Channels of Propaganda. INSTITUTION ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication, Bloomington, IN
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DOCUMENT RESUME ED 372 461 CS 508 673 AUTHOR Sproule, J. Michael TITLE Channels of Propaganda. INSTITUTION ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication, Bloomington, IN. SPONS AGENCY Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC. REPORT NO ISBN-0-927516-61-6 PUB DATE 94 CONTRACT RR93002011 NOTE 391p.; Published with EDINFO Press. AVAILABLE FROM ERIC/EDINFO Press, Indiana University, P.O. Box 5953, Bloomington, IN 47407 (paperback: ISBN-0-927516-61-6; $24.95; clothbound: ISBN-0-927516-34-9, $39.95; 10% shipping/handling; Indiana residents add 5% state sales tax). shipping/handling; Indiana residents add 57. states sales tax). PUB TYPE Information Analyses ERIC Clearinghouse Products (071) Viewpoints (Opinion/Position Papers, Essays, etc.) (120) -- Reports Evaluative/Feasibility (142) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC16 Plus Postage. DESCRIPTORS Business; Democratic Values; Elementary Secondary Education; Federal Government; Higher Education; Information Sources; *Mass Media Role; *Mass Media Use; *Persuasive Discourse; Political Attitudes; *Political Issues; *Propaganda; Public Opinion; Public Relations; Religious Factors IDENTIFIERS Educational Issues; Media Government Relationship; Propaganda Analysis; Public Interest; Researcher Role; Rhetorical Strategies; Special Interest Groups ABSTRACT Defining propaganda as "efforts by special interests to win over the public covertly by infiltrating messages into various channels of public expression ordinarily viewed as politically neutral," this book argues that propaganda has become pervasive in American Life. Pcinting out that the 1990s society is inundated with propaganda from numerous sources (including government, business, researchers, religious groups, the news media, educators, and the entertainment industry) the book exposes these channels of propaganda and the cumulative effect they have on public opinion and the functioning of American democracy. Chapter 1 reviews materials on diverse vantage points from which American writers and opinion leaders have tried to reconcile mass persuasion with the democratic way of life during the 20th century. Chapters 2-6 examine propaganda in:(1) government (e.g., Federal Bureau of Investigation, aid to the Contras, Star Wars, presidential styles);(2) research and religion (e.g., national security, private sector, religion and politics); (3) news (e.g., getting good coverage, pressure groups, and business); (4) classroom (e.g., business propaganda, pressure groups, textbooks, pressures on teachers); and (5) entertainment (e.g., film, television). Chapters 7 and 8 question: (1) what action a democratic people should take to safeguard intelligent discussion and free choice from the taint of devious communication; (2) to what extent propaganda casts a shadow over public life; and (3) whether large:scale, engineered persuasion can ever be squared with the ideal of democratiC-pUblic deliberation. Extensive chapter notes and an index are included. (NEAL) a , - I ii U S DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 41k7 111/1'hisdocument has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it 0 Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy :I e BEST COPY AVAILABLE 4s... 4 1 CHANNELS OF PROPAGANDA J. MICHAEL SPROULE San Jose State University San Jose, California ERIC ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, EDINFO English, and Communication il,z li_si 3 Published by EDINFO Press and ERIC Clearinghouse on Reading, English, and Communication Carl B. Smith, Director Indiana University P.O. Box 5953 Bloomington, IN 47407 Copyright © 1994 by James Michael Sproule Editor: Warren Lewis Design: Lauren Bongiani Gottlieb Cover Design: David J. Smith Cover photos courtesy AP/Wide World Photos. This publication was prepared with funding from the Office of Educational Research and Improvement, U.S. Department of Education, under contract no. RR93002011. Contractors undertaking such projects under government sponsorship are encouraged to express freely their judgment in professional and technical matters. Points of view or opinions, however, do not necessarily represent the official view or opinions of the Office of Educational Research and Improvement. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Sproule, J. Michael Channels ef propaganda/J. Michael Sproule p.cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-927516-34-9 (cloth) ISBN 0-927516-61-6 (paperback) 1. Propaganda. I. Title I1M263.S6471994 303.3'75dc20 94-6131 CIP 4 ERIC/REC ADVISORY BOARD Elaine Aoki Joan Irwin Bagley Elementary School International Reading Seattle, Washington Association Newark, Delaware Douglas Barnard Mesa Public Schools Julie Jensen Mesa, Arizona Uriiversity of Texas at Austin Austin, Texas Diane Bloom New Jersey Statewide WritingDiane Lapp Assessment Institute San Diego State University Trenton, New jersey San Diego, California Jesus Cardona Robert Pavlik John F. Kennedy High SchoolCardinal Stritch University San Antonio, Texas Milwaukee, Wisconsin Neyland Clark William Reeves Cape Girardeau School AFL/CIO State of Indiana District #64 Indianapolis, Indiana Cape Girardeau, Missouri Charles Suhor James Gaudino National Council of Teachers Speech Communication of English Association Champaign, Illinois Annandale, Virginia TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 THE REALM OF PROPAGANDA 1 The Propaganda Problem 2 The Muckrakers and The Discovery of Propaganda 11 The Great War and Furor over Propaganda 14 The Communicadon Industry and Progressives' Critique 18 The Practitioners Respond 24 The Social-Scientific Approach 26 The Rationalist Approach 32 The Polemical Approach 37 The Return of Progressive Propaganda Analysis 40 Chapter 2 PROPAGANDA IN GOVERNMENT 53 Government by Propaganda 54 Government and the Press 62 Darker Sides of Government Propaganda 67 The Big Two Agencies 76 Two Illustrative Cases 87 Government Propaganda versus Public Information 94 Chapter 3 PROPAGANDA IN THE TWO Rs: RESEARCH AND RELIGION105 Pressures on Researchers 106 Researching for National Security 110 Research for Federal Domestic Agencies 113 Hired Guns for the Private Sector? 118 Support from the Charitable Foundations 121 Table of Contents (continued) Religion and Politics 126 Religion in Political Movements 133 Chapter 4 PROPAGANDA IN THE NEWS 145 News: The Modern Rhetoric 146 Practices of Objectivity 150 Getting the Important News 154 News as a Business 158 Getting Good Coverage: The Establishment 165 Getting Good Coverage: The Dissidents 171 Pressure Groups in the News: Case Studies 175 Business and the News 179 Free Speech and American Business 181 Chapter 5 PROPAGANDA IN THE CLASSROOM 191 Propaganda versus Education 192 Business Propaganda in the Schools 193 Pressure Groups and the Schools 199 Whose Propaganda is in the Textbooks) 202 Propaganda of the Marketplace 205' Pressures on Teachers 217 Reform, Ideology and Education 223 Chapter 6 PROPAGANDA IN ENTERTAINMENT 235 The Entertainment Norm in Public Communication 236 Film: A Lively Propaganda 238 The Propaganda of Prime Time 252 Image Propaganda in an Age of Appearance 262 vi 7 Table of Contents (continued) Chapter 7 THE ENVIRONMENT OF PROPAGANDA 283 Incapacitated Speakers 284 The Passive Po lis 288 The Poverty of National Discourse 300 Democracy's Dilemma 318 Chapter 8 PROPAGANDA AND THE PUBLIC 327 No Panaceas, No Liberators 328 What Kind of Propaganda Analysis? 332 Restoring Eloquence 339 Building Citizens 354 INDEX 357 Subject 357 Names 367 vii 8 41. P1.11.1, 6.VOMAITIOIN DIVISION OF ADVERTISING I sosoisosi AV! tom YORK CITY E3 SpiesaIAD Lies German agents are everywhere, eager to gather scraps of news about our men, our ships, our munitions.It is stall possible to get such information through to Germany, where thousands of these fragmentsoften indr vidually harmless are patiently pieced together into a whole which spells death to Amencan soldiers and danger to American homes. Rut while the enemy is most industrious in trying to cnIkct information, and his systems elaborate, he is not superhumanindeed he ts often very stupid, and would fail to get what he wants were it not deliberately handed to him by the carekuneu of loyal Amencans Do not dram in public, ce wath strangers, any news or And do not wait until you catch someone putt* a bomb troop and tranaport movements, of bats ago* as to our mill. under a factory.Report the man who wends ITTIRMIITX tory precatationa, which come into your possession. stones, divulgesor seekeconfidentaal binary informatoon, Do not permit your friends in lervice to tell youor cnes foe puce, or belittle, our aorta to wan the war. write facto about where they are, what they are Send the names of such persons, even if they are in um. doing and Rung. form, to the Department of Justsce, Washington. Give all the Do not become a tool of the Hun by palming on the mah details you can, with names of witnesses if pombkshow the nous, &Nutmeg ninon whach be so eagerly sows Remember Hun that we can beat ham at los own pisc of collect* The fact that beasb no better ounce than to have you spread has hes of acattered mfonsatan and putong it to week. disown to our withers and blocs, gress ticanchls to the Red you made the report will not become public. Cross, coaches, neglect and wholesale executions In our camps You are in contact with the enemy today, pug as truly as drunkenness and vice