Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

The UK government department dealing with Foreign policy.

Propaganda organisations

organisational changes

The department of the Foreign Office engaged in propaganda and information control have gone through a number of iterations. The News Department was created in 1916 and is the longest surviving department, only abolished in 2002. It focused on dealing with the media directly. Also important have been a series of departments dealing with background briefing, the World service, the British council and covert propaganda operations. These have included the following: The Information Research Department created in 1947 and tasked as an anti-communist propaganda outfit. It was joined in the post war period by the Information Policy Department focused on 'supervising the work of UK Information Officers in posts around the world'. Working alongside from the late 1950s was the Information Executive Department (previously known as the Information Services Department) with responsibility for 'the complex practical problems of putting the agreed propaganda line across to foreign audiences'. In addition there was the Cultural Relations Department which performed the role of supervising the British Council.

Closing IRD

The organisation of propaganda changed with the closing of the IRD in 1978. Its replacement was called the Overseas Information Department which within a few years in the early 1980s became the Information Department.

The shift to 'Public Diplomacy'

It was not until after the election of the Blair government that significant changes occurred in the organisation of British propaganda. These were in train as part of the 'cool Britannia' hype of the late 1990s in concert with the Foreign Policy Centre's corporate funders. The Information Department ceased to be in 1999/2000 with the creation of the Public Diplomacy Department.

Alphabetical list of departments and organisations

• British Satellite News
• Empire Marketing Board
• Engaging with the Islamic World EIW
• Information Department
• Information Policy
• Information Research Department
• Islamic Media Unit
• London Correspondents Service
• London Press Service
• London Radio Service
• News Department
• Overseas Information Department
• Public Diplomacy Policy Department
• Public Diplomacy Board
• Public Diplomacy Department
• Public Diplomacy Group
• Public Diplomacy Strategy Board
• Wilton Park Executive Agency

People

• Rex Leeper
• Nigel Sheinwald
• Stephen Tallents
• Geoffrey Tucker
• Robert Vansittart
• Rosemary Waugh