As discussed in my last post, there were originally two main supports for avoiding propaganda on the publicly owned airwaves in this country. The first was the Fairness Doctrine which was the guiding principle behind the FCC’s efforts to make sure that custodians of the public airwaves focused on presenting the news instead of pushing an agenda. In other words, it is the basic difference between the efforts to inform vs. the efforts to convince. By the ultimate but limited usage of the FCC’s ability to control who had a license to use the airwaves the FCC attempted to make sure that no one political viewpoint could completely dominate the system. Propaganda, to be effective, must control the spread of information so that opposing viewpoints are not heard or considered and complete editorial control over what is broadcast is the first step in successful propaganda. With the Reagan administration's demolition of the Fairness Doctrine that I discussed in my last post, the door was open to removing the second support.
The second support for maintaining the integrity of the publicly owned airwaves consisted of a steady effort by the FCC to control the ownership of media as a means of assuring the spread of accurate information. The idea of a free press in this country is as old as the nation itself. The protection of this idea has taken many different forms but by and large it still springs from the basic concept perhaps best expressed by Thomas Jefferson, "The only security of all is in a free press. The force of public opinion cannot be resisted when permitted freely to be expressed. The agitation it produces must be submitted to. It is necessary, to keep the waters pure." It is the idea of a press as free as possible from vested interests of ownership that has shaped our national policies concerning the media since the early 1920's.
With the rise of corporate interests in this country it became obvious that this idea needed protection from the inevitable control that would come from unrestricted ownership of the media by the wealthy as both the Supreme Court and Congress have on numerous occasions ruled and legislated that the American public owns the airwaves. It is the duty of the FCC to see that the public interests are served by those who obtain license to utilize the airwaves. If a corporation or even a wealthy individual owns the radio or television station through which a local community gets its news it is all too common for viewpoints opposing the vested interest of that ownership to be censored or even altogether silenced by editorial authority. While this is an inevitable result of our modern business tendency for corporate entities to be vested in diverse industries it can also be a dangerous temptation for propaganda as opposed to information as corporate entities seek to convince rather than inform public opinion.
As an example let us assume that a news organization is simply that; a news organization who's sole interest is the reporting of events. In this scenario it can be argued that such an organization is in fact a purely market based entity in that its ratings are its prime motivation as ratings are directly proportional to advertising premiums which pay the bills. However, the reality of modern corporate America is that media outlets are almost without exception actually individually just one arm of what is usually a multi-faceted corporate conglomerate; usually a very small arm in terms of fiscal returns. Under these conditions is it reasonable to expect that the news media outlet will report accurately on issues that adversely affect the much larger profit share of its corporate ownership? Naturally, if other media outlets are reporting on this same issue even though it negatively affects any one corporate entity it must be forced to at least address the issue, it cannot ignore it completely nor can it arbitrarily report facts and figures without a basis in fact without facing the possibility of being exposed as propaganda rather than news. It is this diversity; the widespread ownership by groups with diverse viewpoints and vested interests that best guarantees the spread of accurate information. It can be reasonably argued that the more diverse the ownership of our media outlets are; the more accurate will be the information they broadcast. Of course the inverse axiom is that the more narrow the ownership of the media becomes the more inaccurate the broadcasts will be and the more likely they will devolve into propaganda as opposed to news.
Unfortunately, this logic has steadily fallen prey to corporate grasp in this country for the last thirty years along with the Fairness Doctrine. On February 8, 1996 the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was signed into law by President Bill Clinton. This act was the first major legislated change in the industry since the Communications Act of 1934. It was widely touted by its supporters as an act to encourage the free market in the industry and to increase competition which would inevitably drive prices down and improve the quality of communications services. While the main focus of the act was telecommunications such as the telephone industry and cable television it also directly effected FCC rules defining media ownership. Previous to this act the FCC limited the ownership of media outlets in order to assure diversity of ownership and protect the integrity of individual ownership. These regulations limited the ownership of radio stations to forty for any one group and further limited this ownership based upon markets. In other words, no one entity could own numerous stations in one market and therefore monopolize the industry and thereby the spread of information. Television station ownership was similarly limited as were newspapers. All of these types of media outlets were well recognized to be the cogs in the machinery necessary to combat propaganda.
It is interesting to look at the results of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and its immediate effects on the industry. While one of the act's basic intents was to foster competition and fight the consolidation of the ownership of media outlets that had been underway since the abolition of the Fairness Doctrine by Reagan in the early 1980's it has had the opposite result. In 1983 the number of major media outlets in the United States was 50. This number is now reduced to 6. Private ownership of radio stations by individuals has shrunk to numbers lower than have been known since the early days of radio stations even though the gross number of radio stations is growing astronomically. Over 4000 individually owned radio stations were bought out in the first 4 years after the passage of the act by corporate entities. Huge corporate entities with thousands of stations now own the vast majority of radio stations in the United States today. Local news is increasingly not even existent on most of these stations and those that do still retain some news capability increasingly find their content editorially doctored so that the resultant report is almost unrecognizable from its original form.
As the ownership of our media outlets shrinks the pressure to remove remaining constraints to ownership has increased proportionally. In 2003 the FCC under pressures from large media concerns intent upon increasing their monopoly, further loosened the rules concerning media ownership. Unlike previous FCC rulings these changes were not made available to the public for a time period before their release so as to afford the public time to comment. The new rulings did several things to allow for more consolidation of the industry by corporate entities. Market shares for ownership of all media in a given market was raised from 35% to 45% (this had previously been raised in a similar ruling in 1985 from 25%). Restrictions on newspaper and TV station ownership in the same market were removed. Requirements for periodic license review for renewal by the FCC were dropped. In effect, licenses are no longer reviewed for "public interest" considerations at all. Not only is the Fairness Doctrine not considered in these reviews the reviews themselves are no longer conducted under this guideline so a broadcast license is in effect perpetual and subject only to monetary fees with the public interest no longer a consideration at all. We have basically come full circle with this ruling ignoring 80 years of careful protection of the public interest as the basis for all such decisions and instead bowed subserviently to the corporate interest.
Fortunately, there is still a faint heartbeat in the ideas surrounding the belief that the public airwaves are still the property of the American people. In a case brought before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit the majority ruled 2-1 against the FCC and ordered it to reconfigure how it justified raising ownership limits. Since the Supreme Court later turned down an appeal on this case (Prometheus Radio Project v FCC) this ruling still stands. It is worth noting that the dissenting opinion on this case was turned in by one Antonin Scalia who was also instrumental in striking down the Fairness Doctrine as I pointed out in my last post. Since Mr. Scalia is now on the Supreme Court we will undoubtedly hear from him again on this subject at some point. It is also worth noting that this ruling strictly applies only to the provisions surrounding the market percentage ruling and does not apply to the much more important issue of FCC review of licenses. In 2007 the FCC made another ruling removing restrictions on newspaper and TV ownership in the same market as there was some concern that the court ruling might have invalidated this section as well.
The most disturbing part of this whole situation is the loss of the recognition of how important the idea of a free press is to this nation's survival. There are several ways to attack a free press and limit its ability to inform the public. The first and most obvious way is to simply legislate it out of existence by having the state take over the media directly. This is a highly effective means and both has been and still is utilized with great success in different areas of the world to control political expression. There is little danger of this type of takeover in this country presently. However, it is beyond question that we are now faced with a different type of attack on our institution of a free press. If corporate entities are allowed to use their superior financial and political support to simply buy up media outlets they can control the information that Americans use to decide who to vote for at the polls. Since they no longer are under any restrictions such as the Fairness Doctrine or license review based upon "public interest" they basically have carte blanche control of the levers of public dissemination of information once they attain ownership. As an example of whether this in fact underway I would ask you to consider if you remember any of the major news outlets in this country reporting on the recent FCC rulings above.
Showing posts with label propaganda. Show all posts
Showing posts with label propaganda. Show all posts
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Friday, January 21, 2011
Propaganda or news?
There seems to be quite a discussion in the news since the shootings in Tucson concerning the tone of our political debates in this country. I won’t bother to go into the tone of the rhetoric because I think it misses the real problem that we are facing. In my view, the real problem we are facing is the steady deterioration of the quality of our news sources in this country. News is no longer a fair and measured attempt to discuss the issues. It has devolved into pure and simple propaganda. No longer are media outlets tasked with reporting the issues with a representation of all the views, they are now simply hired guns attempting to control the issues by controlling which information is released to the public. All of this changed in 1987 when Ronald Reagan issued an executive order that directed the FCC to no longer enforce the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine basically charged the FCC with overseeing the content of news that was broadcast over the public owned airwaves to make sure that it was fair and balanced; that both sides of issues were covered. While this is an imprecise and imperfect science the FCC controlled the content previous to 1987 by periodically reviewing content to decide which entities had a license to use the airwaves. I will go into all of this in more detail in my next post but the basic point to remember is that from the 1940’s until 1987 there was a controlling body charged with protecting the American public from propaganda. This probably explains why we had a much more educated voter base previous to 1987 but without question it was not an effort to censor but rather an effort to make sure that all sides of an issue were covered equally.
The best definition of propaganda that I have found is that it is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. This includes the omission of information that might tend to undermine a political position and it is the editorial tendency to control content based upon the furthering of a position as opposed to having an open discussion about the issue that defines propaganda as opposed to reporting the news. It is basically the difference in the effort to inform versus the effort to convince; they are not the same thing. This history of propaganda stretches back centuries and it has seen many diverse uses ranging from religious persuasion to political control with varying degrees of effectiveness.
One of the earliest examples of its use in this country was the Creel Commission or as it was known at its creation the “Committee for Public Information” (CPI). The CPI was formed by Woodrow Wilson under executive order on April 13, 1917. The committee was formed with the sole intent of fostering American support for involvement in World War I. Creel, a journalist, had urged Wilson of the necessity of such a commission in order to fight what he termed German propaganda. Creel believed that the CPI should concentrate on the true original meaning of propaganda which he defined as “propagation of faith.” It was the CPI the originally coined the phrase “Making the World Safe for Democracy.” Creel was joined on the committee by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the Navy. One of the most important contributors to this effort was a writer named Walter Lippmann. Lippmann was an intellectual who held common beliefs for the upper crust of American society at the time. In large part he believed that the American public was simply too uneducated and uninformed to make correct policy decisions even if indirectly by plebiscite. Lippmann believed that it was up to the "governing class" to correctly formulate and guide the "bewildered herd" of the American public. He wholeheartedly dedicated much of his life to carrying out this responsibility and the CPI was only the first of his organized efforts at influencing public opinion by any means necessary. It was Lippmann's own term of describing this effort as "manufacturing consent" that was later to be used to label such organized efforts of propaganda aimed at forming public opinion. Lippmann's ideas concerning the absence of necessity for truth in news were all built around the basic premise that it was up to the "governing class" to correctly lead the general public in the right direction; right being simply the direction that the well informed deemed most appropriate. The CPI itself was successful in that it managed to change the preponderance of public opinion away from an attitude of isolationism and empathy for the German cause and towards US involvement in WWI.
While it is undeniable that all the major powers in WWI put forth considerable efforts at their own propaganda, each with any eye towards influencing public opinion in favor of the respective governments involved, many observers believe that the US and Britain were much more effective in their methodology; both at home and abroad. It was their ability to totally mobilize the American public in support of the war that was at least in part responsible for the Allied victory. This message was not lost on the Germans who lost the war. As a matter of fact, many Germans believed that it was their inability to mobilize and gain the undivided support of the German people that led directly to their defeat. Regardless if this is a historically accurate view, it was widely believed in Germany at the time. One of the most fervent believers in this explanation was a young corporal who would later perfect the use of propaganda to further his ideology with such success that he gained total control of the German government. His name was Adolph Hitler and he explained these views more fully in a book he wrote called "Mein Kampf":
"Propaganda must always address itself to the broad masses of the people. (...) All propaganda must be presented in a popular form and must fix its intellectual level so as not to be above the heads of the least intellectual of those to whom it is directed. (...) The art of propaganda consists precisely in being able to awaken the imagination of the public through an appeal to their feelings, in finding the appropriate psychological form that will arrest the attention and appeal to the hearts of the national masses. The broad masses of the people are not made up of diplomats or professors of public jurisprudence nor simply of persons who are able to form reasoned judgment in given cases, but a vacillating crowd of human children who are constantly wavering between one idea and another. (...) The great majority of a nation is so feminine in its character and outlook that its thought and conduct are ruled by sentiment rather than by sober reasoning. This sentiment, however, is not complex, but simple and consistent. It is not highly differentiated, but has only the negative and positive notions of love and hatred, right and wrong, truth and falsehood."
As to the methods to be employed, he explains:
"Propaganda must not investigate the truth objectively and, in so far as it is favorable to the other side, present it according to the theoretical rules of justice; yet it must present only that aspect of the truth which is favorable to its own side. (...) The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward. (...) Every change that is made in the subject of a propagandist message must always emphasize the same conclusion. The leading slogan must of course be illustrated in many ways and from several angles, but in the end one must always return to the assertion of the same formula."
Hitler was able to use this methodology very effectively in his rise to power and later in his ability to control Germany and her armies to a degree that no one would have thought possible previously. The effective use of propaganda which united Germany while at the same time placing blame for her post WWI collapse on the international banking community and Jews was the cornerstone of his strength. While he certainly modified propaganda techniques specifically to garner all political and military power in Germany to himself, it is the methodology of propaganda and how it corresponds to what is going on today that I am writing about in this post.
After WWI there was a great deal of study carried out on propaganda techniques. This study included those used by the Allies as well as the Axis powers that faced them. Both the US and her allies used propaganda techniques to support the war effort with great effectiveness. It was generally accepted that such techniques are necessary in times of war or national emergency but the idea that they were to be used in national news media as opposed to fair and balance reporting is relatively new in this country.
In case anyone doubts that such techniques have gained usage in the national new media in this country since Reagan's executive order of 1987 perhaps it would be useful to look at some of the recognized techniques of propaganda that came out of studies done after WWI and see if we can spot any of these tendencies in modern news media coverage. I will list some of them and give some specific examples of how they are utilized today. Propaganda in and of itself isn't necessarily that big of a problem as long as it is understood to be propaganda. It is the confusion of propaganda techniques with fair and balanced reporting that lends itself to public manipulation and it seems that we have an overwhelming abundance of this purposeful deceit implicit in some, if not most of our national media outlets today. Biased reporting is one thing, organized systematic propaganda disguised as reporting the news is a much more dangerous and sinister proposition.
In 1937 a group of American social scientists, historians, educators, and journalist formed the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA). The purpose of the IPA was to spark rational thinking and provide a guide to help the public have will informed discussions on current issues; to teach people how to think rather than what to think. This group's main focus was to discern and point out the differences between information and propaganda. The founders of the IPA believed that organized propaganda was a dire threat to democracy since one of the basic foundations of any democracy is an informed and educated populace. Propaganda by its very nature is a tool of disinformation specifically designed to prevent the spread of accurate information. Although the IPA eventually folded in the face of the necessity of propaganda to support the war effort one of its first goals was to list the main propaganda techniques in vogue at the time. I don't believe this is a complete list as the proponents of propaganda have increasingly improved their techniques in the years since but we will start with the list published by the IPA:
1. Name-calling
2. Glittering generalities
3. Transfer
4. Testimonial
5. Plain folks
6. Card stacking
7. Bandwagon
Name calling is pretty self explanatory but the specific use of name calling to denigrate people isn't the focus of this tool in propaganda. For this usage name calling is more specific in that it entails the usage of derogatory terms to attack the personality of political or social opponents. By attacking the person one avoids having to even discuss the issue which is one of the basic tenets of propaganda techniques. After all, the last thing that is desired is to have a fair and open discussion of the issues as this removes the possibility of being able to present the truth only as it pertains to one side of the issue. You will find lots of this rhetoric today on Fox News or talk radio. Socialists, Communists, Liberals, Leftists, and Statists are just some of the key words used but you will usually hear at least one of these titles applied with religious frequency to anyone who happens to disagree with the right wing conservative agenda that Fox news was formed to propagate. Again, propaganda itself is not an insidious thing but when it is passed off as fair and balanced reporting of the news it is both damaging to the spread of information and antithetical to the formation of an informed populace.
Glittering generalities is the practice of forming discussions around vague inherent generalities that everyone agrees with. By basing discussions and making the assumption that one side of the argument is based upon such an inherent generality the idea is to identify opposing arguments with views that oppose these generalities. A few examples one might hear daily expounded on Fox news or any number of talk radio hosts are freedom, patriotism, courage, strength, and democracy. By identifying themselves and in effect their arguments with such terms in advance propagandists intentionally strive to equate anyone who disagrees with opposite terms such as dictators, cowards, freeloaders, and socialists. While the technique is slightly different from name calling the goal is the same; to remove the possibility that opposing views will be openly discussed. One way to completely avoid such discussions is to effectively identify opposing views with positions that are inherently undesirable in advance. Not only does the usage of this tool tend to invalidate discussion, it can be done without explicitly resorting to name calling if framed properly in advance.
Transfer involves using symbolism to take the attributes of positive imagery and apply them to individuals involved in policy debates. To be honest, this is a technique the politicians have been utilizing for so long that it is normal behavior in political circles. This is exactly why politicians of all sorts love to be photographed in front of flags, monuments, and patriotic backdrops. The more emotional the response to any symbol the better this technique works and the more you will see it done. A few examples are Sean Hannity's usage of the Martina McBride "Let Freedom Ring" song numerous times each day. Who can hear the part of that song that is utilized without feeling a little lump in their throat? A good rule of thumb for judging the likelihood that a program is propagandist in nature is the amount of symbolism apparent in its introduction. This methodology is chapter and verse of Hitler’s description of using basic feelings and consistent repetition to control opinion.
Testimonial usually involves a written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a position or product. While this technique is most easily identified in the advertising arena with the usage of spokespersons for products it is also extensively used in political debate. One of the more common modern usages of this technique is the propensity for conservative commentators to quote the “founding fathers” of this country out of context. Any real student of history understands that the “founding fathers” was a diverse group with many different agendas and it is not hard to find quotes supporting any ideology by selectively seeking out those that agree with one view while ignoring those that disagree. This is a tool especially favored by Sean Hannity and Ron Levine. Again, it is technique utilized to prevent open discussion by identifying respected historical figures views with those expounded by the host. Interestingly, as an aside one can get a feel for how artful talk show hosts are at propaganda by listening to their advertisements for products that serve as sponsors on their show. These hosts don't just advertise for the products of their sponsors they frequently give ridiculously energetic and fervent personal testimonials not only for the quality of these products but for the absolute necessity of purchasing them. Their wholesale acceptance of the techniques of propaganda in their social and political commentary leads directly to testimonial advertising on steroids when they start hawking products.
Plain folks propaganda is simply identification. The practitioner of this technique attempts to inherently identify himself with a specific social group, most often as an “ordinary Joe”. This identification is attempted so that the speaker can form a bond with his target that will allow them to believe he understands their concerns instinctively. It is a method of using emotional appeal to blunt intellectual discussion. Two of the most artful practitioners of this methodology are Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Each constantly prefaces their views by contrasting their opponents as “elitists”, “intellectuals”, or “silver spooned Liberals” who they surmise are not identifiable social companions to most of their listeners. This form of propaganda might best be represented by the meteoric rise on Fox News during the 2008 presidential election of “Joe the Plumber.” Sarah Palin is another politician who makes full use of this form of propaganda and not surprisingly Fox news hired her recently as well as a political consultant.
Card Stacking is the technique of emphasizing one viewpoint while simultaneously ridiculing the other. It is a well recognized and universally used technique in political campaigns but it has recently spilled over into national media outlets and is being passed off as news. The propagandists who practice this technique have sharpened it considerably in recent years by setting up panels for supposedly open discussions where both the agenda and the end result are carefully choreographed to make sure that the audience reaches the right conclusion. Fox news is especially adept at this technique and regularly features opposing viewpoints from the most vapid and uninformed commentators they can find. Bill O’reilly and Sean Hannity are also avid practitioners of this technique and you will regularly hear such counterpoint discussions on their shows.
Bandwagon techniques consist of convincing the audience that the great preponderance of the general public agrees with the views expressed by the commentator or political candidate. It is an emotional appeal to our basic herd instinct and usually goes along the lines of “everyone else can’t be wrong.” In other words, if the audience can be convinced that the majority of informed people hold one viewpoint it eliminates the need for them to go gather information from other sources because the great majority of people have already done that and made their decision accordingly. It is simply another tool to avoid an open discussion where opposing viewpoints can be put forth which is the root basis for the usage of all propaganda. This is exactly why Fox News concentrates so heavily on conservative victories while ignoring any instance whereby conservative agenda is refuted by the voting population. Just listen to any of the intros to talk radio’s conservative shows and you will get a perfect example of this type of propaganda; from Sean Hannity’s “Stop Obama express” to Ron Levine’s leadership reports from a hidden bunker.
I don’t believe that conservative media is the only type of media practicing propaganda in today’s world. What I do believe that ALL propaganda is injurious to the spread of information and the disguising of propaganda as fair and balanced news reporting is an effective tool being used to advance agendas in this country that informed discussions would arrest. It has gone well beyond the control of networks, which although lucrative, are small gears in a much bigger machine.
As in any agenda there are reasons for why it is being so effectively advanced and the larger picture in this case is the control of national politics and thereby control of the national government. The truth of the matter is that corporate entities controlled by the upper 1% of the wealthiest Americans are managing to gain control of the government to a degree that has never happened in this country before. Every economic study points out that since Reagan the wealthiest Americans have steadily gained control of the national wealth while the rest of the American public has actually lost buying power as their standard of living decreases and the middle class of this country absorb the nation’s debt. It is no accident that this has happened. What is a little amazing is that they have managed to do much of it with the voting consent of the very people they are squeezing out of existence, the American middle class. Propaganda, as Hitler well understood, is an invaluable tool where someone is intent upon spreading an agenda opposed to the general well being of the populace. This is especially true in a society where the voting populace controls who runs the government. Think about this the next time you hear someone on Fox rail against the very idea of the “Fairness Doctrine” as an attempt by the government to censor free speech. Who is going to be hurt by a fair and equal representation of issues over the nation’s airwaves?
The best definition of propaganda that I have found is that it is a form of communication aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. This includes the omission of information that might tend to undermine a political position and it is the editorial tendency to control content based upon the furthering of a position as opposed to having an open discussion about the issue that defines propaganda as opposed to reporting the news. It is basically the difference in the effort to inform versus the effort to convince; they are not the same thing. This history of propaganda stretches back centuries and it has seen many diverse uses ranging from religious persuasion to political control with varying degrees of effectiveness.
One of the earliest examples of its use in this country was the Creel Commission or as it was known at its creation the “Committee for Public Information” (CPI). The CPI was formed by Woodrow Wilson under executive order on April 13, 1917. The committee was formed with the sole intent of fostering American support for involvement in World War I. Creel, a journalist, had urged Wilson of the necessity of such a commission in order to fight what he termed German propaganda. Creel believed that the CPI should concentrate on the true original meaning of propaganda which he defined as “propagation of faith.” It was the CPI the originally coined the phrase “Making the World Safe for Democracy.” Creel was joined on the committee by the Secretary of State, the Secretary of War, and the Secretary of the Navy. One of the most important contributors to this effort was a writer named Walter Lippmann. Lippmann was an intellectual who held common beliefs for the upper crust of American society at the time. In large part he believed that the American public was simply too uneducated and uninformed to make correct policy decisions even if indirectly by plebiscite. Lippmann believed that it was up to the "governing class" to correctly formulate and guide the "bewildered herd" of the American public. He wholeheartedly dedicated much of his life to carrying out this responsibility and the CPI was only the first of his organized efforts at influencing public opinion by any means necessary. It was Lippmann's own term of describing this effort as "manufacturing consent" that was later to be used to label such organized efforts of propaganda aimed at forming public opinion. Lippmann's ideas concerning the absence of necessity for truth in news were all built around the basic premise that it was up to the "governing class" to correctly lead the general public in the right direction; right being simply the direction that the well informed deemed most appropriate. The CPI itself was successful in that it managed to change the preponderance of public opinion away from an attitude of isolationism and empathy for the German cause and towards US involvement in WWI.
While it is undeniable that all the major powers in WWI put forth considerable efforts at their own propaganda, each with any eye towards influencing public opinion in favor of the respective governments involved, many observers believe that the US and Britain were much more effective in their methodology; both at home and abroad. It was their ability to totally mobilize the American public in support of the war that was at least in part responsible for the Allied victory. This message was not lost on the Germans who lost the war. As a matter of fact, many Germans believed that it was their inability to mobilize and gain the undivided support of the German people that led directly to their defeat. Regardless if this is a historically accurate view, it was widely believed in Germany at the time. One of the most fervent believers in this explanation was a young corporal who would later perfect the use of propaganda to further his ideology with such success that he gained total control of the German government. His name was Adolph Hitler and he explained these views more fully in a book he wrote called "Mein Kampf":
"Propaganda must always address itself to the broad masses of the people. (...) All propaganda must be presented in a popular form and must fix its intellectual level so as not to be above the heads of the least intellectual of those to whom it is directed. (...) The art of propaganda consists precisely in being able to awaken the imagination of the public through an appeal to their feelings, in finding the appropriate psychological form that will arrest the attention and appeal to the hearts of the national masses. The broad masses of the people are not made up of diplomats or professors of public jurisprudence nor simply of persons who are able to form reasoned judgment in given cases, but a vacillating crowd of human children who are constantly wavering between one idea and another. (...) The great majority of a nation is so feminine in its character and outlook that its thought and conduct are ruled by sentiment rather than by sober reasoning. This sentiment, however, is not complex, but simple and consistent. It is not highly differentiated, but has only the negative and positive notions of love and hatred, right and wrong, truth and falsehood."
As to the methods to be employed, he explains:
"Propaganda must not investigate the truth objectively and, in so far as it is favorable to the other side, present it according to the theoretical rules of justice; yet it must present only that aspect of the truth which is favorable to its own side. (...) The receptive powers of the masses are very restricted, and their understanding is feeble. On the other hand, they quickly forget. Such being the case, all effective propaganda must be confined to a few bare essentials and those must be expressed as far as possible in stereotyped formulas. These slogans should be persistently repeated until the very last individual has come to grasp the idea that has been put forward. (...) Every change that is made in the subject of a propagandist message must always emphasize the same conclusion. The leading slogan must of course be illustrated in many ways and from several angles, but in the end one must always return to the assertion of the same formula."
Hitler was able to use this methodology very effectively in his rise to power and later in his ability to control Germany and her armies to a degree that no one would have thought possible previously. The effective use of propaganda which united Germany while at the same time placing blame for her post WWI collapse on the international banking community and Jews was the cornerstone of his strength. While he certainly modified propaganda techniques specifically to garner all political and military power in Germany to himself, it is the methodology of propaganda and how it corresponds to what is going on today that I am writing about in this post.
After WWI there was a great deal of study carried out on propaganda techniques. This study included those used by the Allies as well as the Axis powers that faced them. Both the US and her allies used propaganda techniques to support the war effort with great effectiveness. It was generally accepted that such techniques are necessary in times of war or national emergency but the idea that they were to be used in national news media as opposed to fair and balance reporting is relatively new in this country.
In case anyone doubts that such techniques have gained usage in the national new media in this country since Reagan's executive order of 1987 perhaps it would be useful to look at some of the recognized techniques of propaganda that came out of studies done after WWI and see if we can spot any of these tendencies in modern news media coverage. I will list some of them and give some specific examples of how they are utilized today. Propaganda in and of itself isn't necessarily that big of a problem as long as it is understood to be propaganda. It is the confusion of propaganda techniques with fair and balanced reporting that lends itself to public manipulation and it seems that we have an overwhelming abundance of this purposeful deceit implicit in some, if not most of our national media outlets today. Biased reporting is one thing, organized systematic propaganda disguised as reporting the news is a much more dangerous and sinister proposition.
In 1937 a group of American social scientists, historians, educators, and journalist formed the Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA). The purpose of the IPA was to spark rational thinking and provide a guide to help the public have will informed discussions on current issues; to teach people how to think rather than what to think. This group's main focus was to discern and point out the differences between information and propaganda. The founders of the IPA believed that organized propaganda was a dire threat to democracy since one of the basic foundations of any democracy is an informed and educated populace. Propaganda by its very nature is a tool of disinformation specifically designed to prevent the spread of accurate information. Although the IPA eventually folded in the face of the necessity of propaganda to support the war effort one of its first goals was to list the main propaganda techniques in vogue at the time. I don't believe this is a complete list as the proponents of propaganda have increasingly improved their techniques in the years since but we will start with the list published by the IPA:
1. Name-calling
2. Glittering generalities
3. Transfer
4. Testimonial
5. Plain folks
6. Card stacking
7. Bandwagon
Name calling is pretty self explanatory but the specific use of name calling to denigrate people isn't the focus of this tool in propaganda. For this usage name calling is more specific in that it entails the usage of derogatory terms to attack the personality of political or social opponents. By attacking the person one avoids having to even discuss the issue which is one of the basic tenets of propaganda techniques. After all, the last thing that is desired is to have a fair and open discussion of the issues as this removes the possibility of being able to present the truth only as it pertains to one side of the issue. You will find lots of this rhetoric today on Fox News or talk radio. Socialists, Communists, Liberals, Leftists, and Statists are just some of the key words used but you will usually hear at least one of these titles applied with religious frequency to anyone who happens to disagree with the right wing conservative agenda that Fox news was formed to propagate. Again, propaganda itself is not an insidious thing but when it is passed off as fair and balanced reporting of the news it is both damaging to the spread of information and antithetical to the formation of an informed populace.
Glittering generalities is the practice of forming discussions around vague inherent generalities that everyone agrees with. By basing discussions and making the assumption that one side of the argument is based upon such an inherent generality the idea is to identify opposing arguments with views that oppose these generalities. A few examples one might hear daily expounded on Fox news or any number of talk radio hosts are freedom, patriotism, courage, strength, and democracy. By identifying themselves and in effect their arguments with such terms in advance propagandists intentionally strive to equate anyone who disagrees with opposite terms such as dictators, cowards, freeloaders, and socialists. While the technique is slightly different from name calling the goal is the same; to remove the possibility that opposing views will be openly discussed. One way to completely avoid such discussions is to effectively identify opposing views with positions that are inherently undesirable in advance. Not only does the usage of this tool tend to invalidate discussion, it can be done without explicitly resorting to name calling if framed properly in advance.
Transfer involves using symbolism to take the attributes of positive imagery and apply them to individuals involved in policy debates. To be honest, this is a technique the politicians have been utilizing for so long that it is normal behavior in political circles. This is exactly why politicians of all sorts love to be photographed in front of flags, monuments, and patriotic backdrops. The more emotional the response to any symbol the better this technique works and the more you will see it done. A few examples are Sean Hannity's usage of the Martina McBride "Let Freedom Ring" song numerous times each day. Who can hear the part of that song that is utilized without feeling a little lump in their throat? A good rule of thumb for judging the likelihood that a program is propagandist in nature is the amount of symbolism apparent in its introduction. This methodology is chapter and verse of Hitler’s description of using basic feelings and consistent repetition to control opinion.
Testimonial usually involves a written or spoken statement extolling the virtue of a position or product. While this technique is most easily identified in the advertising arena with the usage of spokespersons for products it is also extensively used in political debate. One of the more common modern usages of this technique is the propensity for conservative commentators to quote the “founding fathers” of this country out of context. Any real student of history understands that the “founding fathers” was a diverse group with many different agendas and it is not hard to find quotes supporting any ideology by selectively seeking out those that agree with one view while ignoring those that disagree. This is a tool especially favored by Sean Hannity and Ron Levine. Again, it is technique utilized to prevent open discussion by identifying respected historical figures views with those expounded by the host. Interestingly, as an aside one can get a feel for how artful talk show hosts are at propaganda by listening to their advertisements for products that serve as sponsors on their show. These hosts don't just advertise for the products of their sponsors they frequently give ridiculously energetic and fervent personal testimonials not only for the quality of these products but for the absolute necessity of purchasing them. Their wholesale acceptance of the techniques of propaganda in their social and political commentary leads directly to testimonial advertising on steroids when they start hawking products.
Plain folks propaganda is simply identification. The practitioner of this technique attempts to inherently identify himself with a specific social group, most often as an “ordinary Joe”. This identification is attempted so that the speaker can form a bond with his target that will allow them to believe he understands their concerns instinctively. It is a method of using emotional appeal to blunt intellectual discussion. Two of the most artful practitioners of this methodology are Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. Each constantly prefaces their views by contrasting their opponents as “elitists”, “intellectuals”, or “silver spooned Liberals” who they surmise are not identifiable social companions to most of their listeners. This form of propaganda might best be represented by the meteoric rise on Fox News during the 2008 presidential election of “Joe the Plumber.” Sarah Palin is another politician who makes full use of this form of propaganda and not surprisingly Fox news hired her recently as well as a political consultant.
Card Stacking is the technique of emphasizing one viewpoint while simultaneously ridiculing the other. It is a well recognized and universally used technique in political campaigns but it has recently spilled over into national media outlets and is being passed off as news. The propagandists who practice this technique have sharpened it considerably in recent years by setting up panels for supposedly open discussions where both the agenda and the end result are carefully choreographed to make sure that the audience reaches the right conclusion. Fox news is especially adept at this technique and regularly features opposing viewpoints from the most vapid and uninformed commentators they can find. Bill O’reilly and Sean Hannity are also avid practitioners of this technique and you will regularly hear such counterpoint discussions on their shows.
Bandwagon techniques consist of convincing the audience that the great preponderance of the general public agrees with the views expressed by the commentator or political candidate. It is an emotional appeal to our basic herd instinct and usually goes along the lines of “everyone else can’t be wrong.” In other words, if the audience can be convinced that the majority of informed people hold one viewpoint it eliminates the need for them to go gather information from other sources because the great majority of people have already done that and made their decision accordingly. It is simply another tool to avoid an open discussion where opposing viewpoints can be put forth which is the root basis for the usage of all propaganda. This is exactly why Fox News concentrates so heavily on conservative victories while ignoring any instance whereby conservative agenda is refuted by the voting population. Just listen to any of the intros to talk radio’s conservative shows and you will get a perfect example of this type of propaganda; from Sean Hannity’s “Stop Obama express” to Ron Levine’s leadership reports from a hidden bunker.
I don’t believe that conservative media is the only type of media practicing propaganda in today’s world. What I do believe that ALL propaganda is injurious to the spread of information and the disguising of propaganda as fair and balanced news reporting is an effective tool being used to advance agendas in this country that informed discussions would arrest. It has gone well beyond the control of networks, which although lucrative, are small gears in a much bigger machine.
As in any agenda there are reasons for why it is being so effectively advanced and the larger picture in this case is the control of national politics and thereby control of the national government. The truth of the matter is that corporate entities controlled by the upper 1% of the wealthiest Americans are managing to gain control of the government to a degree that has never happened in this country before. Every economic study points out that since Reagan the wealthiest Americans have steadily gained control of the national wealth while the rest of the American public has actually lost buying power as their standard of living decreases and the middle class of this country absorb the nation’s debt. It is no accident that this has happened. What is a little amazing is that they have managed to do much of it with the voting consent of the very people they are squeezing out of existence, the American middle class. Propaganda, as Hitler well understood, is an invaluable tool where someone is intent upon spreading an agenda opposed to the general well being of the populace. This is especially true in a society where the voting populace controls who runs the government. Think about this the next time you hear someone on Fox rail against the very idea of the “Fairness Doctrine” as an attempt by the government to censor free speech. Who is going to be hurt by a fair and equal representation of issues over the nation’s airwaves?
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