Staking out Australia's 'effective voice' in the world: John Curtin and the war correspondents, 1941-1945©

To raise global awareness of Australia's role in Pacific conflicts, World War II Prime Minister John Curtin elicited Allied journalists' cooperation to publicise remarkably unrestrained commentaries during the censorship era. This paper reveals new insights into Curtin's development of the correspondents' bases as instruments of public diplomacy to persuade the other Allies to involve Australia in the war planning and peace negotiations. Through a rare analysis of confidential cables, secret news talks, radio chats and unscreened newsreels, this paper shows that these journalists worked with Curtin for more Allied recognition of Australia rather than reporting independently on different battle zones