Introduction to Propaganda

The American historian Howard Zinn wrote:

“If those in charge of our society – politicians, corporate executives, and owners of press and television can dominate our ideas, they will be secure in their power. They will not need soldiers patrolling the streets. We will control ourselves.”

Jacques Ellul provided a chilling description of the individual whose personality has been thoroughly molded by propaganda:

“When he recites his propaganda lesson and says that he is thinking for himself, when his eyes see nothing and his mouth only produces sounds previously stenciled into his brain, when he says that he is indeed expressing his judgment – then he really demonstrates that he no longer thinks at all, ever, and that he does not exist as a person.” (Jacques Ellul, Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes)

It should be noted that as a persuasion tactic, propaganda is value neutral, or in other words neither good nor bad. The 20th century Propaganda theorist Harold Lasswell wrote that “propaganda as a tool is no more moral or immoral than a pump handle.” While propaganda is merely a tool, moral judgments can be made regarding the ends for which propaganda is used. And it is because propaganda has so often been used for nefarious purposes that today it is widely considered as evil, in and of itself.

Propaganda, according to Philip Taylor, author of Munitions of the Mind, can be distinguished from education in that while propaganda tells people what to think, education teaches people how to think. However, as educational systems have long been used as vehicles to disseminate propaganda, the distinction between education and propaganda is often blurry.

As a persuasion tactic, propaganda, in one form or another, has been used for virtually the entire course of human history. Yet the word propaganda was first used 1622. In that year Pope Gregory the XV established the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Sacra Cogregatio de Propaganda Fide). The main function of the congregation was to defend the doctrines of Catholicism against challenges arising from the Protestant Reformation.

The early 20th century is usually identified as an important turning point in the history of propaganda, as it was during this period that so-called modern propaganda emerged. What differentiates modern propaganda from all earlier forms of propaganda is the use of mass media, such as radio and television, as a medium to disseminate propaganda. Britain and the United States were the first countries to utilize mass media in this manner and thus the countries where modern propaganda originated. The utilization of mass media allowed propagandists to reach audiences on a scale never before imagined.

The American George Creel, author of the book “How We Advertised America”, is considered one of the forefathers of modern propaganda. Creel was a friend of Woodrow Wilson, who was the president during America’s entry into World War 1. Wilson called on George Creel to organize a committee which came to be known as the Committee on Public Information or the Creel Commission, whose purpose was to create propaganda in order to transform the attitude of the American population into one of war-hungry patriotic excitement.

As Noam Chomsky explained, such a propaganda campaign was highly successful:

“The Creel Commission…succeeded, within six months, in turning a pacifist population into a hysterical, war-mongering population which wanted to destroy everything German, tear the Germans limb from limb, go to war and save the world. (Noam Chomsky, Media Control)

Britain also made extensive use of propaganda during World War 1, and Hitler, who once famously stated “Propaganda, propaganda, propaganda. All that matters is propaganda”, was intrigued by the success of the allied war propaganda. Explaining the effect such propaganda had on him, Hitler wrote:

“But it was not until the war that it became evident what immense results can be obtained by a correct application of propaganda. Here again, unfortunately, all our study had to be done on the enemy side, for the activity on our side was modest, to say the least… For what we failed to do, the enemy did, with amazing skill and really brilliant calculation. I, myself, learned enormously from this enemy war propaganda.” (Adolf Hitler)

One of the most prevalent types of propaganda, and the type which will concern us for the remainder of the lecture, is ‘political propaganda’. Political propaganda is propaganda used by a government, state, or political party, for the purpose of altering the ideas and behavior of individuals in order to achieve certain political or economic ends. All political propaganda is vertical propaganda, in the sense that it is made by a propagandist who creates and implements propaganda while standing over and above the ignorant population:

“Classic propaganda, as one usually thinks of it, is a vertical propaganda – in the sense that it is made by a leader, a technician, a political or religious head who acts from the superior position of his authority and seeks to influence the crowd below. Such propaganda comes from above. It is conceived in the secret recesses of political enclaves; it uses all technical methods of centralized mass communication; it envelops a mass of individuals; but those who practice it are on the outside. (Jacques Ellul, Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes)

People often assume that political propaganda mainly consists of lies, fabrications, and extreme distortions of reality. Hitler is famous for claiming the bigger the lie the more likely it will be believed, while Arthur Ponsonby, the author of the book Falsehood in Wartime, once wrote: “When war is declared truth is the first victim.”