United States Information Agency
| United States Information Agency | |
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| Set up: | August 1953 |
| Seat: | Washington, DC |
| Supervisory authority: | United States Department of State |
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| Household: | $ 1,109 million (1999) $ |
| Employees: | |
| Homepage: | USIA Archives |
The United States Information Agency ( USIA ; German Information Agency of the United States ), also known as the United States Information Service ( USIS ; German Information Service of the United States ), was a US agency responsible for public relations and public diplomacy . Its seat was in Washington, DC
The tasks of the agency, which was founded in August 1953, included, among other things, promoting acceptance and education about US policies abroad, promoting dialogue between Americans and American organizations and the relevant agencies abroad, and informing the US government about the reactions and Opinions on one's own politics abroad. In the beginning it was libraries that functioned under the title “United States Information Center” as part of the reeducation and reorientation policy of the American occupying power in Germany. These centers - especially in their organizational form as America Houses - should bring Germans closer to the history of the Americans, their traditions and customs, combined with a firm understanding of democracy as an orientation for the restart after the Second World War . In the course of time the institutions expanded their offerings, so that exhibitions, lecture discussions and other events were added to the original library offerings .
In 1978 the USIA was initially merged with the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs , a department of the State Department . During the reign of Jimmy Carter , the USIA was renamed the International Communications Agency (USICA). However, from 1982 the old name was restored.
In fiscal 1999, the agency had a budget of $ 1.109 billion and 190 offices in 142 countries around the world. On October 1, 1999, the USIA was integrated into the Department of State through the Foreign Affairs and Restructuring Act .
The USIA was also active in Germany, for example it operated the radio in the American sector (RIAS) in Berlin and the America Houses in several German cities.
In Austria between 1945 and 1955 around 40 Austrian photographers worked for the Pictorial Section of the Information Services Branch (ISB) to document the progress made in the reconstruction of Austria and thus to accompany the economic and social aid measures of the Americans in Austria. The archive is in the holdings of the Austrian National Library and can be viewed online in the picture archive. There was also a Vienna America House , which is now operated by the embassy .
Web links
- Archive of USIA site (English)
- USIS Austria documentation in the picture archive of the Austrian National Library .
- Recordings by the USIS radio section in the Austrian media library
literature
- Agnes Hartmann: Cold War of Ideas. The United States Information Agency in West Germany from 1953-1960 . Scientific publishing house Trier 2015. ISBN 978-3-86821-532-8 .
Footnotes
- ↑ a b USIA Fact Sheet ( Memento of the original dated May 30, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Engl.)
- ^ USIS Austria documentation in the picture archive of the Austrian National Library
