Text 3 Propaganda

The word propaganda comes from the Latin word meaning to propagate or to sow. In its most neutral sense it means to disseminate or promote particular ideas. Propaganda has been defined in many ways, most of which center on synonyms such as lies, distortions, deceit, manipulation, psychological warfare, brainwashing, and the more recent word spin.

Spin, in particular, emphasizes the frequent difficulty of differentiating public relations from propaganda in that it is associated with the manipulation of political and corporate information to affect the way in which news is presented. As a result, the term spin doctors is now often used as a synonym for professional public relations practitioners. Propaganda has been associated with mass communication, mass persuasion, mind control, and mass brainwashing. It has a history of being used to promote an ideology and way of life that benefits some to the disadvantage of others. Few examples are more notorious than the propaganda efforts of Hitler, which he claimed to have learned from the British and American propaganda machines during the First World War. People often see tactics they don’t like as “propaganda,” whereas when they approve of mass media campaigns they call them “preaching of the truth.” Modern practitioners of public relations and academics focus on the concepts of symbolic manipulation, cognitive manipulation, scientific mass persuasion, and asymmetry as defining attributes that separate propaganda and unethical public relations from ethical and responsible approaches to the profession.

The relationship of propaganda to public relations has always been a contentious one. Both of these practices stem from a common desire to affect the attitudes and perceptions held by people, collectively defined as publics, crowds, citizens, or consumers, toward an infinite variety of subjects, in order to shift opinion and beliefs in a desired direction. Propaganda in particular has been defined in largely negative terms because of its close historical association with religion, warfare, and political practices. Public relations, thanks largely to the strenuous efforts of its own practitioners, has managed to establish itself as a legitimate activity that enhances the images and perceptions of a wide variety of institutions. However, the common ancestry of these two practices tends to blur the distinction between them; with the result that there is often confusion in the minds of the public as to what propaganda is and what is legitimate and ethical public relations. Many leading public relations practitioners, in addition to Lee and Bernays, had their tussle with the aura and ethics of propaganda. John Hill drew what he thought to be a clear line between the ethical approach to public relations and the unethical approach to propaganda that tainted it and its practitioners: «Public relations in its controversial usage is sometimes dubbed “propaganda.” Actually propaganda was a “good” word until brought into disrepute when Hitler and the Communists began to pollute the airways with their “Big Lies,” and made it a “bad” word. In a public relations battle in a free country it is important that there be no lies. Different interpretation of the facts is possible, and each side is entitled to present its views, leaving it to public opinion to decide which to accept. The purpose of public relations in its best sense is to inform and to keep minds open. The purpose of “propaganda” in the bad sense is to misinform and to keep minds closed. Business managements have every reason and right to communicate regularly with all segments of the public whose support they seek; and more, to work for better understanding of the private enterprise system. »

Questions:

1. What does the word «propaganda» mean?

2. What does spin emphasize?

3. What is propaganda associated with?

4. What do the modern practitioners of public relations and academics focus on?

5. What is the relationship of propaganda to public relations?

6. Why is propaganda defined in largely negative terms?

7. What does public relation enhance?

8. What do these two practices tend to?

9. What does John Hill think about propaganda?

10. What does John Hill think about public relations?