海角社区 Professor John Maxwell Hamilton's 'Manipulating the Masses' Nationally Recognized, Wins AJHA Book of the Year
August 17, 2021
BATON ROUGE鈥敽＝巧缜� Professor of Journalism John Maxwell Hamilton鈥檚 book, 鈥淢anipulating the Masses: Woodrow Wilson and the Birth of American Propaganda,鈥� has been selected as the American Journalism Historians Association鈥檚 (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鈥檚 second AJHA Book of the Year Award, as well as his second Goldsmith Prize. He won both in 2010 for his book, 鈥淛ournalism鈥檚 Roving Eye: A History of American Foreign Reporting.鈥�
鈥淭his one is different,鈥� Hamilton said, 鈥渋n 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.鈥�
Published in October 2020 by , 鈥淢anipulating the Masses鈥� 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 鈥渁 brilliant expos茅 of the machinations of misbegotten missions of George Creel, his cronies, his Committee on Public Information and their impact on Woodrow Wilson.鈥� AJHA member Dianne Bragg said the significance of this book 鈥渃annot be overstated,鈥� and fellow member Patrick Fil茅 described the book as 鈥渟weeping in scope but detailed in delivery.鈥�
Hamilton is the founding dean of 海角社区鈥檚 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 鈥淢anipulating the Mases,鈥� including the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication's (AEJMC) History Division鈥檚 Book Award and the short list for the Montaigne Medal.
Learn more about John Maxwell Hamilton at /manship/people/faculty-staff/hamilton.php.
For more information, contact acharbonnet1@lsu.edu.
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海角社区鈥檚 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.