SPCH 3710 Chapter 6 Outline I. History and definitions of propaganda A. The term propaganda comes from "Congregatio de propaganda fide" or "Congregation for the Propagation of Faith" in the Catholic Church's 1622 Counter-Reformation. Some believe propaganda picked up some of its negative associations or connotations of untruth from this major incident. B. Harold Lasswell's 1937 definition: "Propaganda in the broadest sense is the technique of influencing human action by the manipulation of representations. These representations may take spoken, written, pictorial or musical form." C. Roger Brown's 1958 distinction between persuasion and propaganda: 1) persuasion- symbol-manipulation designed to produce action in others 2) propaganda- when someone judges that the action which is the goal of the persuasive effort will be advantageous to the persuader but not in the best interests of the persuadee D. Edward L. Bernays 1928 book Propaganda: quote on bottom of p. 95, text. Conscious and intellegent manipulation maintains control of the masses. II. Key questions of propaganda A. What is the most effective way to change people's attitudes? B. What effect does mass comm. have on individuals and society? C Definition grants that the classification as persuasion is a subjective and individual judgment call, also makes no distinction between the techniques of the two--delineates difference only in their perceived goals G. Propaganda is used in advertising, political campaigning, and public relations III. Four major objectives of propaganda A) to mobilize hatred against the enemy B) to preserve the friendship of allies C) to preserve the friendship and, if possible, to procure the cooperation of neutrals D) to demoralize the enemy IV. Wartime propaganda and propaganda education A. Wartime propaganda is traced back to The Art of War by Sun Tsu. It became widely used in World War I B. Propaganda education became a major concern in the U.S. after WWII. The Institute for Propaganda Analysis was established in 1937. V. Seven propaganda devices - McClung Lee and Bryant Lee (1939) A. Name calling- giving an idea a bad label, used to make us reject and condemn the idea without examining the evidence 1) terrorist/terrorism- two current examples of name calling, have been called clichés in search of meanings (Hitchens, 1989) 2) United Fruit Company- In the 1950's in Guatemala. 3) Dow Chemical Company 1985- Spread incorrect medical reports claiming that an environmental protester had syphilis. B. Card Stacking -the selection and use of facts or falsehoods, illustrations or distractions, and logical or illogical statements to give the best or worst possible case for an idea, program, person, or product. 1) Grant,1978 Television Commercials-using ordinary citizens. 2) Berke, 1990 General Noriega arrest photos appeared prejudiced and dashed all hope for a fair trial C. Band Wagon- "all of us-are doing it"-- like peer pressure 1) Advertising: e.g., "the people's choice","no one does it like us" 2) Wartime- If they don't have a hero they pick a likely candidate and exaggerate his deeds 3) Government Propaganda- government needed models of production for others to emulate. (Rogers, 1983 & Batterfield, 1982) D. Testimonial having a respected person say an idea is good or having a hated person say that a given idea or program bad." 1) Commonly used for political campaigns and advertising 2) Barry Farrell (1975) Gallo Wines commercial references to Ernest and Julio Gallo as "my good friends." E. Plain Folks- a source attempts to convince the audience that ideas are good because they are 'of the people' 1) Has been becoming more common for advertising in recent years 2) Employed by Bush/Quayle and Dukakis/Bentsen during 1988 campaign F. Glittering Generality--uses a "virtue word" to make people accept something by it's label, without examining the evidence that backs up its claim 1) Product names and promotion: e.g.,Southern Comfort, fly the friendly skies 2) Politics and business--euphamisms-"credit" v. debt-"disincentive" v. penalty 3) International Relations a) Panama 1989- invasion called "Operation Just Cause" b) Dow Company-$60 million spent to re-invent the image of the napalm and Agent Orange producing company to a more humanitarian image G. Transfer- carries the authority, sanction and prestige of something respected and revered over to something else in order to make the later more acceptable." (admiration by association) 1) Advertising examples a) Cigarettes-Marlboro-- rugged, tough image/association b) Alcohol-J&B-- play Jingle Bells on Xmas commercial c) Company-manufactured Associations-Betty Crocker invented by General Mills as a seal of home-cooked quality 2) other commercial uses a) Statue of Liberty Centennial product links b) "Official Olympic products" VI. Effectiveness of the Propaganda Devices A. One-sided messages versus two-sided messages (Hovland, Lumsdaine, & Sheffield, 1949; Lumsdaine & Janis, 1953) 1) One-sided more effective for those initially agreeing with argument of message or those with lower education level 2) Two-sided messages more effective for those initially opposing argument of message or those with higher education B. High-credibility source produces greater attitude change than low-credibility source (Hovland & Weiss, 1951) C. Evidence on propaganda devices of card stacking, testimonial, and band wagon, indicates that devices work only on some people, depending also on other factors VII. "Modern" Propaganda Theories , communication theories and conclusions A.Propaganda theories: The "bullet theory (Schramm, 1971) (Ellul ,1973), "hypodermic-needle" theory (Berlo, 1960), "stimulus-response" theory (DeFleur & Ball-Rokeach, 1989) B. Media theories:"the mass media reinforce the status quo" (Lazarsfeld & Merton), "the general effect of mass communication is the reinforcement of attitudes" (Klapper) C. Conclusions 1. The Institute for Propaganda Analysis led to primitive theories- their propaganda devices show limited abilities 2. Each of the devices also shows faulty arguments