West County Democrats

Leonard Doob,  a Professor of Psychology at Yale University, published “Principles of Goebbels Propaganda” in The Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 14, Number 3 (Autumn 1950) pp. 419-442 in which he identified 19 principles of” dark propaganda” practiced for 12 years by the most sinister master of the craft, Reich Minister of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels.

Dark propaganda masquerades itself as news and information but its intent is not to inform, but to persuade. It is considered “dark” because the persuasion is to something false, untrue, or unsubstantiated, persuasion by deceit in order to deceive. (In contrast, light propaganda is advertising, cheerleading, and Yankee Doodle Dandy.)

Goebbels famously said that if one tells a lie often enough, it will be believed.

There is a segment of our population in the USA today that is swallowing this bit of “wisdom“ which raises a point. The effect of any propaganda really depends on whether the recipient wants to believe what he or she is hearing. Paul Simon famously observed: “a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest. “ (“The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Waters, 1970) And, if you hear what you want to hear often enough . . .

FOX NEWS, TALK RADIO, BREITBART and THE SINCLAIR NEWS OUTLETS facilitate this current hysteria with their brands of dark propaganda. Presentation of “news” and “information,” ostensibly categorized by FOX as “fair and balanced” is anything but. FOX, TALK RADIO and SINCLAIR deliberately practice eight of Goebbels’ principles of dark propaganda on a regular basis in their broadcasts. Chief among these is “playing on fear.” which is the hallmark emotion these outlets inflame. Fear raises and maintains a fluid state of paranoia and hyper-vigilance among its audiences which makes the other tactics even more virulent and persuasive.

Likewise, these outlets “brand and mislabel” freely and without regard to accuracy, truth or fact. Consider how, over the years, being “liberal” has become censurable similar to Goebbels’ relentless characterization of Jews in the 1930s as vermin.

There is much more. On Wednesday evening, West County Democrats will present FOCUS 2018: TURN OFF FOX NEWS. The event will take place at the Walnut Grill, Dierberg’s Shopping Center at Clayton and Clarkson beginning at 6 p.m. Please join us as we’ll delve into these and several more uses of dark propaganda and learn what we can do to turn off the dark propaganda machine, to TURN OFF FOX NEWS.

Go to westcountydemocrats.org for more detail.

Submitted by Mark Kumming, WCD Member