U.S. Information Agency

Information Agency

Seal of the U.S. Information Agency
Logo of the U.S. Information Agency
Agency overview
Formed	August, 1953
Dissolved	October 1, 1999
Superseding agency	State Department, Broadcasting Board of Governors
Jurisdiction	Federal government of the United States
Headquarters	Washington, D.C.

The United States Information Agency (USIA), which existed from 1953 to 1999, was a United States agency devoted to public diplomacy. In 1999, USIA's broadcasting functions were moved to the newly created Broadcasting Board of Governors, and its exchange and non-broadcasting information functions were given to the newly created Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs at the U.S. Department of State. The agency was previously known overseas as the United States Information Service (USIS).

President Dwight D. Eisenhower established the United States Information Agency in 1953. The USIA's mission was "to understand, inform and influence foreign publics in promotion of the national interest, and to broaden the dialogue between Americans and U.S. institutions, and their counterparts abroad". The United States Information Agency (USIA) was established "to streamline the U.S. government's overseas information programs, and make them more effective". The United States Information Agency was the largest full-service public relations organization in the world, spending over $2 billion per year to highlight America’s view, while diminishing the Soviet’s side through about 150 different countries.

Its stated goals were:

Propaganda played a large role in how the United States was viewed by the world during the Cold War. American propagandists felt as though the Hollywood movie industry was destroying the image of the United States in other countries. In response to the negative portrayal of America from communist propaganda the "USIA exist[ed] as much to provide a view of the world to the United States as it [did] to give the world a view of America". The purpose of the USIA within the United States was to assure Americans that, "[t]he United States was working for a better world". Abroad, the USIA aimed to preserve a positive image of America regardless of negative depictions from communist propaganda. One notable example was Project Pedro, a secretly funded project to create newsreels in Mexico during the 1950s that portrayed Communism unfavorably and the United States positively. Journalistic articles reflecting the views promoted by the USIA were frequently published under fictitious bylines, such as "Guy Sims Fitch".