Abstract
Jacques Ellul’s Propaganda is a work of analysis and explanation about a crucial range of practices and institutions in modern political society. Drawing upon the social history of political communication and a wealth of social scientific studies on public opinion published during the middle twentieth century, Ellul expands the framework in which such evidence can been understood and put to use. Especially at the book’s conclusion, it is clear that Ellul hoped the book would serve as a warning to democratic citizens of technological societies about the insidious spread of propaganda throughout the body politic.
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Notes
- 1.
Ronald Reagan TV ad: “It’s morning in America again,” YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-IBF8nwSY. Accessed 1 November 2011.
- 2.
Roger Ailes at 6 min, 9 s in the video documentary, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdock’s War on Journalism. 2004. Robert Greenwald, director and producer.
- 3.
Jon Du Pre, at 7 min 49 s, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdock’s War on Journalism (see complete reference in footnote 2).
- 4.
Memo from John Moody, 28 April 2004, quoted at 10 min, 15 s, Outfoxed: Rupert Murdock’s War on Journalism (see complete reference in footnote 2).
- 5.
“Foxgate: Leaked email reveals Fox News boss Bill Sammon ordered staff to cast doubt on climate science” (capital letters in the original), in Climate Science, website edited by Joe Romm. http://thinkprogress.org/romm/2010/12/15/207201/leaked-email-fox-news-sammon-cast-doubt-on-climate-science/?mobile=nc. Accessed 15 January 2012.
- 6.
Nikki Fox, “Concerns over Climategate inquiry,” BBC, 21 December 2011. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-16294420. Accessed 15 January 2012.
- 7.
A description of instances of this kind are presented in “Fox News Channel controversies,” Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_News_Channel_controversies. Accessed 15 January 2012.
- 8.
“Today in Dishonest Fox News Charts,” Media Matters, website, 12 December 2011. http://mediamatters.org/blog/201112120005. Accessed 13 December 2011.
- 9.
Brit Hume quoted in “Al Franken, God Spoke: Divining Intervention in Politics,” Louis Proyect, WBAI.org. http://wbai.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9080&Itemid=2. Accessed 15 January 2012.
- 10.
David Brock, at 16 min, 34 s. Outfoxed: Rupert Murdock’s War on Journalism (see complete reference in footnote 2).
- 11.
“Sen. McConnell: Making Obama a One-Term President is my Single Most Important Political Goal,” Mediaite, 10 July 2011. http://www.mediaite.com/tv/sen-mcconnell-making-obama-a-one-term-president-is-my-single-most-important-political-goal/. Accessed 15 January 2012.
- 12.
“Only Nixon can go to Nixonland,” driftglass, blog, 26 July 2011. http://driftglass.blogspot.com/2011/07/only-nixon-can-go-to-nixonland.html. Accessed 15 January 2012.
- 13.
“Poll: Fox most trusted name in news,” Andy Barr, Politico, website, 27 January 2011. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0110/32039.html. Accessed 1 December 2012.
- 14.
“Voters Say Election Full of Misleading and False Information”. World Public Opinion. Org, 9 December 2010. http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/articles/brunitedstatescanadara/671.php?nid=&id=&pnt=671&lb=. Accessed 30 May 2011.
- 15.
“Some News Leaves People Knowing Less”. Farleigh Dickinson University Public Mind Poll, 21 November 2011. http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2011/knowless/. Accessed 1 December 2011.
References
Ellul, Jacques. 1965. Propaganda: The formation of men’s attitudes. Trans. Konrad Kellen and Jean Lerner. New York: Knopf.
Hedges, Chris. 2009. Empire of illusion: The end of literacy and the triumph of spectacle. New York: Nation Book.
Holcolm, Jesse, Amy Mitchell, and Tom Rosenstiel. 2011. Cable: By the numbers, Pew research center’s project for excellence in journalism: An annual report on American journalism 2011. http://stateofthemedia.org/2011/cable-essay/data-page-2/. Accessed 1 Dec 2011.
Kornhauser, William. 1959. The politics of mass society. New York: Free Press.
Lincoln, Abraham. 1858. House divided speech. Speech to the Republican State Convention, Springfield, Illinois, 16 June 1858. http://showcase.netins.net/web/creative/lincoln/speeches/house.htm. Accessed 15 Jan 2012.
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Winner, L. (2013). Propaganda and Dissociation from Truth. In: Jerónimo, H., Garcia, J., Mitcham, C. (eds) Jacques Ellul and the Technological Society in the 21st Century. Philosophy of Engineering and Technology, vol 13. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6658-7_8
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