Propaganda, Persuasion and Democracy

1. Propaganda, Persuasion and Democracy CMNS 130-04 Lecture 4 CMNS 130

2. Propaganda: Objectives • How is it defined? • History of the Term • Key Distinctions from education and from persuasion • Identify TWO Propaganda Techniques • Chomsky & Herman’s Propaganda Model • Come away from Control Room with examples of propaganda at work CMNS 130

3. Critical Theories of the Press • From critical political economy • Marx: in every epoch, the ruling ideas are the ideas of the ruling class • Media are central to the operation of capitalism • they sell goods and services • They carry economic news • They are important for coordinating supply and demand • So essential to economic system, they are controlled by the bourgeoisie, or ruling elites CMNS 130

4. Neo-Marxian views • Argue growth of capitalists/ concentration of ownership forecloses diversity • AJ Liebling: Freedom of the Press belongs to those who own one. • That is, the structure of ownership and control • if very concentrated in the hands of a few, • runs the risk that the gatekeepers may freeze out certain ideas in the desire to maximize profits ( see custom courseware, p. 119) • The media become tools to maintain the dominant ideology of capitalist power CMNS 130

5. A Marxist Model of the Press • Media should serve and be controlled by workers • Media should serve society by education, and mobilization • Must respond to the people • People have a right, with the worker’s party, to decide when to use censorship before or after the fact • Media should provide a complete picture of society, in accordance with Marxist principles, • Support progressive movements at home and abroad CMNS 130

6. The Critical View of Ideology • Ideologies are not only particular ways of seeing or systems of representation ( CC: 121) • They exclude, limit • They set the boundaries on what we are able to understand and what we accept as possible • They are always contested between elites and masses and elites • But a common strategy is to present dominant values as ‘normal’ CMNS 130

7. Critical View Cont’d • Ideologies, then, are a particular operation of the power of propaganda • Albert Camus: • Words are more powerful than munitions. CMNS 130

8. Stephen Brooks • Reminds us that the media are agents of socialization • Set the contours of modern political discourse • Agents of social learning • The process of acquiring knowledge, values, and beliefs about the world and ourselves • Contribute to what Walter Lippmann called ‘the pictures in our heads’ ( CC: 183) • Especially powerful agents of ideology on issues where personal experience is unavailable CMNS 130

9. Propaganda • Definition: • The deliberate attempt to persuade people to think and behave in a desired way consistent with benefiting those doing the persuasion • Includes advertising, public relations, and other forms • Includes censorship • More formally: an organized program of publicity to propagate a doctrine or practice CMNS 130

10. History of Term • Roots of the term lie with the Catholic Church’s attempts to overthrow the Reformation • In botany: process for sowing, germinating and cultivating ideas ( propagation) • In biology: dividing of cells: germs. CMNS 130

11. Ideological Context of Term • Connotation is negative • Implies suppression of judgment • A critical view of mass capacity • Also historically has implied war • Propaganda in service of a just war is ‘good’: what the enemy does is bad • Such moral relativism obscures its operation in service of ideology CMNS 130

12. Myths about Propaganda • Not something made for certain purposes • Not untruth • A sociological phenomenon • Instead, half truth, limited truth,truth out of context CMNS 130

13. Key Distinctions • How does it differ from education? • Education, in the humanist tradition tells people how to think • Propaganda tells people what to think: • in authoritarian regimes, the education is used for social and political engineering. • What distinguishes propaganda from other forms of persuasion ? • Key is intent: propaganda is designed to serve the self interests of the communicator • Most often associated with war ( but incorrectly) CMNS 130

14. Central Issues of Propaganda • How freely does information flow? • Who controls it? • Why? To what end? • Are we being told everything? • Is news propaganda? • If all news is propaganda are journalists and audiences merely puppets? CMNS 130

15. Common Elements of War Propaganda • The Big Lie • War atrocity stories ( the Operation Desert Storm, 1991, Kuwaiti babies) • WWI the human soap factory ( 1919) • Demonizing the Other • Deck of 52 most wanted of Saddam Hussein’s colleagues • Axis of Evil: Iraq, Syria, N. Korea • Issuance of Disinformation • Private Jessica Lynch raid • Tight communication control • Embedding journalists, news pools, joint bureau • Coercion, pre and post censorship or other uses of totalitarian power CMNS 130

16. Precedents • First World War • WWII • Gulf War 1991 • Invasion of Afghanistan(2001) • War on Iraq ( 2002) CMNS 130

17. Traditional Theories of Persuasion Appeals based on ethos ( character and credibility) Pathos ( emotion or feeling) Logos ( argument) CMNS 130

18. The Psychosocial Dimension: Totalitarian Propaganda plays on fear of other, will to security, uncertainty, tendency to conformity - especially with dehumanization, advocacy of hatred, disrespect to human life Democratic Propaganda plays on desire for well being, happiness. Sense of belongingness - the ‘good life’, noble cause, patriotism CMNS 130

19. Technique Black art: plant an authority endorsing a view Name calling and demonization of the other Glittering Generality Illustration Seek trusted third parties to support your point of view Use epithets consistent with the times ‘blackguard’ Words with a virtuous connotation: eg. Democracy, Freedom After 9-11 Operation Infinite Justice, Enduring Freedom Propaganda Methods CMNS 130

20. Transference: guilt/halo by association Testimonials Plain Folks/Populism EG. Portrayal with the flag, what will resonate well. Or photomontage/fakery Having a respected person support the view ( appeal to other authority) Aw shucks, this is what we all want. Ideas are ‘of the people’ Propaganda Methods II CMNS 130

21. Card Stacking: selective use of information Bandwagon effect Lie by omission: present preponderance of confirming information Or commission Create impression everyone doing it: spiral of silence gets to work … mass rallies Propaganda Methods III CMNS 130

22. Other techniques • Quoting out of context • Bold assertion • Twisting or Distortion • Logical Fallacies • Leaping to causal judgment • Hasty generalization • False analogy • Manipulation of Language • Delete the agent of a sentence – obscures responsibility. Instead of US declared war, War was declared. • Delete experiencer—imputes a harder fact. Instead of journalists estimated 10,000 at the demonstration, say 10,000 hit the streets. • Control Naming: Orwell: Ministry of Truth. Operation Desert Storm. CMNS 130

23. Constructing News Images • “Seeing is believing”; “The camera never lies”—are clichés which draw attention to popular beliefs and apparent faith in observation and visual representation. • However, camera positioning and angle, picture framing and lighting, image selection, photographic retouching, digital image manipulation, editorial cropping and final juxtaposition can all radically change or even invert the sense of depicted scenes—’the camera can lie”. • ‘Time for Peace: Time to Go’! (overhead) CMNS 130

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26. QUOTE OF THE DAY • “We are all propagandists to varying degrees, just as we are victims of propaganda”. • “there is no real point in making moral judgements concerning whether propaganda is a ‘good’ or a ‘bad’ thing: it merely is. Rather, redirect moral judgement ..more to the intentions and goals of those employing propaganda” • We need more propaganda, not less ( Taylor: 320) CMNS 130

27. Criteria for discerning democratic from despotic propaganda • Where propaganda is based on democratic principles • Persuasion, rather than coercion • Commitment to as much truth as possible without jeapardizing lives • Respect for individual rights and freedoms • Tolerant of minorities CMNS 130

28. Sources • Stuart Allen, Custom Courseware, pp. 270-273 • Philip M. Taylor. 2003. Munitions of the Mind: a History of Propaganda from the ancient world to present day. Manchester: Manchester University Press. • Randal Marlin. 2002. Propaganda & the Ethics of Persuasion. Toronto: Broadview Press. • Jeffery Klaehn. 2001. ‘A Critical Review and Assessment of Herman and Chomsky’s ‘Propaganda Model’ in European Journal of Communication 17(2), 147-182. • Augie Fleras. 2003. Media as Democratic Propaganda in Mass Media in Canada. Toronto. Nelson. 53-57. CMNS 130