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Propaganda

Propaganda. Prof. Philip M. Taylor, Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds, UK www.leeds.ac.uk/ics/pmt. Let’s start with the (pre-) conceptions. Propaganda is about lying or, at best, half-truths It is about playing to emotions rather than reason

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Propaganda

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  1. Propaganda Prof. Philip M. Taylor, Institute of Communications Studies, University of Leeds, UK www.leeds.ac.uk/ics/pmt

  2. Let’s start with the (pre-) conceptions • Propaganda is about lying or, at best, half-truths • It is about playing to emotions rather than reason • It is a ‘dirty trick’ designed to get people to do something they might not otherwise have done • It is only done by ‘them’ i.e. dictators who fear public opinion – ‘we’ tell the truth • It is only done in wartime by democracies • It is an abuse of communications processes

  3. What it really is • It is a process of communications/persuasion between sender and recipient • As such, it is value-neutral • It depends for its success upon credibility • It lies on the spectrum of communication of who says what, when, how and with what effect. • To distinguish it from other forms of communication, it needs to add why • Therefore the question of intent is critical

  4. Why is intent so important? • Because what distinguishes it from other forms of communication/persuasion is that it is designed to benefit the source more than the recipient • Hence value-judgments need to be applied to the motives of the source • To talk of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ propaganda is meaningless without this • Then there is ‘effective’ and ‘ineffective’ propaganda in terms of whether the intention is translated into desired thought and/or behaviour

  5. Different types of propaganda • Black (or covert) • White (or overt) • Grey (unknown source) • Cohesive propaganda • Divisive propaganda • The ‘P’ word – publicity, public relations, psychological operations, public diplomacy, perception management

  6. Domestic or foreign • Home propaganda usually plays out under ‘information’ policy – ‘we tell the truth to our people’, ‘they tell lies about us’ • International propaganda: is it an interference with the internal affairs of other nations? • Censorship and propaganda have been traditional handmaidens – but is this possible any more in the ‘information age’ • Blurring or ‘domestic’ and ‘foreign’ within the context of globalisation

  7. Main propaganda theorists/practices • Vatican invented the word! • Propagation of cultures/germination of seeds • The authoritarian model (Mussolini, Soviet Union, Nazi Germany) • The democratic response (‘Strategy of Truth’) • Lippmann, Bernays, Hitler, Ellul

  8. Main historical campaigns • ‘the campaign against American neutrality’, 1914-17 • ‘we were hypnotised as a rabbit is by a snake’, 1918 • ‘workers of the world unite’ • ‘the free world vs. the slave world’, 1939 onwards, 1945 onwards • Free market liberal democratic capitalism vs. communism and now ‘rogue states’/’axis of evil’/the global ‘war’ on terrorism

  9. PROPAGANDA – NATO DEFINITION ANY INFORMATION, IDEAS, DOCTRINES OR SPECIAL APPEALS, DISSEMINATED TO INFLUENCE THE OPINIONS, EMOTIONS, ATTITUDES OR BEHAVIOUR OF ANY SPECIFIED GROUP IN ORDER TO BENEFIT THE SPONSOR, EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY

  10. COHESIVE PROPAGANDA • CREATE GOODWILL • PROMOTE FRIENDSHIP • RAISE MORALE • STRESS COMMON INTERESTS • GAIN CO-OPERATION

  11. DIVISIVE PROPAGANDA • LOWER MORALE • CREATE APATHY, DEFEATISM & DISCORD • PROMOTE DISSENTION, PANIC SUBVERSION, RESISTANCE, DESERTION, SURRENDER & DEFECTION

  12. PROPAGANDA PRINCIPLES • IS MOST EFFECTIVE WHEN • IT IS BASED UPON CREDIBLE TRUTH • PRESENTED IN AN ATTRACTIVE FORM • IT AROUSES A NEED • IT SUGGESTS SATISFACTION

  13. PROPAGANDA VARIANTS • PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE/OPERATIONS • PUBLIC RELATIONS/SPIN DOCTORING • ADVERTISING/MARKETING (?) • PUBLICITY • NEWS? (‘the shocktroops of propaganda’)

  14. LESSONS LEARNED -ADDITIONAL PRINCIPLES • REFRAIN FROM RIGID DOGMATISM • AVOID ANTAGONISM • IDENTIFIES ITSELF WITH THE TARGET • EXPLOITS, WHEN OPPORTUNE, WEAKNESSES IN HOSTILE PROPAGANDA TO THE MAXIMUM

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