The Attempt of the British Government to Hide the Real Effects of the Blitz on the British Citizens The British government was attempting to hide the real effect of the Blitz on the British citizens. It did this through a combination of censorship and propaganda. Censorship was when certain information was omitted from items such as newspapers, films and letters. This was because they could give a negative view which was the opposite of what the government wanted. This gave only positive and optimistic information such as stories, photographs and reports which showed the British people coping capably and commendably with the changes the Blitz was bringing. The main medium for censorship was films. Many major films had to be censored and changed to end on a happy note. Also if there were any dead bodies in the film, they would have to be edited out. The films were made so they would not show collapsed buildings. The government did this so that people would forget the war and any homes or family they lost. As well as films being censored, the item that was the most time consuming, was to check everyday mail and letters. This could be from soldiers at the front line to their families, or just friends keeping in touch. All of these were checked thoroughly for anything which may have a negative outlook and could lower the recipients morale. As some words had to be omitted, it was hard to make sense to the reader. Letters were not the only text based article to be censored. Newspapers were given extremely tight guide lines to follow when writing stories. They were (like films) not allowed to show any shocking images. The government did not own the paper companies, as it did with the airways of the radio, so they were harder to control. They did however do the final editing. The reason the government took such interest in the newspapers was because people from all backgrounds could read them as they were inexpensive, not like radios