The British Library in London has been hosting a very interesting exhibition on Propaganda by the state which is in its last few weeks. The exhibition and accompanying book by Professor David Welch of the University of Kent provides a good framework for understanding its origins around the role of persuasion as part of rhetoric in Ancient Greece; its use in building national identity; its use in fanning the flames of hatred through the centuries and in wartime particularly in the last century; but also its use in public information campaigns around health and nutrition. The exhibition felt as though it was covering too much ground and both the book and exhibition are perhaps stronger when looking at propaganda in the context of war.
http://www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/propaganda/index.html
David Welch says that "...in 1991 the military were firmly in control of the media (Gulf War) but by 2003 and the invasion of Iraq, power had shifted to politicians who were now in control of state-media relations and the information environment...resulted in an unprecedented concentration of "communications power" within political elites." (Welch, D, 2013, p.194). Has this "concentration" survived the last 8 years as Facebook, Twitter and the growth of social media are all products which have come to the fore since this period? He does finish his book with a section entitled "Are we all propagandists now?" However perhaps his earlier statement is not far off, with the news which came out in the last two months of the vast monitoring undertaken by the NSA and GCHQ of online communications and social media, as a product of the "War on Terror" suggesting that "communications power" takes many forms.
The exhibition comes at an interesting time with PR increasingly researching the history of propaganda and its influence on PR as recent papers at the International History of PR conference at the University of Bournemouth highlight. A recent history of Sir Stephen Tallents who was a pioneer of cultural activity as a form of nation branding is just one example. Sir Stephen was part of a very influential generation of PR practitioners from the 1930s onwards who were influenced according to his biographer, Scott Anthony, by the strong reaction after the First War where Britain's crude use of atrocity propaganda against the Germans led to a breakdown in trust in government communications as the "truth" came out and led to new approaches in government communications led by the Civil Service.
David Welch says that "...in 1991 the military were firmly in control of the media (Gulf War) but by 2003 and the invasion of Iraq, power had shifted to politicians who were now in control of state-media relations and the information environment...resulted in an unprecedented concentration of "communications power" within political elites." (Welch, D, 2013, p.194). Has this "concentration" survived the last 8 years as Facebook, Twitter and the growth of social media are all products which have come to the fore since this period? He does finish his book with a section entitled "Are we all propagandists now?" However perhaps his earlier statement is not far off, with the news which came out in the last two months of the vast monitoring undertaken by the NSA and GCHQ of online communications and social media, as a product of the "War on Terror" suggesting that "communications power" takes many forms.
The exhibition comes at an interesting time with PR increasingly researching the history of propaganda and its influence on PR as recent papers at the International History of PR conference at the University of Bournemouth highlight. A recent history of Sir Stephen Tallents who was a pioneer of cultural activity as a form of nation branding is just one example. Sir Stephen was part of a very influential generation of PR practitioners from the 1930s onwards who were influenced according to his biographer, Scott Anthony, by the strong reaction after the First War where Britain's crude use of atrocity propaganda against the Germans led to a breakdown in trust in government communications as the "truth" came out and led to new approaches in government communications led by the Civil Service.
Posts
