I. Age of Propaganda
A.
The
Essential Modern Dilemma: We value persuasion as argumentation and the free
exchange of ideas and debate, but political persuasion and debate today is
driven by mindless propaganda designed to prevent us from thinking in an
intelligent way about the content of political messages. (Pratkanis and Aranson, The Age of Propaganda)
B.
Why
mindless propaganda?
C.
Propaganda
examples.
D.
Propaganda
defined
1.
Propaganda
is…
(1)
All
persuasion is not propaganda
2.
Page
and Shapiro: Educating, Misleading and Manipulating Public Opinion
a)
Educating:
Individuals or institutions (schools, elected officials, media, experts), that
influence public opinion by providing correct, helpful information, can be said
to educate the public
b)
Misleading:
Individuals or institutions that influence public opinion by providing
incorrect, biased, or selective information, or erroneous interpretations can
be said to mislead the public.
c)
Manipulating: If government officials or others mislead the
public consciously and deliberately, by means of lies, falsehoods, deception,
or concealment, they manipulate public opinion
II.
Theories of Attitude Change
A.
Carl
Hovland's Message-Learning Approach to Attitude
Change: Who says What to Whom and How and with What Effect? Persuasion is
complex and conditional. Depends on source, message, and audience
characteristics, and these only have an effect if the following learning
conditions are met: exposure, attention, interest, comprehension, and
acquisition.
1.
Characteristics
of the source of communication
a)
Credibility,
trust, attractiveness. Political and celebrity endorsements.
2.
Characteristics
of the message
a)
Visual
images
b)
Fear
appeals
3.
Characteristics
of the audience
a)
What
the audience is thinking: forewarning
b)
Prior
Predispositions (e.g., ideology, partisanship)
c)
Political
Awareness and Opinion Leadership: the impact of awareness (reception or resistance)
depends on prior predispositions and whether the message is one-sided or
two-sided (i.e., whether there is elite consensus or elite conflict).
"Mainstream" and "polarization" effects models. (From John
Zaller, The Nature and Origins of Mass
Opinion)
(1)
Example
of opinion leadership during the Vietnam war