What We Should Anticipate if the U.S. Enter WWIII

 The United States has fought through many wars. Some involved fighting oversees while others involved fighting on the homeland or both. Journalists have struggled to get their voices heard during war periods. Dating back to WWI journalists have been issued different rules that they must follow when reporting on war. Is this a violation of journalists first amendments rights or is this a valid protection for the United States?

World War I and II: 

World War I and II had the most censorship. Was this because these were extremely big wars?Maybe, but it also may have been a cover up by the government. 

The Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918 suppressed the voices of journalists. It put restrictions on what journalists could write about and report to the world. The government claims that the reason behind the suppression was because they wanted to "protect" the country's military and their plans for attack. Officials were worried that certain information would give other countries the means to plan attacks or to gain knowledge about a U.S. attack. 

Daniel Smyth says in his article Avoiding Bloodshed? US Journalists and Censorship in Wartime, that "The Post Office blocked about seventy-five newspapers from mail, including the Public for saying America should avoid loans and increase taxes to pay for the war and the Milwaukee Leader for saying

America was fighting for 'washed up allies'." This is one of the many examples that Smyth gives explaining the censorship actions the U.S. government took against journalists. Many journalists faced criminal charges or had to face the truth that their publication would not be published. 

World War II had very similar restrictions to journalism. Journalists began to conclude that some people may be restricting their speech to protect themselves. For example, Smyth says the U.S. restricted journalists from reporting on, "movements of the president (this rule rankled many reporters who believed President Roosevelt used it to hide travels to his mistress)." Another example, "General Douglas MacArthur suppressed information that presented him or his forces unflatteringly and blocked casualty updates unless correspondents described them as 'light' or 'low'." Although people speculate that public figures are trying to protect themselves from sabotage or attacks, there is reason to believe that it was done for other reasons. In later wars such as the Korean War and the Vietnam War this rule to protect officials in not reinstated. 

What Does This Mean if We Have WWIII? 

During war the U.S. has used measures to censor journalists from expressing war matters. As time has gone on most of those restrictions have changed or gone away. In the Korean, Vietnam, and Persian Gulf War the restrictions were open ended and easier to get away with. However, it has been argued that the restrictions were limited because the wars took place oversees and did not endanger American citizens. 

Does that mean that World Wars are the most restricted wars for journalists? History says yes. World War I and II have had the most restrictions and have censored the most against journalists. 

In the past few weeks we have seen Russia and Ukraine go head to head. Today it was announced that
Russia will begin the fight. The United States has already begun poking its way into war matters with these two countries. Will this be the next World War III? The answer is unknown, but the outlook as of today, February 14th does not look bright. This means that not only citizens and the world will be separated into a battle, but journalists may face restrictions on their rights to speech. 

The United States has censored journalists many times before we know they are not afraid to do it again. With Joe Biden as president it is clear that the U.S. will most likely enter the war immediately. Biden has tried to keep his foreign affairs a secret, but the people deserve to know what is going on. The real answer lies within history and the future. Now is the time for journalists to begin writing, to begin informing the people. They need to prepare for the restrictions and censorship that may lie in the near future.