Propaganda by Edward L Bernays

During World War II propaganda was ubiquitous. It consisted of a wide range of carriers including leaflets, radio, television, and most importantly posters. Posters were used based on their appeal: they were colorful, creative, concise, and mentally stimulating. Posters often portrayed the artist's views on the war. They demonstrated the artist concern for the war, their hopes for the war, and reflected the way enemies were envisioned. Posters also show a nations political status: they reflect a nations allies and enemies, how the nation saw itself, and its greatest hopes and fears of the war.

In her essay, “Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled”, author Donna Woolfolk Cross explains the different types of propaganda and how it is used in the United States. The essay was first published in Speaking of Words: A Language Reader (1977). Cross defines propaganda as “simply a means of persuasion and so it can be put to work for good causes as well as bad” (247). In her article she discusses how propaganda works and explains how propaganda is used with thirteen different devices to manipulate people’s thoughts, opinions, and ideas. She uses this essay as an informative piece, giving advice on how not to be manipulated by propaganda.

Propaganda is about power and persuasion, and is used for many reasons by the government. This essay will explore the overt means by which the government uses systematic propagation to control the citizens of the society and the subtle ways in which information, independent thought, and their freedoms are restricted through radio and television.

Propaganda takes many forms, the most aggressive example in society is political campaigning for powers in office. A prominent

By decision making by representatives of the people, rather than direct decision making by the people themselves. These elite representatives would be expected to use their prudence and wisdom to make decisions based on what was in the best interests of the masses. (pg. 7)

World War 1 proved America to be the nation producing the highest amount of propaganda. Through his use of propaganda President Wilson was able to draw American Support for the war. Despite his being elected as the “peace” president. Many Americans believed he’d keep them out of the war, especially after he stated that, “so far as I can remember, this is a government of the people, and this people is not going to choose war.” Before his election, Wilson promoted American neutrality. He pushed for what he believed his Americans wanted. However, through his employment of propaganda, Woodrow Wilson was able

The American public as a whole, however, is wise and acquires political knowledge from more informed sources. James Surowiecki asserts in The Wisdom of Crowds that individuals can be impolitic; however, groups can reach wise decisions. Surowiecki claims, “Even if most people within a group are not especially well-informed or rational, it can still reach a collectively wise decision.” Surowiecki’s argument illustrates that a national referendum would thwart the ill-informed nature of the American voter as a national referendum is a collective decision. American voters can be irrational and ill-informed; nevertheless, most American voters acquire their political knowledge from more educated sources. The acquisition of political knowledge from more well-informed sources undermines the irrational nature of the American voter. Martin Gilens argues in “Two- Thirds Full? Citizen Competence and Democratic Governance” that cue taking enables ill-informed citizens to make a decision on a controversial issue. Gilens contends, “Taking cues from more knowledge elites or acquaintances is a sensible strategy for citizens who lack the ability or inclination to gather the information needed to formulate a preference on a given policy issue.” The collective wisdom of the American public and cue taking enable American voters to overcome their ignorance of politics and past political

In Oceania, rumors, myths, ideas and false information controls the minds of the citizens. The Party uses propaganda as a powerful weapon against the citizens. There are many types of propaganda used. Propaganda is brainwash. The citizens of Oceania are brainwashed to think that the Party is really there to help them, to make them happy. “WAR IS PEACE. FREEDOM IS SLAVERY. IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.” and “Big Brother is Watching You” are examples of doublethink. These uses of propaganda prevent rebellion of the citizens of Oceania because they believe that this society is the ideal society. They believe they are protected, and that they could not be happier. Propaganda is the Party’s

People have been like sheep under wrongful and deceptive shepherds and it will continue to be like this whether we like it or not. We have been a species of conflicts and war, and it would have only been a matter of time for someone to master the skill of artifice to persuade the masses to favor their agenda. Humanity is more productive when we all agree to something, and the use of artifice can influence the way we all think. This expertise can be wielded by those who are good or bad. This can be frightening when that skill is mastered by those who intend to utilise it for deceptive purposes. Because of the manipulation of artifice, it demonstrates that it is a vital skill to acquire. Its influence on recent history and its continuation in our present day is known by

Nevertheless, the government conveys information through propaganda because it is a more subliminal way to get into one’s conscious. If a body of government orders someone to shape a precise

One of his famous expressions is, "The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the opinions of the masses is an important element in a democratic society. It is the intelligent minorities which need to make use of propaganda continuously and systematically" ( ). The idea behind this statement has been widely used ever since for commercial profits, through the manipulation of public opinion and the power of mass marketing.

‘’It is only one of the tools in the formation of public opinion’’ (Casey, 1944c).

First, one must define propaganda and since many have done so already, I shall use the Sheryl Ross model. Her model defines propaganda as “an epistemically defective message designed with the intention to persuade a socially significant group of people on behalf of a political institution, organization, or cause.”

Propaganda is performed through print, audio, and visual mass media. It is used for the promotion of the public’s activities in their life such as purchasing goods through market propaganda, and it is also found in politics, foreign affairs, and in many other fields. Most importantly propaganda is depicted in the informercialization of the news, which is connected with subliminal advertising and commercialization of public events and individual promotion such in communication websites. However, there is great debate over propaganda and persuasion that is casted in the media, which I will be elaborating in this essay.

Edward Bernay’s “Crystallizing Public Opinion” gives readers an insight on public relations and public opinions on its history and how it came about. The text was broken up into four different parts: scope and functions, the group and herd, technique and method, and lastly ethical relations. Each parts has certain chapter topics leads to the next which leads to the next parts of the book. The text is very helpful for those who are in public relations, I would not say the book was easy nor difficult, it was more in between. There are some chapters that are pretty lengthy compared to others and there will be names mentioned in a few chapters that can be a little confusing. Overall, it is best for people to know about the history of PR and