When Antanas Smetona, the newspaper's founder, became the chairman of the Council, "Lietuvos aidas" became the official newspaper of the Council on September 21, 1917. It was important for the Council to inform the Lithuanian people about its struggles and progress and developments on the war front, and to report other political news. Among its goals was the unification of all Lithuanians, irrespective of their political beliefs, in order to declare and establish an independent Lithuania. The newspaper was censored by the Germans and was required to issue German translations. The German issue was titled "Litauische Echo". At first the newspaper was published three times a week; after October 1, 1918 it was published daily, except for Mondays. The circulation in 1918 reached some 20,000 copies.