Propaganda and Persuasion

20

Propaganda and Persuasion

Department pronounced that "British intelligence operations in America were out of control and demanded that offensive covert operations end" (Ignatius, 1989, pp. 9-11). Black propaganda includes all types of creative deceit, and this type of propaganda gets the most attention when it is revealed. The exhibit "Fake? The Art of Deception" was featured in the British Museum in 1990 and included among the art forgeries several examples of propaganda. One type of forgery was the postage stamp (see Figures 1.1, 1.2, and 1.3). Both British and German versions were displayed, and the exhibition catalogue reported that 160 different stamps were produced by both sides during the two World Wars (M. Jones, 1990, p. 75). The success or failure of black propaganda depends on the receiver's will ingness to accept the credibility of the source and the content of the message. Care has to be taken to place the sources and messages within a social, cultural, and political framework of the target audience. If the sender mis understands the audience and therefore designs a message that does not fit, black propaganda may appear suspicious and tends to fail. Gray propaganda is somewhere between white and black propaganda. The source may or may not be correctly identified, and the accuracy of the information is uncertain. In 1961, when the Bay of Pigs invasion took place in Cuba, the VOA moved over into the gray area when it denied any U.S. involvement in the CIA-backed activities. In 1966-1967, Radio Free Europe was organized, financed, and controlled by the CIA, which publicly denied any connection. A fund appeal on American television, radio, and mail indi cated that Radio Free Europe was dependent on voluntary contributions, known as "truth dollars." The actual purpose of the appeal was to fortify the deception and dispel rumors about a CIA relationship (Barnouw, 1978, p. 143). Gray propaganda is also used to embarrass an enemy or competitor. Radio Moscow took advantage of the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy to derogate the United States. VOA did not miss the opportunity to offer similar commentaries about Russia's invasion of Afghanistan or the arrests of Jewish dissidents. It has long been a practice to plant favorable stories about the United States in foreign newspapers. The practice has been sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Defense. This was confirmed by an unclassified summary of the policy released by the Associated Press: "Psychological operations are a central part of information operations and contribute to achieving . . . the commander's objectives. They are aimed at conveying selected, truthful information to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, reasoning, and ultimately, the behavior of governments and other entities" ("Pentagon Propaganda Program Within the Law," 2006).