Page 40 - Historical Dictionary of Political Communication in the United States

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CRONKITE, WALTER
York Times in the number of Pulitzer Prizes won by its staff. As early as the
1930s, the Cowles newspapers emphasized photojournalism and graphic design.
This was partly because a young pollster in Iowa, George Gallup, found that
newspaper readership increased when even small illustrations accompanied news
items.
Politically, in the 1940s and 1950s, the Cowles brothers battled on behalf of
the liberal or international wing of the Republican Party against the conservative,
isolationist influences represented by other publishers, chief among them Colo-
nel Robert R. McCormick of the Chicago Tribune.
The Cowles brothers were among the strongest supporters of the 1940 GOP
presidential candidacy of Wendell Willkie and were advisers to Republican pres-
ident Dwight D. Eisenhower.
John Cowles' wife, Elizabeth, who helped found birth control and Planned
Parenthood programs in Iowa and Minnesota in the 1930s, influenced her hus-
band's political views. Mike Cowles was married four times. His third wife,
Fleur, caused him to support the innovative, avant-garde, and prohibitively ex-
pensive Flair magazine from February 1950 to February 1951.
SOURCE: The papers of John and Gardner (Mike) Cowles, Jr., on file in the Cowles
Library at Drake University in Des Moines.
Herb Strentz

CREEL COMMISSION was the first government organization created to use
public relations techniques for the United States. George Creel was a well-noted
writer, editor, and muckraker who was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson
in 1917 to be the chairman of the Committee on Public Information. The com-
mittee, later called the Creel Commission, was charged with implementing a
public relations campaign aimed at generating support for the American effort
in World War I. The commission also produced printed materials, such as pam-
phlets and brochures, to offset anti-American information sent out by the Ger-
mans. It also issued guidelines for voluntary censorship by the press.
Creel was best known for generating the support of journalists and companies
to help with the government's endeavor. Personally, he was under much scru-
tiny, as many felt he sold out from his early days as a journalist when he was
openly suspicious and wrote against big government. Despite the personal con-
troversy, his work with the Creel Commission is considered one of the most
successful publicity programs on behalf of the federal government.

SOURCES: Joseph P. McKerns, Biographical Dictionary of American Journalism, 1989;
Dennis L. Wilcox, Phillip H. Ault, and Warren A. Agee, Public Relations Strategies and
Tactics, third edition, 1992.
Jacqueline Nash Gifford

CRONKITE, WALTER (1916- ). This veteran newsman anchored the CBS
Evening News for 30 years, and his effect on television journalism was such