Ministry of Information

In 1917 the Prime Minister David Lloyd George (1863-1945) set up a Ministry of Information. The newspaper magnate Lord Beaverbrook (1879-1964) was put in overall charge of the organisation as Minister of Information. Other appointments included the Managing Director of United Newspapers Ltd, Robert Donald (1860-1933), who became Director of Propaganda in Neutral Countries) and Lord Northcliffe, (1865-1922), another newspaper magnate, who became Director of Propaganda in Enemy Countries. The Ministry evolved from Lloyd George's decision in December 1916 to invite Donald to write a report on the effectiveness of the secret War Propaganda Bureau. As result of Donald's recommendations, the government established a Department of Information, which in turn became the Ministry of Information.