Project Kingfish 1951-1967
25
The Demise of Project Kingfish
Despite limited successes during the fifteen-year covert operation known as
Project Kingfish, its inconsistencies, lack of data concerning effectiveness in reach
ing key overseas audiences, and the growing competition of television led the USIA
to cancel its foreign newsreel program in early 1967. The Agency’s comprehen
sive report rebuked some area specialists for failing to capitalize on regional mate
rials that might be exploited by newsreels, while chiding others for overloading
the reels with policy content. The report also recommended canceling Kingfish
because it was doubtful that an unattributed U.S.-government newsreel could reach
more overseas screens, particularly in neutralist countries, than an attributed one
(USIA, 1966a, 47).
Proponents of Project Kingfish argued that it should be maintained for avail
ability during periods of exceptional crisis or propaganda opportunity. While ac
knowledging that Kingfish could prove valuable during times of crisis, the report
concluded that, “the price paid would be too costly a retainer for delivery of this one
service.” The report also cited a number of other communication outlets that could
be relied upon if the United States faced a crisis, including television, radio, speeches
on videotapes and kinescopes, and film prints air-expressed for theatrical and non
theatrical release. In other words, the USIA held that “faster media” would be uti
lized for “lasting first impression,” while “slower media” would be called upon for
“persuasive exposition of the American view” (USIA; 1966a, 49-50). Finally, the
onslaught of television led to the project’s demise, with the USIA fearing that news
reels were reaching foreign screens days after TV had already reported the identical
events. “The commercial 35mm newsreel lingers on its deathbed in America thanks
only to the transfusion from the Federal Treasury administered to its overseas mate,
Kingfish,” the USIA concluded (48). However, research on the global growth of
television places the Agency’s concerns