AbstractsCommunication

After WWII the Dutch government wanted to be more involved in informing the public of its doings and in preparing it for the dangers that might present themselves. One of the ways to reach the public were the newsreels shown in movie theaters, which had a weekly reach of over 1 million. Through the Rijksvoorlichtingsdienst (Government Informing Service) the government installed an editorial committee which safeguarded the newsreels and determined which items should be shown and which were deemed unfit. This committee had members of the RVD, journalists and Polygoon-Profilti editors. Over the years this committee grew to a standing committee with its own morals and values. When the cold war accellerated with the events of 1948-1950, the government now had a renewed interest in the items shown in the newsreels. Their content could potentially be used in the fight against communism. This paper investigates how newsreels were made, with what convictions they were made and to what extent the government controlled or tried to control this committee. In doing so, the paper also investigates the interplay between the committee and the government in the setting of the early cold war.