Summary
‘God would not have made them sheep had he not wanted them to be sheared.’
(A line spoken by the actor Eli Wallach in John Sturges's 1961 film The Magnificent Seven)It is a truism, but nonetheless one worth stating, that the conduct of propaganda presupposes the existence of an audience. That audience must not only be capable of receiving information or opinions, but it must also possess the potential ability to respond in a manner desired by the propagandist; otherwise there would be no point in making an appeal of whatever type to it in the first place. During the course of the twentieth century, the capacity and potential ability of the audience have increased dramatically through the spread of literacy and education, the development of mass communications through the advance of technology, and growing political consciousness and participation in the mechanics of power on the part of an ever increasing number of people. Although public opinion remains a somewhat erratic and indefinable concept, it has become something which those who enjoy positions of power and status ignore at their peril. Accordingly, attempts to inform, cultivate, control and manipulate public opinion have resulted in the scientific development of the new arts of publicity, public relations, advertising and propaganda conducted through organisations designed specifically to influence the audience to respond in a manner desired by those in power or by those who wish to secure power.
How do we distinguish between propaganda and other attempts to influence public opinion?
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- Information
- The Projection of BritainBritish Overseas Publicity and Propaganda 1919–1939, pp. 1 - 8Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1981