Download Goebbels` Principles of Propaganda

Propaganda Institutionalized /
Psychological Warfare
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A brief overview of propaganda in 20th Century
(chapters 3 and 5)
Mass society and propaganda
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Growth of new audiences and mass
media (e.g., newspapers in Jacksonian
democracy in 1800s)
Growing concerns (late 19th /
beginning of 20th century)
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Higher reach of print media
Film
Radio
Domestic and foreign propaganda
Advertisement
The Print Media (from late 19th cent.)
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General circulation dailies
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In 1830 = 65 dailies and 500 weeklies
In 1870 – about 500 papers (circ. 2.6 m)
In 1900 – almost 2000 dailies and 12,000
weeklies (circ. 15 m)
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Media Barons
Late 1800s: massive circulation battle
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William Randolph Hearst’s New York Journal
Joseph Pulitzer’s New York World
Saturday Evening Post, Atlantic Monthly,
Harper’s Weekly, The Nation
Hearst’s New York Journal
Yellow journalism and the
Spanish-American War
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When an artist Frederic Remington telegrammed
Hearst to tell him all was quiet in Cuba and
"There will be no war," Hearst responded
"Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I'll
furnish the war." (Historians believe that no such telegrams
ever were sent)
Film
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Tearing Down the
Spanish Flag (1898)
Battleship Potemkin
(Eisenstein, 1926)
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Odessa steps sequence… (and
variation from Untouchables
(1987)
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Alexander Nevsky
(Eisenstein, 1938)
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Film
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Triumph of the Will (Reifensthal, 1935)
Why We Fight (Capra, 1942-45)
Film: propaganda or not?
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John Wayne’s movies?
Salvador? JFK? Top Gun?
Michael Moore’s movies?
Radio / Television / Internet
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Voice of America
Radio Free Europe
Radio Liberty
Radio Marti
Foreign radio propaganda (Moscow, North Korea,
China, BBC, German Radio, etc)
Early Government Propaganda in the U.S.:
The Committee on Public Information
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Trained "Four-Minute Men" speakers to urge their neighbors to
buy Liberty Bonds, donate to the Red Cross or join the armed
forces. Between 1917 and 1918, 75,000 Four-Minute Men and women
made a total of 7,555,190 speeches in movie houses and other public
functions
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Recruited filmmakers to produce pro-war silent features
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Developed posters urging people to buy bonds or enlist in the
army. The most famous poster was "I Want You.“
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Issued more than 6,000 news releases and 200,000 "lantern slide"
shows. Its periodicals were sent to 600,000 teachers, Chambers of
commerce, churches, fraternal societies, etc.
The Nazi Propaganda
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Hitler’s Propaganda Principles
Avoid abstract ideas—appeal to emotions
Employ constant repetition of just a few ideas
Use stereotypes / avoid objectivity
Put forth only one side of the argument
Constantly criticize enemies
Identity one special enemy for special vilification
Goebbels’ Principles of
Propaganda
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1. Propagandist must have access to intelligence
concerning events and public opinion.
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2. Propaganda must be planned and executed
by only one authority.
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3. The propaganda consequences of an action
must be considered in planning that action.
Goebbels’ Principles of
Propaganda
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4. Propaganda must affect the enemy's policy
and action.
a. By suppressing propagandistically desirable material
which could be useful to the enemy
b. By disseminating propaganda whose content or tone
causes the enemy to draw the desired conclusions
Goebbels’ Principles of
Propaganda
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6. To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the
interest of an audience and must be transmitted
through an attention-getting communications
medium.
7. Credibility alone must determine whether
propaganda output should be true or false.
Truth should be used as frequently as possible;
otherwise the enemy might expose falsehood, and
the credibility would suffer.
Goebbels’ Principles of
Propaganda
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8. The purpose, content and effectiveness of
enemy propaganda; the strength and effects of an
expose; the nature of current propaganda
campaigns determine whether enemy propaganda
should be ignored or refuted.
Goebbels’ Principles of
Propaganda
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11. Black rather than white propaganda may
be employed when the latter is less credible or
produces undesirable effects.
12. Propaganda may be facilitated by leaders
with prestige.
Goebbels’ Principles of
Propaganda
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13. Propaganda must be carefully timed.
a. The communication must reach the audience
ahead of competing propaganda.
b. A propaganda campaign must begin at the
optimum moment
c. A propaganda theme must be repeated, but not
beyond some point of diminishing effectiveness
Goebbels’ Principles of
Propaganda
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14. Propaganda must label events and people
with distinctive phrases or slogans.
a. They must evoke desired responses which the
audience previously possesses
b. They must be capable of being easily learned
c. They must be utilized again and again, but only
in appropriate situations
Goebbels’ Principles of
Propaganda
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18. Propaganda must facilitate the
displacement of aggression by specifying the
targets for hatred.
The Soviet Propaganda
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Totalitarian society: all aspects of life
controlled by the Party
The Agitational-Propaganda Section
Massive Parades, celebrations, etc.
Propaganda Abroad
WAR PROPAGANDA:
From World War II to the Present
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The Korean War 1950-53
The Vietnam War 1965-1975
The 1991 Gulf War
The Afghanistan and Iraq Wars