U.S. Mass Media and the Idea of the “Americas” in Buenos Aires, 1940–50

U.S. Mass Media and the Idea of the “Americas” in Buenos Aires, 1940-1950

This paper will examine how U.S. mass media, created as part of a U.S. government World War II wartime propaganda campaign, became popular and integrated into public culture in Buenos Aires. Beginning in 1940, the U.S. government, in cooperation with major U.S. media corporations, created informational news-based radio and print programming that were specifically targeted at neutral, mass consuming Argentina. Several of these media became exceedingly popular in Buenos Aires. This paper examines the politics of transnational media's production, its emphasis on the idea of 
American regional unity, and its popularity amid World War II and the rise of Peronism. It will pay particular attention to the significance of U.S. media and the idea of the "the Americas" as a part of political identities in Buenos Aires and amid changing national cultural protectionist policies.