Part One-Public Relations and Propaganda, definitions.

Definitions

Public Relations: In its proper meaning Public Relations means “making good work well publicized”. In other words the job of a person engaged in Public Relations is to make the good things you do, the valuable product, the good work and your good characteristics known about to others. It doesn't just happen all by itself, it has to be constantly promoted. It is therefore a vital and necessary function of companies, groups and individuals- even you!

Propaganda: This is the art of moulding, creating and influencing the opinions and perceptions of others towards a particular individual or group. The difference here is that the aim of propaganda is not to necessarily promote the truth.

Propaganda has two main categories:

White propaganda: This is the shaping of the opinions or perceptions of others to create a favourable opinion of yourself or your group for a worthwhile purpose, often to counteract Black Propaganda.

It is not necessarily a good thing as it can be used to promote a false opinion or to create fear in order to push forward a particular aim or purpose. It is also commonly used to cover up incompetence or dishonesty, more recently a new word has been coined for that aspect of it, called “spin".

Black Propaganda: These are techniques used to deliberately and systematically destroy the reputation and social standing of a rival or enemy in order to neutralise them as a threat.

The problem with propaganda is that of ethics. It is the art of creating a perception in others WHETHER THIS IS TRUE OR NOT. It  therefore can, and is, used for unscrupulous and even sinister purposes.

Uses

Public Relations is used on a daily basis by politicians, companies and groups as a way of making sure that the good works they do are well known about, this is a perfectly legitimate activity and is usually included as part of their promotion.

White Propaganda, as I said above, can be good or it can be bad. Every government company, group or individual makes mistakes, no one is perfect. Rivals can seize on these mistakes for black propaganda purposes, rumours can circulate or the mistakes can simply create a bad impression. Therefore a certain amount of propaganda is necessary for anyone to survive in this world.

The problem arises when this is used to cover up incompetence or repeated mistakes that affect others adversely, or to promote harmful, prejudiced, hateful ideas or just plain lies.

Black propaganda is used by governments, intelligence agencies and organisations to neutralise or remove enemies that they perceive to be a threat to their power, influence, position or income.

It consists entirely of rumour or lies spread about an individual or group and the spreading of false information, usually from sources that are perceived to be reliable.

There are very specific techniques used here. It is used in the main by governments, intelligence agencies and large companies, to remove rivals. Intelligence agencies are trained in these techniques as part of their job. It is almost considered to be an art form in these circles.

Intelligence Agencies use these techniques to protect themselves and governments. Large companies employ people, who are often ex-intelligence people to destroy rival companies or potential rivals or increase their market share.

There are tens of thousands of companies and individuals calling themselves “Public Relations Officers”. Some are legitimate, but in many cases they are really propaganda or black propaganda companies and the irony is that by calling themselves "PR" companies they are actually using a key black propaganda technique.

Black propaganda people know that most people rarely look beyond a name. Call yourself a “Public Relations Officer” and people assume you are there to do only good. 

Imagine if the person was to call themselves a “Propaganda Officer” or worse “A Black Propaganda Officer”, doesn’t quite have the same ring to it, does it? Yet this is what a lot of companies are exclusively specialising in.

Whats next

Now we have sorted out the difference between PR and propaganda I will address in my next article some of the specific techniques used, so you can watch out for them. It is important you know this as TV and the Internet are awash with these techniques and just about everything you read has an element of PR or Propaganda.

Alan P. Cook

15th April 2009