 28, 2018, http://www.kbismarck.com/scharnhorst.html.