Censorship in a Different Name: Press “Supervision” in Wartime Japanese American Camps 1942–1943

Abstract

When the federal government in 1942 forced Japanese Americans into “relocation centers,” camp officials allowed them to publish newspapers “freely,” under “supervision,” without “censorship.” In reality, however, the camp press was hardly “free.” Newspapers published under governmental auspices were inevitably subject to various types of editorial interference. The camp authority's “supervision” took various forms, including pre- and post-publication reviews, selective staff employment, convocation of “meetings,” supplying of news and propaganda material, and even direct and coercive editorial interference that officials themselves admitted to be “censorship.” Camp officials also elicited self-restraint from staffers, making strict supervision or censorship unnecessary.