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Usage of Propaganda in Public Relations 

Written by

Molly Mullins

in

OpenAi

The Use of Propaganda: Introduction 

What is propaganda? According to our lecture notes, propaganda is “the deliberate dissemination of selective information that is misleading and deceptive to shape audience opinions, beliefs, or behaviors”. According to Rachel Kay Albers Podcast on marketing and propaganda, many techniques have been used over the years to push propaganda. Of these, the most divisive found is the manipulation of public opinion by exploiting emotions and creating polarized narratives. Public relations professionals can avoid these tactics by upholding their values of transparency and authenticity. The Civics 101 podcast highlights the divisive technique “compliance gaining” which uses emotional triggers to influence public behavior. Public relations professionals should avoid this by prioritizing truth and transparency in their strategies.

The Evolution of Propaganda: From World War I to the Digital Age

The posters and films used during World War I, as well as today’s social media platforms are all a part of the propaganda that has been used in the shaping of public opinion. While the usage of media has changed overtime, the basic elements of propaganda have remained the same. These being the appeal to emotion, the spreading of misinformation, and controlling public narratives. These techniques are crucial for public relations professionals to understand when navigating the current media dynamic.  

Historical Context: World War I Propaganda

During the first World War, many governments used multiple propaganda efforts to gain support and slander their enemies. For example, the British government implemented a Propaganda agency that hired famous writers like Arthur Conan Doyle and H.G. Wells to create stories that helped get the public to support the war. A major example of this was a report written in 1915 that reported on the violent acts of the German soldiers in Belgium. Some of the story was true, but some was made up for dramatic effect. The British government also dropped papers on their enemies urging them to surrender in hopes to lower confidence in their war efforts. These propaganda tactics used the media to shape public opinion to be supportive of the war. 

Modern Propaganda: The Role of Social Media

Today, in modern politics, social media has been implemented into propaganda strategies. Social media allows messages to spread faster than ever and it is now possible to target specific demographics. For example, during the 2016 United States election, there were many false stories spread on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. These false stories often circulated to more people than the real news, as the New Yorker states,  “misinformation is often more engaging than factual news.”  This is why the fake news stories were able to gain so much traction. These narratives took advantage of confirmation bias which made political division worse than ever. Social media algorithms implemented on these platforms use content that gives the users deep emotional reactions, which causes them to react rather than learning accuracy and respect. For example, “makeup tutorials and political messaging on platforms like TikTok have blurred the lines between entertainment, personal branding, and campaigning.” This trend shows how social media’s influence on political propaganda has become more widespread and continues to spread isolating messages. 

Conclusion

The evolution of propaganda from World War I to today shows that while the types of media have progressed, the media has continued to shape public perception. The basics of propaganda have only flourished while the media has changed. These basics consist of appealing to emotions, disseminating misinformation, and controlling narratives. Public relations professionals must be committed to upholding the values given by the PRSA in order to avoid these tactics. This includes ethical practices like transparency, and the promotion of media literacy. 

OpenAi 

Keywords/Tags: Propaganda, World War I, Social Media, Misinformation, Public Relations, Media Literacy, Ethical Storytelling. 

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