Media Effects

Early developments in media research

In France the space alloted to commercial
advertisments is very limited, and... The essential
part of the journal is the discussion of the politics of
the day. In America three quarters of the enormous
sheet are filled with advertisements and the
remainder is frequently occupied by political
intelligence or trivial anecdotes; it is only from time
to time that one finds a corner devoted to the
passionate discussions like those which journalists
of France every day give to thei readers Alexis de
Tocqueville (1830s)

Early developments in media research

During the second half of the 19th century major
media analysis models were based on moral and
political arguments
In the late 1920s and early 1930s more scientific
approaches to mass-media research developed
Walter Lippmann (Liberty and the News - 1920)
called on journalists to operate more like
scientific researchers in gathering and analyzing
factual material

Four early trends

Daniel Czitrom identifies 4 early trends
(1930s-1960s):
Propaganda analysis
Public-opinion research
Social psychology studies
Marketing research

Propaganda analysis
After WWI
Propaganda researchers labeled it as partisan
appeal based on half-truths and devious
manipulation of communication channels
Harold Lasswell (1927) Propaganda Technique
in the World War
Focused on media representations
the control of opinion by significant symbols,
...by stories, rumors, reports, pictures and other
forms of social communication

Why study propaganda? The

wonderful shortcuts.
Propagandists love short-cuts -- particularly
those which short-circuit rational thought.
They encourage this
by agitating emotions,
by exploiting insecurities,
by capitalizing on the ambiguity of language,
and by bending the rules of logic.
As history shows, they can be quite successful

 Propaganda analysis exposes the tricks that

propagandists use and suggests ways of
resisting the short-cuts that they promote.
People need strategies of mental self-defense.
Propaganda analysis is an antidote to the
excesses of the Information Age.

Definitions of Propaganda
Propaganda is a concerted set of messages aimed
at influencing the opinions or behaviors of large
numbers of people.
The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd Edition
(2009) - "The systematic propagation of
information or ideas by an interested party,
especially in a tendentious way in order to
encourage or instil a particular attitude or
response.
Also, the ideas, doctrines, etc., disseminated
thus; the vehicle of such propagation."

 It could be defined as information (words,

images, sounds, etc.) used to manipulate
people's behavior or beliefs.
The target of a successful propagandist will
feel that he has made a voluntary
choice, even though s/he was never given a
real chance to do so.

 Propaganda is a concerted set of messages

aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviors
of large numbers of people.
Propaganda is the deliberate, systematic
attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate
cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a
response that furthers the desired intent of
the propagandist.
Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O'Donnell,
Propaganda and Persuasion

 "Propaganda is neutrally defined as a

systematic form of purposeful persuasion that
attempts to influence the emotions, attitudes,
opinions, and actions of specified target
audiences for ideological, political or
commercial purposes through the controlled
transmission of one-sided messages (which
may or may not be factual) via mass and direct
media channels.

Types of propaganda
White propaganda generally comes from an openly identified
source, and is characterized by gentler methods of persuasion,
Black propaganda is identified as being from one source, but is in
fact from another. This is most commonly to disguise the true
origins of the propaganda, be it from an enemy country or from an
organization with a negative public image.
Grey propaganda is propaganda without any identifiable source or
author.

Types of propaganda
Command propaganda which seeks a specific,
immediate response:"Buy this... Do that ...
Vote for ... Join ... Fight ...." (Now!)
Conditioning propaganda which seeks to
mold public opinions, assumptions, and
attitudes on a long-term widespread basis,
often as a prelude for command propaganda.
(Later)

War and propaganda

Propaganda is a powerful weapon in war;
it is used to dehumanize and create hatred
toward a supposed enemy, either internal
or external, by creating a false image in the
mind.
This can be done by using derogatory or
racist terms, avoiding some words or by
making allegations of enemy atrocities.
Most propaganda wars require the home
population to feel the enemy has inflicted
an injustice, which may be fictitious or may
be based on facts.
The home population must also decide
that the cause of their nation is just.

Counter-propaganda
Counter-propaganda is used here to mean an
attempt to inoculate or to immunize individuals
in advance of any propaganda blitz by any of the
organized persuaders: from any advertisers, from
any politicians (Left or Right), or from any
governments (domestic or foreign).
In the future, assume that professional
persuaders will be more sophisticated (not less
so) and more organized than they are now,
creating an ever accelerating imbalance between
the professional persuaders and the average
"persuadee" -- the average citizen.