Louisiana State University: LSU Professor John Maxwell Hamilton's 'Manipulating The Masses' Nationally Recognized, Win ...

Press release from Louisiana State University:

August 17, 2021

BATON ROUGE—LSU Professor of Journalism John Maxwell Hamilton’s book, “Manipulating the Masses:
Woodrow Wilson and the Birth of American Propaganda,” has been selected as the American
Journalism Historians Association’s (AJHA) 2021 Book of the Year winner. The award
recognizes the best book in journalism history or mass media history published during
the previous calendar year.

Earlier in the year, the book was awarded the Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School's
Goldsmith Book Prize.

This is Hamilton’s second AJHA Book of the Year Award, as well as his second Goldsmith
Prize. He won both in 2010 for his book, “Journalism’s Roving Eye: A History of American
Foreign Reporting.”

“This one is different,” Hamilton said, “in the sense that I hope that the award helps
draw attention to the threat posed by government propaganda. It is a thorny subject,
not easy to address effectively. But given the threat it poses to democracy, it cries
out for attention from scholars and journalists.”

Published in October 2020 by LSU Press, “Manipulating the Masses” tells the story of the enduring threat to American democracy
that arose out of World War I: the establishment of pervasive, systematic propaganda
as an instrument of the state.

AJHA member Susan Swanberg described the book as “a brilliant exposé of the machinations
of misbegotten missions of George Creel, his cronies, his Committee on Public Information
and their impact on Woodrow Wilson.” AJHA member Dianne Bragg said the significance
of this book “cannot be overstated,” and fellow member Patrick Filé described the
book as “sweeping in scope but detailed in delivery.”

Hamilton is the founding dean of LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication and a
global fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The longtime
journalist, author and public servant has had assignments in more than 50 countries
and has written extensively on foreign correspondence. His work has appeared in the
New York Times, Foreign Affairs and The Nation, among other publications.

The award follows other accolades this year for “Manipulating the Mases,” including
the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication's (AEJMC) History Division’s
Book Award and the short list for the Montaigne Medal.

For more information, contact acharbonnet1@lsu.edu.

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LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication ranks among the strongest collegiate communication programs in the country, with its
robust emphasis on media and public affairs. It offers undergraduate degrees in public relations, journalism, political communication, digital advertising and
pre-law, along with four graduate degree programs: Master of Mass Communication, Ph.D. in Media and Public Affairs, Certificate of
Strategic Communication and a dual MMC/Law degree. Its public relations students were
recently ranked the #1 team in the nation, and its digital advertising and student
media teams frequently earn national recognition.

This press release was produced by Louisiana State University. The views expressed here are the author’s own.