We hear the term “propaganda” from TV, radio, or read it on newspapers. The English term is an 18th century coinage, from the Latin feminine gerund of propagare “to propagate”, originally in Congregatio de Propaganda Fide “congregation for propagating the faith,” a committee of cardinals established 1622 by Gregory XV. So, “propaganda” emerged as a term used to define the process of conveying the religious views. In English, “propaganda” was originally a neutral term used to describe the dissemination of information in favor of any given cause. During the 20th century, however, the term acquired a thoroughly negative meaning in western countries, representing the intentional dissemination of often false, but certainly “compelling” claims to support or justify political actions or ideologies. This redefinition arose because both the Soviet Union and Germany’s government under Hitler admitted explicitly to using propaganda favoring, respectively,communism and Nazism, in all forms of public expression. As these ideologies were repugnant to liberal western societies, the negative feelings toward them came to be projected into the word “propaganda” itself.
Today, propaganda is considered to be inherently deceitful, and thus morally reprehensible. There are at least two schools of thought in terms of their approach to the propaganda. According to the first one, propaganda is about manipulation, it can never be justified. On the other hand, as it is a process of persuasion, according to the second school, it is inherently neutral or value neutral. I want to be a lenient towards the propaganda, so I take second approach. Now, I think, since propaganda is a process of persuasion, it can be used for good or for ‘ill’ purpose. There are at least two major models of propaganda:
- Authoritarian/Totalitarian model is coercion or force in support of persuasion, total censorship. In this model, authority’s “rays” permeates every aspect of society from schools to sport whether it is true or not (in fact, the authority chooses what is true or not).There exists strong police control. In addition, media are state controlled, and opposition is denied.
- Democratic model is consensus through persuasion, minimal censorship, and the propaganda, in this sense, is news rather than views (‘The Strategy of Truth’). More detailed, there is regulation rather than censorship, and media are free and act as watchdog. In democratic model opposition is essential. The process of persuasion spectrum in the this model is realized through education(how to think) that benefits the recipient, advertising(what to buy) that benefits the profits, public relations(who to like) that benefits the company, political comms(who to vote for) that benefits the party, and propaganda(what to think) that benefits the source. As we see propaganda is a part of the process of persuasion spectrum in the democratic model.
Let’s continue. After getting acquainted with two approaches as well as two models, we may say propaganda needs another definition (‘The Taylor Definition’):
Propaganda, then, is a process of persuasion which utilizes any available means (media) to persuade people (target audiences) to think and/or behave in a manner desired by the source in order to benefit the interests of that source, either directly or indirectly. However, this does not preclude the possibility that the recipient might also benefit in some way.
In fact, there are lots of definition of propaganda depending who defines it. For example, in NATO’s definition, “Any information, ideas, doctrines, or special appeals disseminated to influence the opinion, emotions, attitudes, or behavior of any specified group in order to benefit the sponsor either directly or indirectly”. NATO “goes further” and defines 3 types of propaganda:
- Black – propaganda which purports to emanate from a source other than the true one.
- Grey – propaganda which does not specifically identify any source.
- White – propaganda disseminated and acknowledged by the sponsor or by an accredited agency thereof.
However, I think it is complicated and very much detailed categorization. Generally there are two types of propaganda:
a) Cohesive propaganda creates goodwill, promotes friendship, raises morale, stresses common interests, and gains co-operation.
b) Divisive propaganda lowers morale, creates apathy, promotes dissention and panic subversion.
To conclude, considering the points above, it can be deducted that propaganda is successful and effective, when
- it is based upon credible truth
- presented in an attractive form
- it arouses a need
- it suggests satisfaction
Before finishing I want to underline brilliant “advices” to the authorities in the ‘Authoritarian model’ derived from the presentation:
- Lies will be discovered sooner or later
- How to keep secrets (e.g. real source of black propaganda) in the Information Age (Google Earth)
- The ‘truth’ must be credible, not incredible
- Or do people believe what they want to believe and dismiss alternative views as ‘mere propaganda’?
At the end, I want to show one of ‘the best propaganda songs’ performed by Johnny Wright. Listen to the lyrics carefully and consider that they are written on a country music (which is usually related to sad love stories of good ol‘ boys)
Kiss me goodbye and write me while I’m gone
Goodbye my sweetheart, Hello Vietnam.
America has heard the bugle call
And you know it involves us one and all
I don’t suppose that war will ever end
There’s fighting that will break us up again
Goodbye my darling, Hello Vietnam
A hill to take a battle to be won
Kiss me goodbye and write me while I’m gone
Goodbye my sweetheart, Hello Vietnam.
A ship is waiting for us at the dock
America has trouble to be stopped
We must stop communism in that land
Or freedom will start slipping through our hands
Goodbye my darling…
I hope and pray someday the world will learn
That fires we don’t put out will bigger burn
We must save freedom now at any cost
Or someday our own freedom will be lost
Kiss me goodbye and write me while I’m gone
Goodbye my sweetheart, Hello Vietnam.
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