This actually reminds me of a quote in the book The Victorian Internet about the development of the telegraph. Part of the push of the first undersea cable to connect the US and European countries was a belief that with more instant communication there would be no misunderstandings and therefore no more wars. So this belief has been going on a long time.
I can't remember if it was that book, or another that referenced it, but the fame of "Florence Nightingale" has been linked to the use of the telegraph to bring back news from a previous war in Crimea:
> I also gain a sense that the time was ripe for change to the nursing profession – and that Florence Nightingale sparked a revolution in health care that was waiting to happen (prior to the Crimea, British women had not served in military hospitals). Newspapers and improved communication raised public awareness of the conditions of wounded soldiers in Crimea, and the nursing profession was gradually becoming more respected. But the museum also leaves the impression that it was more than just a case of her being in the right place at the right time. Her combination of intellect, fierce sense of vocation (fuelled by her religious faith), and her well-connected family background, meant perhaps that only Florence Nightingale could have shaped the nursing profession so effectively in that era.
The book where I read about this linked it to e.g. photos and videos from Vietnam affecting US public perception of the conflict and generally the better and rawer the communications from the war, the better it gives you an honest angle on it compared with the official propaganda.
My understanding was that the primary motivation to build those communication channels was to gain an edge on the stock markets. I don't know about the telegraph, but for radio I remember reading that that was the reason JP Morgan was financing Tesla, and he was mightily annoyed when he got scooped by Marconi.
