"Defiance in New Mexico" / www.DefianceNM.com

A dramatic chapter from the book:

  
Click image to see reviews, etc. (or below *)

ARTICLE ABOUT THIS PROJECT (April 2017):

                                                                                          (article mentioned directly above is here) 

 

During World War II, the federal government asked America's newspapers, magazines and radio stations to help keep sensitive information from the Axis. Once America's journalists knew why they were being asked not to share news about military installations, troop movements, the weather, and other narrowly defined news stories, they all agreed to comply.

Except for KFUN radio in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

The story of the success of the Office of Censorship, and how a little station in New Mexico threatened to upset the apple cart, is told in Michael S. Sweeney's book Secrets of Victory (2001, University of North Carolina Press).

(c) Michael S. Sweeney 

 

 

Hear 40-minute interview with Dr. Sweeney about this dramatic story

To skip intro music, go to 6:00
To skip directly to Dr. Sweeney, go to 8:00
To go to story background, go to 14:00
To skip background info and go directly to "the story", go to 18:00

Jesus Lopez interview based on Dr. Sweeney's work, but with a different dramatic tone..

 

 

"During World War II, the United States government conducted an ambitious, nationwide program to prevent sensitive Allied information from falling in the hands of the Axis. The most difficult part was getting more than 10,000 newspapers and 900 radio stations to agree to censor themselves and not print or broadcast news stories that might prove valuable to the enemy. The program was voluntary. Because of the First Amendment, it had to be. Yet it proved incredibly effective. Only one radio station, the small and spunky KFUN in Las Vegas, New Mexico, refused to go along.


For several months in 1942-43, the federal Office of Censorship, a bureaucracy with thousands of employees, turned its attention to KFUN. And in the end, David beat Goliath. The little radio station agreed to comply with censorship requests, but it also got the government to change those requests. The story of one radio station’s fight for its audience is ripe for use in film, book, or documentary. I am excited that this story may find a broader audience."    
                        -Michael S. Sweeney, Ph.D.

 

 

 

Exclusive represenation for screen / TV rights - JIM TERR
Contact