Propaganda

Propaganda
Socialism vs Capitalism

Political campaign slogans - like the one on the left, might' be considered propaganda when they offer an over­simplified or one-sided mes­sage.

Governments use propaganda to promote desired behaviour among their citizens. This Chinese poster encourages people to adopt modern attitudes in industry and in education. 

Advertising uses some propaganda techniques in audience persuasion. This antismoking poster tries to create an associa­tion in people's minds between smoking and unattractiveness.

A World War I propaganda postcard shows the Allies— France, Russia, and Britain—as friendly soldiers united with Ser­bia against Austria-Hungary and Germany.

During the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939), this magazine cover showed a wounded man covered by a red flag, suggesting that the defeated Republicans were all Communists

Two propaganda versions of Adolf Hitler show the Ger­man dictator from opposite viewpoints. A pro-Hitler poster, portrays him as a heroic warrior crowned with a halo of light. An anti-Hitler cartoon, pictures him as a ridiculous, loudmouthed ty­rant.

Radio broadcasts can be used for propaganda. The Voice of America broadcasts news and opinions around the world.

Propaganda is one-sided communication designed to influence people's thinking and actions. A television commercial or a poster urging people to vote for a po­litical candidate might be propaganda, depending on its method of persuasion.

Propaganda differs from education in democratic so­cieties. But education in a dictatorship can involve teach­ing children and youth by techniques which could be classified as propaganda. Educators in democratic so­cieties teach people how to think, but propagandists tell them what to think. Most educators are willing to change their opinions on the basis of new evidence, but propagandists are inflexible and ignore evidence that contradicts them. Educators present all sides of an issue and encourage debate. Propagandists build the strong­est case for their views and discourage discussion.

Experts disagree about what is propaganda and what is not, and whether propaganda differs from other forms of persuasion, such as advertising and political campaigning. Some look upon all slanted communica­tion as propaganda. Others believe that the method of persuasion determines whether a message is propa­ganda. For example, the majority of advertisers and po­litical campaigners function openly and state their pur­poses truthfully. Other advertisers and political campaigners are willing to present any combination of truths, half-truths, lies, and distortions that they think will most effectively influence their audience. Some ex­perts say all these people are propagandists. Others re­gard only the second group as propagandists.

Some people consider propaganda neither good nor bad. Many favour the use of propaganda to raise money for charity. Other individuals argue that the public needs reliable information to make wise decisions, and that propaganda blocks the spreading of such information. They also fear that propaganda dulls people's minds and deadens their power of reasoning. The results of some propaganda may be short term and relatively insignifi­cant, such as the purchase of a product. Other types of propaganda can have dangerous results.

The greatest use of propaganda occurs during war­time. At such times, government propaganda campaigns urge people to save resources, volunteer for military service, support the war effort, and make sacrifices nec­essary for victory. Psychological warfare is a type of propaganda that aims to weaken the enemy's will to fight or belief in their government. A related technique, called brainwashing, is used against prisoners. It com­bines political propaganda with harsh treatment to re­duce a prisoner's resistance.

Much wartime propaganda is called covert (secret) propaganda because it comes from hidden sources. For example, a propagandist might try to discourage enemy troops by sending them counterfeit newspapers report­ing huge losses among their forces. Some covert propa­ganda is spread by people in a country who secretly support its enemies. A group of such people is called a fifth column. The opposite of covert propaganda is called overt (open) propaganda, which comes from known sources.

How propaganda works

Propaganda appeals to its audience in three ways. (1) It calls for an action or opinion that it makes seem wise and reasonable. (2) It suggests that the action or opinion is moral and right. (3) It provides a pleasant feeling, such as a sense of importance or of belonging. Political scien­tists use the term triple-appeal principle for these three techniques.

Many propaganda methods are common-sense tech­niques that resemble those of persuasive speaking. These techniques include (1) gaining people's trust, (2) simplicity and repetition, and (3) the use of symbols. However, propagandists often use such underhand methods as distortion, concealment, and lying. In na­tions ruled by dictators, governments increase the effec­tiveness of their propaganda by using censorship.

Gaining people's trust. Above all, propagandists must be believable, and their audience must consider them reliable authorities. One way to gain an audience's trust is to report unfavourable news that the audience knows or will discover. During World War II (1939-1945), the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) made propa­ganda broadcasts to Europe. The BBC began many newscasts with a report of British defeats and losses. This practice helped give the BBC a worldwide reputa­tion for truthfulness.

Another way to gain people's trust is to agree with their existing opinions. Scientists have found that people place most trust in speakers and writers whose ideas are similar to their own. As a result, propaganda is most successful if much of it agrees with what people already believe and if only a little of it is new.

Simplicity and repetition. Propaganda must be easy to understand and to remember. As far as possible, propagandists make their appeals in simple, catchy slogans that they repeat over and over. The Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler wrote: "The intelligence of the masses is small. Their forgetfulness is great. They must be told the  same thing a thousand times."

The use of symbols involves words and illustrations that bring strong responses from people. Individuals react not only to the actual meaning of words and the  actual content of pictures but also to feelings aroused  by such symbols. For example, nearly all cultures have favourable reactions to a picture of a mother and baby or to such words as homeland and justice. Propagandists try to create an association in people's minds between such symbols and their own messages. Powerful negative images are often used to increase prejudice, hostility, and hatred toward targets of propaganda.

Distortion and concealment. Propagandists deliberately exaggerate the importance of some facts and twist the meaning of others. They try to conceal facts that might prevent the response they seek from people.

They also try to shift attention away from embarrassing facts that cannot be hidden.

Lying. Deliberate lying is relatively rare as a propa­ganda technique because propagandists fear their lies might be discovered and they might lose their audi­ence's trust. Propaganda usually includes some accurate information. But some propagandists readily lie if they think they can deceive their audience. Propagandists may believe in their causes, but their chief goal is to shape and control the public's beliefs and actions.

Censorship is most common where the government controls the newspapers, television, and other means of communication. It increases the effectiveness of propa­ganda because the government can silence people who contradict its official views. See Censorship.

Who uses propaganda?

Propaganda comes from many sources. Three of the most important ones are (1) governments, (2) organiza­tions, and (3) businesses.

Governments. Nearly all governments, including democratic ones, use propaganda to win support from other nations. Governments also sponsor propaganda and information programmes to promote desired be­haviour among their own citizens. For example, govern­ment propaganda might urge people to support certain policies or to oppose foreign political systems.

Organizations represent members of various profes­sions, religions, and many other fields. During election campaigns, many organizations distribute propaganda

that supports candidates who agree with their views. Be­tween elections, organizations may also use propa­ganda to influence public opinion. Many groups employ people called lobbyists, who work to persuade legisla­tors to support their programmes. A group that tries to further its own interests by exerting pressure on legisla­tors or other officials is often called a pressure group. Group members outline their goals on such controver­sial topics as abortion, civil rights, the environment, for­eign policy issues, and nuclear energy.

Businesses often use propaganda in their advertising. For example, a mouthwash commercial on televi­sion might be aimed at people's desire to be attractive and popular. Advertising agencies employ psycholo­gists and other social scientists to study why people h certain products. They try to determine which slogans will lead to purchases. Many large businesses also have public relations departments that use propaganda to spread favourable opinions of company policies.

History

Today, the word propaganda suggests shady or un­derhanded activity, but that was not its original meaning The term came from the Latin name of a group of Roman Catholic cardinals, the Congregatio de Propa­ganda Fide (Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith). Pope Gregory XV established the committee- called the propaganda for short—in 1622 to supervise missionaries. Gradually, the word came to mean any ef­fort to spread a belief. It acquired its present meaning after World War 1(1914-1918), when writers exposed the dishonest but effective techniques that propagandists had used during the war.

Propaganda as it is used today began in the early 1900's. V. I. Lenin, who led the revolution that estab­lished Communist control of Russia, emphasized the im­portance of propaganda. He distinguished between two types of persuasion—propaganda and agitation. Lenin regarded propaganda as the use of historical and scien­tific arguments to convince the well-educated minority. He defined agitation as the use of half-truths and slo­gans to arouse the masses, whom he considered inca­pable of understanding complicated ideas. Traditionally, each Communist Party has included a unit that special­izes in agitprop— agitation and propaganda.

During World War I, the Allies—including France, Great Britain, Russia, and the United States—fought the Central Powers, led by Germany. The warring nations conducted widespread propaganda operations. The major United States propaganda effort was handled by an agency called the Committee on Public Information.

The committee distributed over 100 million posters and publications designed to increase support for the war.

Between the wars, several famous dictators used propaganda to help them achieve power. In 1922, Benito Mussolini established a Fascist dictatorship in Italy. Fas­cist propaganda promised to restore Italy to the glory of ancient Rome. Joseph Stalin, who became dictator of the Soviet Union in 1929, used propaganda and terrorism to crush all opposition. The Soviet Union had been formed under Russia's Communist leadership in 1922. In 1933, Adolf Hitler set up his Nazi dictatorship in Germany. His propaganda director, Joseph Goebbels, headed an agency called the Ministry of Propaganda and Enlighten­ment. The Nazis' effective use of education, films, press, and radio to shape opinion and behaviour remains one of the most famous examples of propaganda in the mod­ern world.

During World War II, Germany, Italy, and Japan fought Great Britain, the Soviet Union, the United States, and the other Allies. All the major powers spread propa­ganda. For example, the United States Office of War In­formation handled overt propaganda, and the Office of Strategic Services (OSSI carried out covert operations.

After World War II ended in 1945, the Cold War began. The Communist nations, led by the Soviet Union, and the non-Communist nations, led by the United States, used a variety of propaganda techniques to influ­ence world opinion, as well as their own citizens.

In 1953, the U.S. government created the U.S. Informa­tion Agency (USIA) to increase support for its foreign policy. The Voice of America, the radio division of the USIA, broadcasts entertainment, news, and propaganda throughout the world. The government has used the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to spread covert prop­aganda against governments that were unfriendly to the United States. The CIA also provided funds to establish radio networks called Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, which broadcast to Communist countries. The role of British intelligence services in spreading propaganda is more secret and consequently less well known. The

World Service of the BBC is independent from govern­ment control and has rarely been used to broadcast propaganda, except during World War II.

Since 1960. In the early 1960's, China began to chal­lenge the Soviet Union for leadership of the Communist world, and a bitter propaganda struggle developed be­tween them. Each accused the other of betraying Com­munism. In the 1970's and 1980's, several Communist and non-Communist nations at times enjoyed friendlier relations and altered their propaganda operations against one another. The United States and the Soviet Union enjoyed such relations during the early 1970's and beginning again in the late 1980s. Many experts be­lieved that the Cold War had ended, as Communists lost control in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. In 1991, the Soviet Union broke up into a number of independ­ent states. However, both Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty continued broadcasting to countries that had formerly been under Communist control, and the Voice of America also maintained its worldwide trans­missions.

Propaganda is still used in many nations in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. In the Persian Gulf War of 1991, propaganda was used as a psycholog­ical warfare tactic by both Iraq and the U.S.-led coalition that fought against it.

Related articles: Advertising, Public opinion, Brainwashing, Public relations, Fifth column, Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Joseph Goebbels, Lobbying, World War II (Propaganda), and Psychological warfare.

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