Advertising America: The United States Information Service in Italy (1945-1956) (review)

The profound ideological nature of the Cold War made words, spoken and written, formidable weapons aimed at the hearts and minds of friends and foes alike. Advertising America is a welcome contribution to the already extensive scholarship on U.S. cultural approaches to the Cold War.

Simona Tobia makes abundantly clear that her purpose is not to explain U.S. cultural influence in Italy or Italian culture as a whole but to analyze the objectives of the United States Information Service (USIS) and their evolution through the 1950s. Even within this limited scope, the book provides insights on issues of cultural diplomacy and Americanization. In light of previous accounts, Tobia specifies that the process of Americanization remains vague if USIS activities are not analyzed in depth. This premise implies that U.S. influence was preponderant, but Advertising America also shows the limits of the Americanization process in Italy.

The U.S. State Department ranked target countries of its propaganda according to risk assessments and vulnerability to Communism. Among West European countries, Italy was at the top of the "Danger Zone" list, both because of its need to establish a vital democracy after the fascist decades and because it was home to the largest Communist party in the West. This warranted special attention and massive propaganda efforts, which, for example, resulted in the highest quota of Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts among U.S. allies.

Tobia provides thorough background on U.S. information diplomacy, describing in detail the various mutations of the State Department's psychological and propaganda operations after World War II and highlighting the intersecting roles of media personalities and career diplomats. Paralleling the evolution of the Fulbright exchange program, which through the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948 focused on anti-Communist propaganda, the State Department's "information" services (or International Information Administration) were increasingly dominated by diplomats bent on waging a cultural Cold War.

At first, U.S. propagandists were convinced that "popular and mass culture could play a crucial role in mobilizing the people's choices" (p. 62). Therefore, they targeted the mass audience, relying on VOA broadcasts, the publication of magazines such as Nuovo mondo, the establishment of American libraries, and, the distribution of documentaries (mostly under the aegis of the Marshall Plan) and motion pictures. In 1951, at the peak of the Truman administration's interest in psychological warfare, the budget for informational programs was raised from approximately $40 million to $130 million. VOA programs, however, were gradually cut to fifteen minutes per day and were abolished as of 1957. Also, USIS bulletins ceased to be distributed in 1953, when the agency decided to establish direct contacts with the Italian press. State Department officials also realized that the costly VOA did not reach the expected number of listeners and did not have the expected impact on the masses, who enjoyed the entertaining features of U.S. broadcasts often without absorbing the political messages. From the mid-1950s, VOA's desk officers worked within the USIS with the new aim of "colonizing" the popular Italian radio broadcasts (RAI), which began to host USIS-produced material. Public opinion polls and tuning difficulties for short- and medium-wave broadcasts were not the only reasons for this change. USIS officials had come to understand the importance of an indirect approach to cultural diplomacy, using indigenous sources and hiding the American hand as much as possible. Tobia points out that "a sort of Italianization of propaganda activities in the country started in 1953" (p. 241).

The need for indirection prompted another fundamental change. By 1952-1953, USIS shifted its main focus from the "common reader" to the Italian "opinion molders." These were intellectuals and media personalities who helped transmit the American message to the Italian public. Tobia notes that this approach to the elites was in part made possible by the Eisenhower administration's restructuring of information programs under a more autonomous U.S. Information Agency (USIA), one free from McCarthyite attacks yet...