After reading sections 1-11 in Peter and Simonson's Mass Communication and American Social Thought, the work of Jane Addams immediately intrigued me for a few reasons. First, was the overall concept of Hull House which she opened in 1889 for new immigrants arriving in Chicago and getting acclimated to live in America and second, her overall views of theater and the impact the stage had on this group of youth.
Hull House
In "The House of Dreams" Addams explores the dangers of the theater as a place where young people can satisfy the craving for conceptions of life higher than that which the actual world offers them. (Addams) Growing up, children can use their imagination to create scenes with their toys and dolls but as they age, Addams depicts this imagination may come from reading books or for the welfare child, going to the show. As one who loves broadway, I could relate to the feeling you have as the curtains close after a show, being swept up in an imaginary world with new the possibilities, emotions and ideas running through your head that you've never thought before. The problem here is that theater has a strong power that forecasts life for the youth and may create a false image of the real world.
Is it better to live in complete reality with just the facts or let your imagination run wide and dream the impossible? A modern day issue similar to Addams concerns would be reality television. Millions of viewers now tune in on a weekly basis to watch "real people" put in unique survival, dating and life style circumstances. The rise of realty television is staggering. In 2001-2002, reality TV accounted for about 22% of the prime time TV audience watching the top 10 programs. By 2011, it accounted for 56%, an increase of almost 155% (MarkingCharts) But has realty television consumed our lives and changed the thought process and perception of youth like theater did in the early 1900's?
Readings 1 through 11 in “Mass Communication and American
Social Thought” by Peters & Simonsen present varying opinions on forms of
new communication from 1897 to 1931. As Cooley’s “The Process of Social Change”
suggests, social, cultural and political life all change when new media of communication
are introduced. In these readings, themes emerge of freedom, adventure and a
better world – as well as the negative side of being presented with these new
adventures and how they change people and the world adversely.
Cooley, Park & Burgess, Dewey, DuBois, Lasswell, Bernays
and Sapir discuss the positive elements to the new forms of communication.
Cooley, Park & Burgess, Dewey, DuBois and Lasswell touch on the themes of
freedom and “a better world” communication creates. The move from word of mouth
to written records was “revolutionary” said Park & Burgess, and “news has
freed mankind from the control of political parties and social institutions.” Communication
allows everyone to share in a common life, proposes Dewey. With communication, “learning
and teaching come into being and there is no event which may not yield
information” (Dewey). When combined with education, communication “forms the principal
free institution, without which no other sort of freedom could long endure, and
by the aid of which we may hope to gain more freedom than we have … freer development
of individual involves, of course, a freer development of the social order”
(Cooley).
DuBois relates art and beauty to communication, discussing “all sorts
of ways we are hemmed in and our new young artists have got to fight their way
to freedom.” DuBois hopes for a day where art will be reviewed and acclaimed by
“free and unfettered judgment.” Through the art of the written word in the propaganda of World War I, Lasswell
explores how President Woodrow Wilson “embodied the faith of the idealists in a
better world.” In his propaganda, Wilson speaks of a “better world, when wars should
be no more and a brotherhood of democratic peoples should bury their heritage
of ancestral rancor, and march toward a world of fellowship and reconciliation”
(Lasswell). The success of this positive communication showed that “propaganda
is one of the most powerful instrumentalities in the modern world” (Lasswell). These
far-reaching techniques of communication not only increase the sheer radius of
communication but also “lessen the importance of mere geographical contiguity”
and will cause us to “remap the world both sociologically and psychologically”
said Sapir. Bernays added that while public opinion can be easily manipulated,
at the core of communication techniques for the mass distribution of ideas “is
a tenacious will to live, to progress, to move in the direction of ultimate
social and individual benefit.”
Addams, Anderson, Lippmann and Lynd & Lynd express their
views of the negative side of new forms of communication such as movies, books
and magazines. Lippmann also warns that the ideal of a well-informed public
through the news is unrealistic. A person will experience a “romantic age in
politics and is no longer moved” and the “man does not live who can read all
the reports that drift across his doorstep or all the dispatches in his
newspaper” (Lippmann). New media disengage people from reality and threaten morality. Movies “satisfy the insatiable desire to know of the great adventures
of the wide world” said Addams, but these movies are becoming people’s moral
guides and will therefore subject some of them to the “overwhelming temptation
of illicit and soul-destroying pleasures.” Anderson said books and magazines
take away individuality, as men’s minds are “filled to overflowing with the
words of other men” and men are found talking “glibly and senselessly.” In
their field study in Muncie, Ind., Lynd & Lynd found “Middletown appears to
read magazines primarily for the vicarious things in fictional form they
contain. … Since 1890, there has been a trend toward franker ‘sex adventure’
fiction.” Movie ads in Muncie also promised adventure: “go to a motion picture …
and let yourself go! … All the adventure, all the romance, all the excitement
you lack in your daily life are in – pictures! They take you completely out of
yourself into a wonderful new world” (Lynd & Lynd). Activities such as
reading are being chosen less often than going to movies and utilizing new
media.
As these authors discuss regarding communication, the sheer
number of new media that confronts society in this progressive era can be
enlightening or overwhelming, leading people down higher roads to education and
better judgment or instead making poor moral choices and losing their
identities in the face of public opinion.
After reading the
excellent excerpts from section I in the Peters & Simonson text,
I decided that I wanted to focus on the two selections regarding propaganda,
"The Results of Propaganda" fromPropaganda
Technique in World War"by
Harold Dwight Lasswell and “Manipulating
Public Opinion: The Why and the How” by Howard L. Bernays and how these two
works relate to the mass media communications world of today.
Often, the word “propaganda” invokes the
mass media campaigns of war times when governments would issue paraphernalia to
swirl up public support for the troops, raise anti-opposition fervor and just
generally influence and sway public opinion. An example of this is seen in the
Uncle Sam poster depicted below. Often, it is seen as a form of brainwashing
rather than it similarity to advertising, an evil, at times, scheme to get in
the minds of the recipients and to make them think or act in a certain way. However,
is this necessarily a bad thing? After all, advertising strives to influence
public opinion as well, often to feel positively about a product or service,
very similar to propaganda’s goals.
Socrates would never have had an imaginary girlfriend. If
Notre Dame football player Manti T’eo insisted on a face-to-face meeting with
Lennay Kekua he wouldn’t have been manipulated in a cruel hoax that led him
fall in love with a fake personality who died of fake cancer. If Socrates had
his way, no one would fall victim to catfishing, that weird phenomenon of our
internet age where someone pursues an online romance using a false identity. As
we discussed in class, Socrates, in The Phaedrus, finds truth through dialect. Face-to-face. In person.
It seems increasingly difficult to find the truth today,
even though we have more information than we can possibly process and
communication is everywhere. A friend of mine posted this picture of Bill Gates
holding a gun, along with the text of a high school commencement speech attributed
to Gates. I looked for more information and discovered that Gates didn’t
deliver the speech and the gun is a work of Photoshop.
In Chapter4 of Mass
Communication and Social Thought, we hear about publicity, public opinion,
newspapers and social control. Robert Ezra Park and Ernest W. Burgess write
about the importance of the newspaper as "the great medium of communication" that provides information used to shape public opinion. But Park and Burgess say the newspaper can't "compete with the village gossips as a means of social control."
Today, social media, blogs and Oprah are the village and newspapers can't compete with the gossip on Facebook, Twitter, MoveOn.org and the Drudge Report.
What's worse is that news reporters are sometimes complicit in a system that allows the spread of gossip and clouds the truth.
For example, in 1990, a young Kuwaiti teenager using an assumed name testified before Congress about Iraqi soldiers storming a Kuwaiti hospital, throwing premature babies out of their incubators and leaving them to die so the incubators could be taken back to Iraq. The account was reported in the press and repeated by then President George H.W. Bush. The story helped support the idea that the war against Iraq was a humanitarian issue, not one of access to oil. After the war was over, Harper's, 60 Minutes and the New York Times investigated the incubator story and discovered it wasn't true. It didn't happen. The teenage girl who testified before Congress turned out to be the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador but not a single reporter tracked down her identity.
In the book, The Press Effect, Katherine Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman write, "The conditions of war made the press more willing to accept the incubator story and less able to determine whether it was true." In chapter 8 of our text, Harold Dwight Lasswell writes about the power of propaganda, especially when people like reporters, "are drawn into the service of propaganda to amplify a master voice."
So how do we find the truth? The pressure is on all of us to search for accurate information that doesn't just affirm what we want to believe.
And always be skeptical when a stranger wants to follow on Twitter.
Jane Addams has described in “The House of Dreams” the
negative influences that play can exert over young people by exhibiting
apparent realities and conducting them to over fantasize about certain aspects
of life (Peters & Simonson 2004). This notion of plays and its influence on
society, especially among young people and moreover women, could be compared to
the influence of television soap operas in Latin America. I took this example
because I had the opportunity to be part of the excitement generated by TV soap
operas among girls and even entire families and I have been always impressed
about the negative stereotypes that some of this shows are promoting among
young girls.
Storytelling is seen as the core of traditional and
modern media and as the reason for success of a mass medium, according to Debashis
Aikat in his work about Traditional and Modern Media. Street theaters,
television and staged melodramas are included in his category of traditional and
modern media. Thus, we can see the role of plays and television soap operas as
artifacts of storytelling and communication and how both serve in the
construction of a conception of life (Aikat n.d). In addition, both help to
build personal identity through identification with characters and they also
become moral guide for audiences, as Addams has discussed.
The stories and characters personalities’ has such a
strong impact on people’s lives. Addams does not “trust in media that promote
antisocial behavior and encourages flights of fancy among socially vulnerable
audience members” (Peters & Simonson 2004). She provided some examples of
different plays that encourage criminal behavior, revenge and moreover present
some negative stereotypes of how should woman behave in order to be “seen” and
keep attending those plays. She is impressed about how all these absurdities can
occupy an important part of leisure for Chicago society (Peters & Simonson
2004)
At the
end of the reading she proposes the idea of the city of Chicago offering more adequate
public recreation as whether plays in theaters could only have a negative
impact in society (Peters & Simonson 2004). If we also relate this notion
to the role and influence that television soap operas can have in Latin America,
we would say that they affect negatively the perceptions of people about moral
and life in general. However, there are some authors who present a different
perspective and say that soap operas in Latin America might serve as a vehicle
of both recreation and education.
In
fact, Umberto Eco, an Italian semiotician and philosopher, has described that
there are two contradictory perspectives regarding the role of television. One
group of people is called “integrated”
in they defend television as tool of communication and entertainment and the
other group the “apocalypticals”
rejected TV as they see it promoting violence and being superficial (Eco 1984)
Let’s
take a look of the perspective that, Beatriz Gonzalez, one Professor of
Communications and Master in Scriptwriting in a Mexican University has to say
about the role of soap operas. According the division that Umberto Eco has done
about perspectives on TV, she proclaims herself as an “integrated”. She
discusses that soap operas, especially in third world countries, have been used
as a vehicle capable of sending messages of social development and personal
growth. Of course, she makes clear that this has not been the initial purpose
that soap operas might have had initially (Gonzalez n.d).
The term “social” soap opera it has been
defined by Gonzalez in which it can become a tool to propose solutions and ways
to combat ignorance, abuses, misery, discrimination and sexual harrashment.
Thus, we see an opposite idea of what has been presented by Addams when she
states that plays in Chicago has served as a way to escape from reality and
that they had become a “veritable house of dreams”.
An
interesting phenomenon has taken place with TV soap operas in Brasil,
especially in those last 15 years. A famous production company of soap operas,
Red Globo (Red Globe) in Brazil have been including in their soap operas themes
such as alcoholism, sexual health, organs donation, preserving the environment.
This action has result in an award in 2001 of “Business in the community awards
of excellence”. A proof of this is new
approach to soap operas had been when a soap opera named “Lazos de Sangre”
(Blood Ties) has Camila as the main character. In the story, she has Leukemia.
Later, the producers of the show conducted a comparative study to detect
changes in health services. The study titled “Efecto Camila” (“The Camille
Effect”) revealed that the National Registry of Marrow Donor in Brasil
registered an average of 20 new donors per month and then in January of 2001,
when the soap opera emphasized the topic, there were 900 registrations
(Gonzalez n.d).
On the
other hand, another perspective on soap operas that I believe is aligned in a
way with what was presented by Adams is the work presented by a Mexican
researcher who is a Master in Philosophy Studies at University of Guadalajara. Tania Arias in her work named: “Telenovela:
Construccion del desarollo humano?” (Soap operas: Construction of
human development?). In this work, she focuses mainly in the effect of the soap
operas as a mass medium of communication which affects women as individuals
externally. According to Arias, feminine
identity as presented in the different characters is a representation of the
construction of patriarchal systems. Sexist stereotypes are presented to the
audience. She explores the example of a trilogy of novels shown during 1992 to
1996 in Mexico which were called: Maria la del Barrio, Maria Mercedes y
Marimar. All of them where characterized by the same actress in the main
character. They reached a massive audience in Latin America and in Europe as
well (Arias n.d)
Here it
is a trailer of this soap opera that was very famous around the 90’s in my
country and in Latin America. I am sorry that is in Spanish. I couldn’t find it
with English subtitles but at least you see the scenes and will have a sense
about what I am talking about:
Some
elements analyzed of these three soap operas are firstly the name of the main
character: Maria. In Mexico, this is one of the most common names and if is true
that the name Mary can evoke the name of the mother of God and a sense of
virginity it is true that the name Mary can also refer to a low level of social
and economic condition. This name has a connotation of poverty and marginality.
To sum up, the three novels presents the poverty and struggles of a humble
woman whose life it is going to be transformed by a man who lives in more
privileged conditions. Those stories are fake, distortion the reality and are
full of patriarchal content. What they present is the role of the women as a
passive individual who has to wait for a man to transform her condition. The
stories present a woman subordinated to comply with some moral rules where she
is dominated by men, conditioned only to marriage, procreation and protecting
children, as Arias described in her work.
The author even remarks that there are some
soap operas which even depict a woman of high social and economic status and professionally
developed who is still emotional dependent and subordinated by men. Those kinds
of soap operas as seen by Arias do not promote equality of sexes or equal
rights to both genders. In addition, they do not promote awareness in woman
that is conducive to their self-development. Thus, those types of Mexican soap
operas reproduce patriarchal systems where woman does not find growth and
development by herself instead she is subordinated to others (Arias n.d)
By
trying to reconcile those two contrasting points of views about the role of
soap operas in Latin America and how this relate to the notion of some media
and recreation can lead to negative behaviors and thoughts, as Addams
described, I have two thoughts about this:
1)As we
have seen that some Brazilian soap operas are creating awareness and promoting
social actions such as donating organs or preserving the environment…why they
haven’t start to change and present more positive role models for woman in
which they are happy and achieve success by living their lives in a different
way and not only being subordinated to men? Does American soap operas depict the
same reality? I am not trying to be seen as a super feminist. It is just that I
believe maybe soap operas are really misleading women by not helping them to
build a more positive, realistic and independent vision of themselves and their
potential. They aren’t even portraying a healthy view of relationships and love
and I think that is dangerous. In some way, I agree with Adams in the way she
sees some plays as promoting undesirable behaviors.
2)All the
stories are displayed in those plays and soap operas are just imposed by the
creation of producers, scriptwriters or are a reflection of the current state
of society and main aspirations of man and woman? Is this what people wants to
see or it is something imposed by others?
Peters, J. D., & Simonson,
P. (2004). Mass Communication and American Social Thought. Key
Texts:1919-1968. Maryland, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
For John Dewey community was the product of democracy, and
democracy was not just a form of government. It was a way of interacting with
one another and arriving at decisions together. He saw community as an extension
in space where participants refer to, react to, and consider the actions and
opinions of others, which in turn helps them to direct their own behaviors
(Dewey. 1964). Part of the effect of community was to break down barriers that
segregate people and to create greater empathy for one another. Dewey was very much
a progressive thinker, considering these idealistic views. But at the same time
I think he was firmly grounded in pragmatism, and had an understanding of what
was actually possible to achieve in community.
A Beginner's Pocket Guide to PROPAGANDA Anon E. Mos
For those who have been and those who are yet to come.
"Authority is power that is explicit and more or less 'voluntarily’ obeyed; manipulation is the 'secret' exercise of power, unknown to those who are influenced. " C. Wright Mills, The Power Elite (1956)
" To illuminate the mechanisms of propaganda is to reveal the secret springs of social action, and to expose to the most searching criticisim our prevailing dogmas of sovereignty, of democracy, of honesty, and of the sanctity of individual opinion. " Harold Dwight Lasswell, Propaganda Technique in the World War (1927)
CONTENTS:
FOREWORD
WHAT IS PROPAGANDA?
WHAT POWER DO YOU HAVE WITH PROPAGANDA?
THE SEVEN PROPAGANDA DEVICES
HOW TO TALK TO THEM
TACTICS TO USE
HOW TO TELL THE TRUTH
WARNINGS
CONCLUSION
FOREWARD
Larzarsfeld and Merton said that people, in particular Americans, “stand in peculiar dread of the power of propaganda”; they quoted British observer, William Empson, who described people’s reaction as “a curiously girlish attitude toward anyone who might be doing propaganda. ‘Don’t let that man come near. Don’t let him tempt me, because if he does I’m sure to fall.’”(Lazarsfeld and Merton, 1948).
Propaganda according to the Institute for Propaganda Analysis is an “expression of opinion or action by individuals or groups deliberately designed to influence opinions or actions of other individuals or groups with reference to predetermined ends.” (Lee and Lee, 1939)
The truth is propaganda is everywhere and in everything. And the sneaky part is that it is not often recognized as propaganda. Propaganda according to its definition would have been around since the beginning of time; selfishness comes naturally to humans and it only makes sense that people
would try to sway other people’s opinion and actions to their advantage, a trait that comes so naturally that it is evident early in childhood. And I believe the only reason propaganda gained fame was because everybody’s eyes were opened to its immense power during the world wars and it had finally been given a name to call and identify it by.
The thing about propaganda is that is gives people spirit, it can give them hope, and it is posed to unite them under whatever stance they take. The age-old story that comes in different versions from different cultures, talks about a stick or a twig that is easily broken when on its own but a bundle of sticks have greater resistance.
There is incredible power in unity. Entire dynasties have fallen because people united against the authority, because people grew tired of being suppressed and propaganda was used to show them the way out (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1944). But sticks placed together are just sticks that happen to be near each other. There is no power or strength in them because they can be picked apart, one by one. The power in the bundle of sticks lies in what binds them, a leader, a common purpose, and a goal (Wirth, 1948). Propaganda brings this power.
What makes propaganda so effective is its psychological prowess. Because it is manipulative, it is extremely cunning and devious. It uses “magic words,” words that the audience identifies with, it uses omnibus, equivocal words, words that mean different things to different people, and it plays on people’s fears, weaknesses, and needs. People have always wanted to fit it to be a part of the group to identify with a belief. No idea or opinion is original, it all came from somewhere, from the past and is shaped by our environment and culture (Lee and Lee, 1939).
This means that no one and no idea is truly unique and each person is influenced by another (Bernays, 1928). For propaganda to work it requires intimate knowledge of the audience, it comes disguised a family, as a friend or as leader and it says this what you need, this is what you have to think; it creates the impression that this is what everyone is doing and therefore what you should be doing or thinking (Mills, 1956). It makes itself the new fad or trend; it uses build-up words, words that build interest and raises enthusiasm, words that are sincere and evoke empathy, and words that endear the audience to the message (Horton and Wohl, 1956).
It is on this basis that propaganda takes hold of mass groups of people, because nobody wants to be left out. And propaganda is able to do so because mass opinion is not the gospel truth, it is merely a mass consensus.
I believe that propaganda is very much alive and kicking in the world today, it did not die at the end of those world wars, it merely found a way to dig its
heels in deeper and perform in more subtle ways. Harold Lasswell described propaganda as “sophisticated to the extent of using print,” but this was in 1927 when the trending technology was print. Advertising and public relations has been linked to propaganda and rightly so because they are the exposed arms of propaganda; in the 1930’s advertising was known as “the propaganda menace” (Peters and Simonson, 2004), because back then propaganda was so closely linked to Nazi and Communist beliefs and was a threat to their democracy. Today, propaganda has the wealth of mass media technology at its disposal, anything and everything is exploited including the internet. The propaganda is so subtle that is not often recognized. Lasswell also said, “to illuminate the mechanisms of propaganda is to reveal the secret springs of social action, and to expose to the most searching criticism our prevailing dogmas of sovereignty, of democracy, of honesty, and of the sanctity of individual opinion” (1927). This is the true reality of propaganda.
WHAT IS PROPAGANDA?
Propaganda is everywhere.
ANYTHING and EVERYTHING can be PROPAGANDA.
Propaganda is used to influence the actions or opinions of people. Any opinion can be manipulated.
Propaganda is a quiet yet deadly weapon, it can crush the will to fight by escalating depression disillusionment and disagreement. Propaganda is one of the most powerful weapons in the world.
WHAT POWER DO YOU HAVE WITH PROPAGANDA?
Propaganda can control the germination and development of opinion.
DO use propaganda to spike the mood of any situation to the extremes. When people are uninterested, propaganda motivates them, and when they are interested, it compels them to act on it.
THE SEVEN PROPAGANDA DEVICES
1. Name Calling. Use degrading language to ridicule any opposition, label them in negatively way that will not be questioned.
2. Glittering Generality. The use of words that merit; positive words that inspire and evoke empathy and the impression of simpatico.
3. Transfer. Project and link the emotion, the symbolism related to an event, person, or item, with what you talk about to create the same emotional reaction.
4. Testimonial. You need a spokesperson to endorse your message, someone with authority on the subject, authority gained from knowledge or experience. For a positive outcome, this individual has to be favored by the audience.
5. Plain Folks. Position yourself as one of the people, a commoner that is not so different from the audience; you will give the impression that you are speaking for the people.
6. Card Stacking. When defending or providing support for your message only address and emphasize the positive parts of it to reinforce your message, ignore and deny anything negative.
7. Band Wagon. Use the argument:"everybody is doing it."
HOW TO TALK TO THEM
Do not limit your message to just words, music and art can be effective too.
Beware of "propaganda phobia," DO NOT ever use the term "propaganda," it does not help them like you.
DO NOT threaten your audience's self-image, you will have no success at all in your persuasions.
To change what people think you must look at the whole picture, do not disregard any detail in their lives, you must do research and be knowledgeable on everything about them. Your research affords you intimate knowledge of them and reveals a personal angle with which to use to persuade them to follow you.
It is important that at all times the subject of the propaganda is loved, admired, and favored. There should be sincerity and heart built into the message to build rapport with the audience, so that the audience gets the impression of realness and a sense of sympathy to the subject; speak to the heart of the people. In return, the audience will grant you their loyalty. However your job does not end here, the
audience needs to be convinced fully believe, to act upon this message.
Where to Begin:
STEP 1: : Analyze the problem. Examine the audience, the message and the idea: thorough research is the best support. Know the group leaders and their importance. Know the habits of the group: your success is in educating them to the new ideas, changing cliches, overcoming prejudices. Break it down so that they can understand and identify with it.
STEP 2: : Make it effective:This is where the research comes in, make sure your message is coming across in an effective manner, that you are persuading people to follow you.
STEP 3: : Make sure that all the group/opinion leaders are on board. Remember: People’s opinion are rarely their own, they are influenced by their surroundings and demographics.
TACTICS TO USE
Provide comfort and calm, a sense of unity for those supporting the message. And for those who are against, do not let them unify, put doubt in their own message.
Cast your message in a favorable light, make the people want to love your message.
Use Omnibus/ambiguous words, their varying meanings will benefit you.
The repetitive use of chosen “magic” words (key terms) forms habit.
Be enthusiastic about your message, especially when you deliver it, make it seem interesting otherwise you will gather no audience because your message will not stand out.
Remember: Public opinion is not the complete truth, it is only what the majority thinks. Don’t forget that you can change this.
Never show your hand, who you really are, use the people they communicate with everyday, the people they trust, so that they are manipulated so personally.
Your role is to advise or command. Your manipulation should be unknown to those you are trying to influence.
The public, the people you are trying to manipulate should not be individuals, just those who change other people's opinions matter. Your manipulation should give the impression to those being manipulated that this is the desire of the majority of them.
Do not speak to people when they are alone, the message will not be effective then. Make sure that the message is delivered when there is a group. Discussions in a group can reinforce the message, especially if the opinion leaders are present.
Convince them and always remind them that your message and idea is strong, good and profitable.
You may use varying forms of deceptions to tell your message, but never get caught in a lie:
Slant any information by selection and emphasis; Boast; Make empty promises; Use flattery; A disguise of righteous is effective; Enthusiasm; Straight-forward lies, and Inventions.
Make sure that they believe that they are serving a just cause, that victory is certain and that their loyalty to you will be advantageous to them.
Exploit whatever victory you achieve, to fortify your message and in down times, remind them of your victories to pacify their doubts.
Recruiting will always benefit you.
HOW TO TELL THE TRUTH
When you have to tell the truth DO editorialize, mingle truth and half-truth with omission, throw in some commentary and evaluation, sprinkle a little truth into your propaganda and you've told the truth (according to you).
Nothing kills your credibility faster than getting caught in a lie.
WARNINGS
Always focus on the goal, do not get distracted.
Never reveal that you are a propagandist.
Propaganda is generally known to go hand-in-hand with deceit, DO NOT get caught in a lie.
Always be aware of the public opinion, of what people think about you.
If the people turn against you in the end, know that it is because you would have taught them how
to do so.
Beware: there will be many others trying to accomplish the same goals as you. There is confusion in the world already because of conflicting propaganda.
Beware of the media, it can be used to your advantage and it can be your downfall. The media says so much already, they are so competitive and exaggerate that they trivialize issues and even cancel each other out. The media is not trusted, do not rely solely on the media to disperse your message.
Beware of CRITICISM: You will surely crumble under it, especially if your idea is morally wrong.
Confidence must always be kept even in the light of defeat; the unity of all minds is very important.
Keep a close eye on those who are loyal, watch their attitudes and behaviors at all times so that they never lose faith.
CONCLUSION
Propaganda maybe used for good or for evil, obviously as is evident from its role in shaping history. Because of its manipulative characteristic, propaganda is said go hand in hand with deceit (Horkheimer and Adorno, 1944). But propaganda can be used for good- I believe this. Sometimes what the majority of people think is right may not be what is best for them and sometimes someone has to rise to the occasion to change their minds. To change public opinion requires changing clichés, changing prejudice (Bernays, 1928), and any random individual on a soapbox will not suffice. This is not unlike trying to feed vegetables to a child, they will not want it because it is not attractive nor is it sweet but they need it for their health. So parents avail ploys like “the airplane spoon,” or disguising the vegetable- pills, vegetable/fruit juice, etc, or even employ a punishment and/or reward system, all to compel the child to do what is best for its health. The child may not like it now, but the child will be grateful for it in the future. Sometimes the end justifies the means.
In my eyes, propaganda is like a flourishing gold mine, it holds so much promise. Yes, today propaganda is used in a more subtle manner but it still exists; the media tells us what to think, what to say, how to act- they control us. It could even be argued that the news is not really the news, that what we are made to believe, as the gospel truth is editorialized information, the truth is sprinkled with omissions and half-truths, commentaries and opinions.
The Nazis and the Communists were able to use propaganda; it was especially effective in their news, to sway people in ways that have drastically changed history, in horrific ways during the world wars. I am not saying that I support them, I am merely commenting on the power they had over their people that they gained through propaganda. Had the Nazis made the right moves they would have succeeded in annihilating a complete race, all with the help of propaganda. Propaganda today does not need violence; instead, it has mass media that is more powerful weapon that makes persuasion easier. My point is that propaganda has so much potential today, it can be used for good or for evil, but this latent
power is out and anybody can harness it for anything, even something as trivial as salad dressings (Bernays, 1928).
So in the end we should be questioning if what we are getting is really the truth. How do we know that the monopoly of authority, the “small circles of men” who run the major news outlets, Viacom and Time Warner, for example, are not making the decisions on what we should know, on what should be important to us? How do we know whether our entire lives are based on propaganda? How would we know if someone is using propaganda to manipulate us? How would we know what to look for? What are the signs?
The Seven ABC’s of Propaganda Analysis, provide a some guiding rules to determine what is or is not propaganda (Lee and Lee, 1939):
1. Asertain. Figure out what the conflict in the situation is.
2. Behold. How do you feel about this conflict? What is your immediate reaction to it?
3. Concern. Stay current with the news and the conflicts around you.
4. Doubt. Don’t believe that your thoughts are your very own,
everything influences the way we think.
5. Evaluate. Ask why we think and act the way we do.
6. Find the facts. Before you decide anything make sure you have all the facts.
6. Guard. Look out for confusing words, words that may trap you, words with cryptic meanings.
would try to sway other people’s opinion and actions to their advantage, a trait that comes so naturally that it is evident early in childhood. And I believe the only reason propaganda gained fame was because everybody’s eyes were opened to its immense power during the world wars and it had finally been given a name to call and identify it by.
It is on this basis that propaganda takes hold of mass groups of people, because nobody wants to be left out. And propaganda is able to do so because mass opinion is not the gospel truth, it is merely a mass consensus.
