The Jeremiad Over Journalism

In terms of the methodology chosen for the present project a few observations are also warranted.
Despite a Freedom of Information Act request it has not (yet) been possible to get access to
American archival material which can shed light on Americanization from a ―transmission‖
perspective after 1976. Presently, it is therefore not possibly to study which measures have been
taken by the American State Department to influence Danish journalists after 1976. This situation
coupled with the fact that important changes took place in Danish journalism after 1968 (i.e. direct
media subsidies, formalized education, and the end of party press) leaves some interesting
possibilities for future studies.
The ―appropriation section‖ as well as the content analysis has focused on Danish society after 1968
because of the above mentioned changes, but the fairly small overlap between 1968 and 1976
means that there is still much work that can be done on the topic which has not been covered in the
present dissertation. Moreover, it is important to maintain a certain critical distance to the
documents coming from the American Embassy in Copenhagen for at least two reasons. First, while
there is no reason to doubt their authenticity, it is important to remember that the State Department
documents were all written with a receiver in mind. According to Pells, the reluctance of ―officials
in the field to question the wisdom of their superior in the home office,‖ is a problem endemic to
any bureaucracy.
―Hence, the embassies tended to send reports back to Washington proclaiming that every
concert, every speaker, and every exchange program had been a smashing success, a
testimonial to the brilliance of whatever initiative was presently in vogue.‖ 627
While Pells‘ quote above seems to exaggerate the lack of sincerity in the USIA material, since
much of the information in these documents can be corroborated from other primary or secondary
sources, for example the entusiasm in the press concerning the Fulbright Program, it is still
important to keep this potential pitfall in mind. Secondly, though there is much extremely valuable
material at the National Archives about the diplomats at the American Embassy in Copenhagen, the
classification categories for the press, television, technology, culture and politics have changed over
627 Pells, Not Like Us: How Europeans Have Loved, Hated, and Transformed American Culture since World War II.
Page 87.
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