The Problems in Public Relations

When was the last time you were exposed to propaganda? If you think it was more than a day ago, you are probably unaware of what propaganda really is. According to Donna Woolfolk Cross in “Propaganda: How not to be Bamboozled,” propaganda is “simply a means of persuasion” (149). She further notes that we are subjected daily to propaganda in one form or another as advertisers, politicians, and even our friends attempt to persuade us to use their product, vote for them, or adopt their point of view. Propaganda is usually considered in a negative sense. However, when viewing propaganda as mere persuasion, one can readily appreicate that it is

What does the word propaganda really mean? For most of us we assume that it is a word for negativity use. Just to assure those that think of propaganda as a negative word. Propaganda does have a positive objective if used correctly. The word propaganda is defined in a few different ways, But in the most general usage, it varies from bad to good persuasion of our minds. It is used during election time to our daily lives on television to our newspaper stands. According to Donna Cross's essay, "Propaganda: How Not to Be Bamboozled," there are thirteen different types of propaganda; this paper will discuss six varieties. George W. Bush and Dick Cheney used primarily every sort

“Propaganda is the art of persuasion - persuading others that your 'side of the story' is correct. Propaganda might take the form of persuading others that your military might is too great to be challenged; that your political might within a nation is too great or popular to challenge etc.”

Propaganda has been present for generations. Whether it’s in politics or if it’s just used for advertising, it has mostly been used to publicize a certain view, or ideology. It has also been used many different times in history, but perhaps most notably in times of war. During these times, countries involved will promote bias ideologies in order to seem superior from their opposition. This is perhaps more evident during WWII, when devices such as the radio and the telegraph made it easier to promote false ideas to the people. This was used to the benefit of both the allies and the axis powers, as they used multiple different propaganda techniques to influence public opinion toward their enemies and promote nationalism.

Propaganda is a way to send a message to people which promotes or publicizes a particular political cause or point of view. Propaganda is used to influence people’s attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors in the spreading of ideas. The message or idea of propaganda is brought to the people through art, music, posters, radio, books, films, and the press, etc. Also it can persuade someone to believe one side of a subject over another. Propaganda has played a huge role within war, presidency, and social issues.

There are many different definitions of propaganda that people use. Propaganda is politicians deceiving the public into what the politicians want them to know or believe (Altschull). This definition is used to show how politicians can use propaganda. There are many ways to use propaganda. They are used to convince people to buy a certain product, to convince people to not buy a certain product, to convince a certain group of people to vote for a public office official, to convince a certain group of people not to vote for a public office official. All these examples show that people are trying to influence others into thinking what they believe.

Propaganda has been used throughout history. It is used to get people to accept ideas and beliefs by using specific devices to reach their goal. There are different types of propaganda that can be deceitful, honest, or repeatedly promoted. Some individual think it is only used for evil because it involve half-truths and distort the facts, but it can spread good ideas. By using logical and emotional reason, the propagandist can connect with their audience to get them to believe in whatever they want.

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.”

Most popular news outlets use propaganda to persuade the public into supporting their political cause. Over the years more and more biased news outlets have been created to compete with people of the opposite political spectrum. In today's age it’s hard to find an unbiased news source, the result is constant political tension and power struggles between the left and right. Liberal and Conservative media use propaganda to sway and manipulate the general public to fit their political agenda.

The most recent definition of public relations, according to the Public Relations Society of America (2012), states that “Public Relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” Through the rapid advancement of modern media and technology, there have never been more outlets and opportunities available for accomplishing the goals of public relations. Believing the development of social media has not created serious changes in the way public relations practitioners go about their duties would be foolish and a fast track to falling behind in this rapid world of communication. The main goals of public relations are “to

Propaganda is used to promote a certain cause to a mass audience through mass media. Propaganda can be used to spread information for good or bad reasons and has been known to do both. The use of propaganda for bad reasons has caused many people to view it as a deceitful word, one that stretches the truth and blows things out of proportion to gain support--even though that is not always the case. For example, propaganda likes to use testimonials, glittering generalities, card stacking, and other techniques to present information in the best and most biased light (Ogelsbee, n.d.). The article “Defining Propaganda”(n.d.) explains that propaganda can spread its message through a variety of mediums such as pictures, drawings, exhibits, speeches, parades, songs, and so forth. It can present itself in such a way that the audience won’t even realize what it is, which can help with its effectiveness. Basically, this means “propaganda can be concealed or open.” It can also weasel its way into your life and leave a lasting emotional effect by using “a combination of emotional and logical appeals” (Defining Propaganda, n.d.). Propaganda typically appeals to emotion because it helps get a message across in a short amount of time and is the most effective. All of this means that propaganda can come in many different forms and can be adapted to fit pretty much any

"Public Relations is the management function that establishes and maintains mutually beneficial relationships between an organization and the publics on whom its success or failure depends." (Effective Public Relations, 2005, p.1)

Propaganda is information to further an agenda, often by presenting facts selectively, perhaps a white lie by omission, to encourage a particular viewpoint. Furthermore using messages to produce an emotional response rather than a rational one to the information presented people are more likely to go with instinctive feelings as opposed to logical thinking. “It refers only to the control of the opinion by significant symbols or, to speak more concretely unless accurately by stories rumors reports pictures and other forms of social communication. Propaganda is concerned with the management of opinions and attitudes by the direct manipulation of social success chain rather than by altering other conditions in the environment…”(Lasswell 9) Although the term propaganda has mostly been acquired with being negative, propaganda in its original sense was neutral and could refer to uses that were generally positive, such as

Public Relations and Communication is a pivotal part of many careers in many fields. As a prospective police officer or probation officer in the criminal justice field, aspects of this course are important to that particular career path. Police work can involve an extensive amount of research in the form of writing police or incident reports. An often overlooked aspect of police work is grant application. Grant application involves extensive research by the police department in order to secure certain types of funding. This course has been helpful in recognizing the importance of in depth and high quality research, and also the importance of proper and professional citations. In addition, this

As the name of the discipline implies, public relations is how an organization builds beneficial relationships with its key stakeholders. With effective communication as the practices’ primary tool, modern day organizations have taken advantage of proficient practitioners to boost exposure of their company and its message across to international audiences.