Image from, with caption: Lance Wyman Logo and Brouchure [sic] for USIA Exhibition.
American Public Diplomacy (PD) and Propaganda: A Historical (Hysterical?) Overview
John Brown (1/26/2017)
1. Propaganda and PD: linguistic origins of the terms: Propaganda – 16th century; PD – Cold War (mid-1960s); their current definitions, commonalities as communication tools:
· Audience: the “public” and its opinion
· Method: persuasion; influence/education/engagement; non-violent?
· Purpose: governmental promotion of national/institutional interests; not altruistic?
2. Second Continental Congress (1776): The Declaration of Independence as a PD/propaganda document [see]
3. WWI: The Committee on Public Information (CPI, 1917-1919): The USG’s first PD/propaganda agency
· Its chairman: Wilson confidant Missouri-born journalist George Creel
· Audience: domestic (primarily) and foreign; criticisms of CPI by Congress
· CPI’s new mass medium: movies; other communication tools.
4. The post-WWI U.S. anti-propaganda tradition
· The sins of propaganda: lies; violence to language; germs of hate; advertising; distortion of history; incompatible with democracy
· The Institute for Propaganda Analysis (1937-1942): How to identify propaganda
5. WWII: Office of War Information (OWI, 1942-1945)
· OWI leadership (newsman Elmer Davis), not as close to Roosevelt as Creel was to Wilson
· Audience: domestic (less than CPI) and foreign; criticisms by Congress (less than for CPI)
· OWI’s new mass medium: radio (Voice of America); other communication tools
6. Establishment of the State Dept. Fulbright program educational exchange program (1946)
7. Smith-Mundt Act (1948) prohibits the domestic distribution of State Dept. information products targeted to foreign audiences.
8. Cold War: The United States Information Agency (USIA, 1953-1999)
· Had 14 directors; Charles Z Wick was the longest-lasting (Reagan administration)
· Audience: foreign; push into Africa/Asia; criticisms by Congress less than for CPI/OWI
· USIA new media: television (Worldnet)/video/internet; other communication tools
9. War on terror/violent extremism: State Dept. Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs (1999-present)
· Frequent change of leadership (10 directors since 1999, including two Acting ones)
· Audience: focus on Muslim world; dozens of critical reports on PD after 9/11
· New medium: social media; other communication tools
10. [Time permitting]: PD at its best and propaganda at its worse: observation based on their history
[see]11. The prospects for U.S. PD - Continuing tensions between “frivolous” PD and traditional “serious” diplomacy?; PD becoming more “participatory” and “non-governmental”?; PD as a global phenomenon