Q.

How has Public Relations, and spin and propaganda specifically, been used to
influence politics since the 20th Century? Use specific examples in your answer.
A. According to the Oxford Dictionary, Public Relation is the professional
maintenance of a favourable public image by a company or other organization or a
famous person, whereas propaganda is information, especially of a biased or
misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of
view.8 In recent years the use of propaganda has been relabelled as public relations
in order to persuade the public to a particular view. This is a very common occurrence
in politics, when a particular party wants to put a spin or their view as the be all and
end all.

Certain techniques of propaganda include assertion, such as when a product or service

is advertised as the best without evidence; bandwagon, when people are encouraged
that one side is winning as so many others are following it; card stacking, when
opposing views are omitted from information given; glittering generalities, when
highly important and relatable phrases are used to identify with the audience such as
defence of democracy or freedom; lesser of two evils, when an idea or concept is
delivered as the less offensive option; name calling, by labelling the enemy in a
negative way; pinpointing the enemy, when the opposition is clearly described as the
negative party, to show a clear cut right and wrong; plain folks, where the view given
is presented as the same as that of the common person and as of beneficial to them;

testimonials, which present a respected person with the view being given; and
transfer, when propaganda is used to link two subjects.9

The use of propaganda became prominent after the turn of the Twentieth Century. New
technologies began to emerge as the world became more industrialised and alongside this
followed the First World War. Crude propaganda was used during the First World War such as
posters urging people to help their country, be thrifty with their supplies as well as providing
a derogatory view of the Germans. In such posters they called the Germans Huns and
claimed they punished the British by shaving all the hair off one side of the head and face. 4.
To help the troops stay strong trenches were named after popular British streets and messages
depicting the enemys futility were played to the soldiers.

The General Strike took place in 1926 brought on by diminished coal supplies and low
morale within the workplace. Many newspapers and other public sector service took part
whereas the British Broadcasting Corporation chose not to. John Reith, the Managing
Director seized this opportunity to revolutionise the BBC and encourage his own views upon
the British public. At the time of the General Strike the Corporation was not fully accepted or
invited by the people, but their thirst for knowledge and news of the outside world meant that
without newspapers it was their only choice, thus its audience grew and grew. Reich wanted a
Corporation which selected what was newsworthy whilst staying politically neutral. Churchill
however, wanted a predominantly political view put forth. His news-sheet the British Gazette
published his political views and fuelled his propaganda on a daily basis. However during the
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strike this was not possible. The government attempted to commandeer the BBC and make it
biased to their way but Reich thwarted their attempts by making the point that service
workers were on strike and if they privatised the BBC it would cease to exist. As such the
BBC was able to start collecting and producing news. George Orwell backed up the BBC
claiming it was more reliable than previous sources quoting I heard it on the BBC meant it
must be true.1

During the Second World War the BBC was seen as a source of truthful and vital information.
It was key in identifying foreign propaganda stations and providing information on home and
away. It felt it was itself a propaganda weapon 3 which was not strictly true as it too spread
propaganda to an extent. In 1940, Reich was appointed minster of the Ministry of
Information. Although Churchill retired him later that year he had already began to reorganise
it. During his time there, Reich stood by the view that news and propaganda should come
from the same source as not to cross wires.

William Joyce, nicknamed Lord Haw Haw for his upper class English accent was a key
figure of German propaganda.

Originally involved in the British Fascisti he was the

Propaganda director for many anti-sematic events and rallies. As Joyce became more
convinced that war with Germany was immediate, he travelled there and began contributing
to the pamphlet National Socialism Now as well as broadcasting his own popular show. The
British public became transfixed by him because of his familiar voice and in-depth
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knowledge of their country.11 Eventually he was captured and executed. However his
popularity reflected a disinterest and distrust in the BBC. Their broadcasts could be seen to be
edited, outdated and of little relevance. The power of German broadcasting is believed to
have been a factor in the fall of France as they French didnt resist invasion. Their famous
propaganda film Triumph des Willens has won awards in various countries and has been
considered as one of the most powerful propaganda messages to date.

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It was after the

emergence of Lord Haw Haw that the BBC decided they needed more action. They stepped
up their coverage and employed many more foreign correspondences to spread their news far
and wide. However, they still tried to remain unbiased, though this was proving harder and
harder as Churchill and his government laid on more influence.

The BBC often refused to allow speakers they seen as having too politic or harsh a view on
the fascist countries. Churchill himself was regularly refused airtime on the BBC, a move
which he condemned as he saw it as diminishing his power and keeping information from the
public. He claimed to be anti-propaganda claiming that to win the war military success not
propaganda is key.3 The BBC, like Churchill was guilty of withholding information from the
public. After the war it emerged that Reich began writing of preparations for the war in his
diary as early as 1933.3 They were also known for censoring everyday citizens such as in the
case of William Ferrie, a trade unionist. The BBC wanted him to mention the slogan
Workers of the world unite3 and he felt that throughout the whole interview his main views
were silenced. This slogan is a clear example of the type of propaganda the BBC were known
for.
4

After the Battle of Dunkirk in summer 1940 British morale increased as a sense of
community spread throughout the country. The BBC put forth a campaign to show the
British how far their solidarity could enable them to reach. Priestly reminded the public that
propaganda showed the war was just an interruption to their reality and just a chapter of their
tremendous history.3

Bruntz argues that it reminded the masses of how widespread

solidarity had played a part in shortening the First World War and saving countless civilians.
The Times itself felt their allied propaganda assisted too, showing the positive side of
propaganda. In 1941, the V Campaign was started in which allies were encouraged to chalk
Vs everywhere to show their support for Britain. However, although it gave a sense of
solidarity it also had negative points. Little was done to help those who rallied to end the war
and in many cases the Germans were alerted to who was against them. None the less, politics
and political campaigns were shown to provide solidarity among nations.

Before the war BBC broadcasters were anonymous but this changed during the war so they
couldnt be confused as German spies. It emerged after the war that the Germans had trained
officers to duplicate Lidell and Hibberd, British announcers responsible for breaking some of
the most famous stories of the war. In an attempt to confuse and alter the mood of the fascists
Ogilvie, Reichs predecessor broadcast a lady cellist playing soothing tunes to Germany. This
type of propaganda sought to make Britain seem carefree and superior to Germany.

In order to provide a united front and make the people remain in high spirits despite the
tragedy surrounding them, the radio began to broadcast topical and humorous programmes
such as Its That Man Again and The Brain Trust. These shows engaged the public
encouraging them to have hope and interest in the war effort. It also gave birth to
catchphrases such as After you Claude- No, after you Cyril which became popular with
fighter pilots.3 However the government eventually went on to censor the Brain Trust, cutting
their broadcasts per week. They felt that it may venture into delicate political areas given
that two members were socialists. They also disagreed with comedy as a news source. One
consequence of the Brains Trust was that the BBC became more soft in their views of politics
and more open to accept that the public deserved to hear the political side of the war, much to
the governments distaste. The Foreign Service, like the BBC and other broadcast could at
times be too biased or influential rather than informative. Crossman believed that the
employees were too involved in the advertising world and this made their propaganda more
overtly persuasive, much like modern day public relations. After the World War, the amount
of advertising published and the revenue involved increased greatly.

In the early to middle Twentieth Century, newspapers were seen as engines of propaganda 3
and were very biased depending on what their owners strong political views were.
Beaverbrook became Minister of Information in 1918 and later became proprietor of the
Daily Express and Evening Standard. In his time in government he was in charge of
propaganda and this was reflected in his publications. Beaverbrooks department was
responsible for the distribution of many propaganda leaflets onto enemy soils. However,
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many of these were misleading and poorly written. 5 Rothermore was the proprietor of the
Evening News and Daily Mail and was keenly influenced by Ozwald Mossley and National
Union of Fascists even praising them as "sound, common sense, Conservative doctrine in his
article Hurrah for the Black shirts!. He had several meetings with Adolf Hitler and believed
war could be avoided if Africa was returned to Germany. However, he later found this wasnt
true as the war went ahead.6 Both Beaverbrook and Rothermores newspapers were renowned
for their Conservative viewpoint, with Beaverbrook once admitting to the Royal Commission
on the Press that the Daily Express was purely for propaganda, and no other purpose.7

During the Troubles in Northern Ireland during the 1970s and 80s, the BBC claimed to want
to remain impartial, and wanted to give equal chance for all parties involved, such as the
IRA, and UVF to appear with their voices unedited and to be given their chance to put across
their opinion. The BBC showed many interviews with those involved and had many
insightful videos into what was happening at the time which they later refused to hand over to
the government. Ms Thatcher disagreed with anything which gave publicity to an issue she
opposed, particularly as the IRA had made an attempt on her life during the Troubles.
Eventually she brought in a Broadcasting Ban where the voices of terrorist parties had to be
given by actors. However, her anti propaganda further fuelled public interest, rather than
causing disapproval and disgust. The BBC was not entirely innocent though. A Radio 4 report
found the BBC to have spun a propaganda campaign linking the IRA to Soviet submarines,
Czech snipers and even exploding womens underwear.

The Conservative government began to rise from 1923 onwards becoming particularly
successful under Churchill and Thatcher who made many revolutionary changes. Especially
since the 1980s, television began to be a prime example of Conservative propaganda and the
public sector greatly increased its advertising. Before this time most organisations had
operated for the greater good, but as the Conservative government continued to win elections,
politics became more and more one-sided. They began to pressure newspapers and
broadcasting companies. This had an effect on all public companies including the BBC, as
well as ITV. These two channels were then forced to show political party broadcasts during
election season as the public gained interest. In the two decades from 1956 the amount of
television time devoted to politics quadrupled3 and nowadays Political Party Broadcasts are
modern propaganda and it is not unusual for opposing parties to create mocking broadcasts to
influence the publics decision. There are various programmes across terrestrial and satellite
channels devoted not just to political party broadcasts but it is now also possible to watch
inside parliament.

In conclusion I feel that propaganda and later public relations have been a huge influence on
politics. Politics has also greatly influenced both of them too. During the war they were used
as marketing devices to recruit the public, warn them about the danger and oppose the enemy.
Even though the BBC attempted to stay unbiased since its beginning this is simply not
possible given the influence the government has on the everyday life of its constituents. In the
future this will continue through any future conflicts as well as during election periods.
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