World War I had a great impact on journalism. The attempt of the Woodrow Wilson administration to censor not only newspaper accounts of the war but books, magazines, and other attempts to present the truth caused a strong reaction by the press in the effort to gain journalistic freedom. Moreover, the public relations manipulation of the Wilson administration, what we would today call "spin doctoring," led to a significant increase in objectivity of press accounts during and after the war.

Walter Lippmann, a highly respected journalist and commentator, warned at the time that manipulation of the press through government's "public relations" was highly dangerous, and could send nations spinning into war. That legacy of distrust has continued to the present day, with perhaps a pause for World War II when there was less public display of pessimism regarding the war's aims.

The...