Mass Media, Propaganda, And Democracy

Propaganda, by whatever name we may call it, has become a very general phenomenon in the modern world. Differences in political regimes matter little.

“Propaganda exists and thrives; it is the Siamese twin of our technological society. Only in the technological society can there be anything of the type and order of magnitude of modern propaganda, which is with us forever; and only with the all-pervading effects that flow from propaganda can the technological society hold itself together and further expand.

Most people are easy prey for propaganda, Ellul says, because of their firm but entirely erroneous conviction that it is composed only of lies and ‘tall stories’ and that, conversely, what is true cannot be propaganda. But modern propaganda has long disdained the ridiculous lies of past and outmoded forms of propaganda.

It operates instead with many different kinds of truth, half-truth, limited truth, truth out of context.” (Source: Introduction to Jacques Ellul’s Propaganda)

An excellent case of half-truth was Joseph Goebbels’ announcement to the German nation on February 2, 1943 that the fighting had stopped at Stalingrad. This was true. But the full truth was that the German Sixth Army encircled by Soviet forces, starving, and out of ammunition had surrendered to Soviet forces as ordered by its commander Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus.

However in recent decades certain leading states have resorted to pure lies in preparation for their foreign adventures, which has led to these states and their leaders being totally discredited later on when the lies have become known world-wide, e.g. George W. Bush’s claim of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq.

“A second basic misconception that makes people vulnerable to propaganda is the notion that it serves only to change opinions.

That is one of its aims, but a limited, subordinate one. Much more importantly, it aims to intensify existing trends, to sharpen and focus them, and, above all, to lead the targets to action.” (Source: Introduction to Propaganda)

“Ellul distinguishes various forms of propaganda….The most trenchant distinction made by Ellul is between agitation propaganda and integration propaganda. The former leads men from mere resentment to rebellion; the latter aims at making them adjust themselves to desired patterns. The two types rely on entirely different means. Both exist all over the world.

Integration propaganda is needed especially for the technological society to flourish, and its technological means – mass media – in turn make such integration propaganda possible.

A related point, central in Ellul’s thesis, is that modern propaganda cannot work without ‘education’; he thus reverses the widespread notion that education is the best prophylactic against propaganda. On the contrary, he says, education, or what usually goes by that word in the modern world, is the absolute prerequisite for propaganda. In fact, education is largely identical with what Ellul calls ‘pre-propaganda’ – the conditioning of minds with vast amounts of incoherent information, already dispensed for ulterior purposes and posing as ‘facts’ and as ‘education.’ (Source: Introduction to Propaganda)

“Ellul follows through by designating intellectuals as virtually the most vulnerable of all to modern propaganda, for three reasons:

(1) They absorb the largest amount of secondhand, unverifiable information;

(2) They feel a compelling need to have an opinion on every important question of our time, and thus easily succumb to opinions offered to them by propaganda on all such indigestible pieces of information;

(3) They consider themselves capable of ‘judging for themselves.’ They literally need propaganda. [emphasis mine] ” (Source: Introduction to Propaganda)

Jacques Ellul (1912-1994) was a French philosopher who wrote on a number of topics including propaganda, and how technology influences society. His Wikipedia entry explains that he “did not seek to eliminate modern technology or technique but sought to change our perception of modern technology and technique to that of a tool rather than regulator of the status quo.”

“In fact, the need for propaganda on the part of the ‘propagandee’ is one of the most powerful elements of Ellul’s thesis:

Cast out of the disintegrating micro-groups of the past, such as family, church, or village, the individual is plunged into mass society and thrown back upon his own inadequate resources, his isolation, his loneliness, his ineffectuality. Propaganda then hands him in veritable abundance what he needs: a raison d’etre, personal involvement and participation in important events, an outlet and excuse for some of his more doubtful impulses, righteousness – all factitious, to be sure, all more or less spurious; but he drinks it all in and asks for more. Without this intense collaboration by the propagandee the propagandist would be helpless.

Thus propaganda, by first creating pseudo-needs through ‘pre-propaganda’ and then providing pseudo satisfactions for them, is pernicious. Can wholesome propaganda be made for a wholesome cause? Can Democracy, Christianity, Humanism be propagated by modern propaganda techniques?” (Source: Introduction to Propaganda)

Ellul traces the similarities among all propaganda efforts – Communist, Nazi, Democratic. He thinks that no one can use this intrinsically undemocratic weapon unscathed or without undergoing deep transformations in the process. In fact propaganda in Democratic societies is far more encompassing and more effective than in totalitarian systems such as the former Soviet Union. In totalitarian societies propaganda originates from one source, the government, and the public is aware of this and on guard against it. In Democratic systems propaganda is everywhere, in particular in the mainstream mass media, and it comes to the public in many shapes and is diffused like the air we breathe, hence difficult for its audience to recognize that it is propaganda. Therefore it is more effective.

“Ellul believes that, on the whole, propaganda is much more effective, and effective in many more ways, than most American analysis shows. Particularly, he rejects as unrealistic and meaningless all experiments that have been conducted with small groups; propaganda is a unique phenomenon that results from the totality of forces pressing in upon an individual in his society, and therefore cannot be duplicated in a test tube.” (Source: Introduction to Propaganda)

“What, in Ellul’s view, can mankind do? At the end of this book, Ellul reaches neither a pessimistic nor an optimistic conclusion with regard to the future. He merely states that, in his view, propaganda is today a greater danger to mankind than any of the other more grandly advertised threats hanging over the human race. His super-analysis ends with a warning, not a prophecy.” (Source: Introduction to Propaganda)

“As far as definitions are concerned, there has been a characteristic evolution in the United States. From 1920 to about 1933 the main emphasis was on the psychological: Propaganda is a manipulation of psychological symbols having goals of which the listener is not conscious.

 [In the decades that followed] attention then became focused on the intention of the propagandist. In more recent books, the aim to indoctrinate – particularly in regard to political, economic, and social matters – has been regarded as the hallmark of propaganda. Within this frame of reference one could determine what constitutes propaganda by looking at the propagandist – such and such a person is a propagandist, therefore his words and deeds are propaganda. But it appears that American authors eventually accepted the definition given by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis:

‘Propaganda is the expression of opinions or actions carried out deliberately by individuals or groups with a view to influencing the opinions or actions of other individuals or groups for predetermined ends and through psychological manipulations.’ ” (Source: Propaganda, Page xii)

“Finally, we take the term propaganda in its broadest sense, so that it embraces the following areas:

Psychological action: The propagandist seeks to modify opinions by purely psychological means; most often he pursues a semi educative objective and addresses himself to his fellow citizens. 

Psychological warfare: Here the propagandist is dealing with a foreign adversary whose morale he seeks to destroy by psychological means so that the opponent begins to doubt the validity of his beliefs and actions.

Re-education and brainwashing: Complex methods of transforming an adversary into an ally which can be used only on prisoners.

Public and human relations: These must necessarily be included in propaganda. This statement may shock some readers, but we shall show that these activities are propaganda because they seek to adapt the individual to a society, to a living standard, to an activity. They serve to make him conform, which is the aim of all propaganda. (Source: Propaganda, Page viii)

“The study of propaganda must be conducted within the context of the technological society.

Propaganda is called upon to solve problems created by technology, to play on maladjustments, and to integrate the individual into a technological world. Propaganda is a good deal less the political weapon of a regime (it is that also) than the effect of a technological society that embraces the entire man and tends to be a completely integrated society. At the present time, propaganda is the innermost, and most elusive, manifestation of this trend. Propaganda must be seen as situated at the center of the growing powers of the State and governmental and administrative techniques.

People keep saying: ‘Everything depends on what kind of a State makes use of propaganda.’ But if we really have understood the technological State, such a statement becomes meaningless. In the midst of increasing mechanization and technological organization, propaganda is simply the means used to prevent these things from being felt as too oppressive and to persuade man to submit with good grace. When man will be fully adapted to this technological society, when he will end by obeying with enthusiasm, convinced of the excellence of what he is forced to do, the constraint of the organization will no longer be felt by him; the truth is, it will no longer be a constraint, and the police will have nothing to do. The civic and technological good will and the enthusiasm for the right social myths – both created by propaganda – will finally have solved the problem of man.” (Source: Propaganda, Page xviii)

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Link for downloading one copy of Ellul’s book for personal reading free of charge: 

Ellul: Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes   

https://dokumen.pub/qdownload/propaganda-the-formation-of-mens-attitudes-9780593315675-9780394718743-0394718747-0593315677.html