This thesis examines the handling of the public relations and subsequent news reporting of the 1942 Dieppe raid. Based on official communiques the Canadian newspapers initially portrayed Dieppe as success and featured human-interest stories written by war correspondents. The revelations of the heavy casualties and a more detailed explanation led some newspapers to criticize the raid, although their reactions reflected their political positions. The Canadian military conducted a campaign to sell the value of Dieppe to the Canadian public, largely patterned on the public relations plans of Mountbatten's Combined Operations Headquarters that distracted fiom failure by emphasising heroism, alleged successes, and the lessons learned. War correspondents actively assisted the military's publicity efforts. General McNaughton wanted a more truthful account, but ultimately chose coalition needs over accurate independent publicity. The information campaign although persuasive for many, left numerous Canadians unconvinced that the raid was successful.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:uvic.ca/oai:dspace.library.uvic.ca:1828/459 |
| Date | 10 April 2008 |
| Creators | Balzer, Timothy John |
| Contributors | Zimmerman, David |
| Source Sets | University of Victoria |
| Detected Language | English |
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