1. Institute of Communications Studies,
Propaganda
Prof. Philip M. Taylor,
Institute of Communications Studies,
University of Leeds, UK

2. Let’s start with the (pre-) conceptions
Propaganda is about lying or, at best, half-truths
It is about playing to emotions rather than reason
It is a ‘dirty trick’ designed to get people to do something they might not otherwise have done
It is only done by ‘them’ i.e. dictators who fear public opinion – ‘we’ tell the truth
It is only done in wartime by democracies
It is an abuse of communications processes

3. What it really is
It is a process of communications/persuasion between sender and recipient
As such, it is value-neutral
It depends for its success upon credibility
It lies on the spectrum of communication of who says what, when, how and with what effect.
To distinguish it from other forms of communication, it needs to add why
Therefore the question of intent is critical

4. Why is intent so important?
Because what distinguishes it from other forms of communication/persuasion is that it is designed to benefit the source more than the recipient
Hence value-judgments need to be applied to the motives of the source
To talk of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ propaganda is meaningless without this
Then there is ‘effective’ and ‘ineffective’ propaganda in terms of whether the intention is translated into desired thought and/or behaviour

5. Different types of propaganda
Black (or covert)
White (or overt)
Grey (unknown source)
Cohesive propaganda
Divisive propaganda
The ‘P’ word – publicity, public relations, psychological operations, public diplomacy, perception management

6. Domestic or foreign
Home propaganda usually plays out under ‘information’ policy – ‘we tell the truth to our people’, ‘they tell lies about us’
International propaganda: is it an interference with the internal affairs of other nations?
Censorship and propaganda have been traditional handmaidens – but is this possible any more in the ‘information age’
Blurring or ‘domestic’ and ‘foreign’ within the context of globalisation

7. Main propaganda theorists/practices
Vatican invented the word!
Propagation of cultures/germination of seeds
The authoritarian model (Mussolini, Soviet Union, Nazi Germany)
The democratic response (‘Strategy of Truth’)
Lippmann, Bernays, Hitler, Ellul

8. Main historical campaigns
‘the campaign against American neutrality’,
‘we were hypnotised as a rabbit is by a snake’, 1918
‘workers of the world unite’
‘the free world vs. the slave world’, 1939 onwards, 1945 onwards
Free market liberal democratic capitalism vs. communism and now ‘rogue states’/’axis of evil’/the global ‘war’ on terrorism

9. PROPAGANDA – NATO DEFINITION
ANY INFORMATION, IDEAS, DOCTRINES OR SPECIAL APPEALS,
DISSEMINATED TO INFLUENCE THE OPINIONS, EMOTIONS, ATTITUDES OR BEHAVIOUR OF ANY SPECIFIED GROUP
IN ORDER TO BENEFIT THE SPONSOR, EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY

10. COHESIVE PROPAGANDA CREATE GOODWILL PROMOTE FRIENDSHIP RAISE MORALE
STRESS COMMON INTERESTS
GAIN CO-OPERATION

11. DIVISIVE PROPAGANDA LOWER MORALE CREATE APATHY, DEFEATISM & DISCORD
PROMOTE DISSENTION, PANIC SUBVERSION, RESISTANCE, DESERTION, SURRENDER & DEFECTION

12. PROPAGANDA PRINCIPLES
IS MOST EFFECTIVE WHEN
IT IS BASED UPON CREDIBLE TRUTH
PRESENTED IN AN ATTRACTIVE FORM
IT AROUSES A NEED
IT SUGGESTS SATISFACTION

13. PROPAGANDA VARIANTS PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE/OPERATIONS
PUBLIC RELATIONS/SPIN DOCTORING
ADVERTISING/MARKETING (?)
PUBLICITY
NEWS? (‘the shocktroops of propaganda’)

14. LESSONS LEARNED -ADDITIONAL PRINCIPLES
REFRAIN FROM RIGID DOGMATISM
AVOID ANTAGONISM
IDENTIFIES ITSELF WITH THE TARGET
EXPLOITS, WHEN OPPORTUNE, WEAKNESSES IN HOSTILE PROPAGANDA TO THE MAXIMUM