The pro-German American newspaper "The Fatherland," published shortly before the United States entered the First World War (1914-1917), displayed a failure of public relations in terms of defining and offering themes likely to convince a target audience to side with Germany. By looking at a public relations campaign undertaken by the paper, a study examined the goals of "The Fatherland's" founders, the newspaper's likely audiences, the problems encountered, and the major themes that the paper's writers employed in attempting their strategy. The newspaper eventually gained a circulation of 75,000. Findings showed that (1) the editor sought to sway Americans to the German side, building on Americans' respect for German character, against the sympathies of the nation and its media for the British and against the tide of events of war; and (2) the argumentative style of the articles was a further hindrance to convincing Americans, among other ideas, that the Germans were better friends to them than the British, which resulted in the newspaper's audience narrowing to German-Americans and pro-Germans. (Forty-five notes are included.) (MS)