Propaganda and Persuasion

Chapter 1 What Is Propaganda, and How Does It Differ From Persuasion? 21

Planting stories is not only practiced by governments, for private organi zations do it as well. There is a growing use of video news releases (VNRs) inserted in television news programs. The practice began in the 1980s when promotional videos were sent to selected television stations for possible inclusion in the evening news. This is gray propaganda because the true source is hidden and legitimized by the news station as the source. Today, VNRs have become a slick public-relations tool as sophisticated, high quality video content formatted to the needs of local newsrooms. VNRs can be downloaded online, and studies reveal that they are widely used in selected segments or in their entirety. Major networks tend to identify them as "This is a Video News Release. Federal Communications Commission regulations require news stations to reveal the source of a VNR only when it is about a political or controversial issue or when a station is paid to use it. VNRs also appear as a form of marketing communication for viewing on cell phones and other devices (Pavlik, 2006).

Figure 1.1 A German "black" parody of a British stamp, c. 1944. Note how the traditional crown has been replaced with a "Star of David" at the very top of the stamp.