Persuasi & Propaganda

Antara Persuasi dan Propaganda Ada tiga jalan agar seseorang yang berlawanan pendapat akan menerima suatu pendapat baru: Memaksakan (dengan cara koersi ataupun indoktrinasi) Memenangkan diri dalam perdebatan Meyakinkan pihak lain Persuasi memungkinkan kita menang dalam pembicaraan dengan penggunaan teknik2 komunikasi berikut: Digunakannya kata2 yang bertendensi dan mengandung unsur emosi Dengan berspekulasi bahwa kebanyakan orang hanya “ikut arus” Identifikasi Dengan mengunakan cara berpikir analogi Menggunakan taktik “sugesti”

Persuasi dengan Metode Ilmiah The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (Leon Festinger) Pada umumnya manusia menginginkan keserasian antara pengetahuan dan tindakannya. Namun pada kenyataannya dalam hidup terjadi pertentangan antara pengetahuan dan tindakan kita, yang disebut keadaan disonansi Meskipun terjadi konflik dengan pengetahuan yang kita miliki, tetap saja kita membenarkan tindakan kita karena kita mengharapkan keuntungan (reward) dari tindakan kita tersebut Maka kita akan mencari argumentasi untuk membenarkan tindakan kita (justification). Teknik ini disebut dissonance reduction Usaha membenarkan tindakan diri dilakukan dengan: a) mengatakan hal yang buruk atas pilihan yang ditolaknya, dan b) mengatakan hal yang baik atas pilihan yang diambilnya

Propaganda: The Definition Can be defined as ‘the systematic attempt to shape perceptions, manipulate cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve a response that furthers the desired intent of the propagandist’ – Jowett & O’Donnel, 1999 Propaganda activities can be differentiated into the three types of white, gray, and black propaganda, indicating successively lessened degrees of source transparency and identification in persuasive communication

Propaganda and Public Opinion In practice, propaganda is often associated with the management of public opinion The use of public opinion research in propaganda, and also in public relations, might be described in general as a supportive measure to secure the efficiency and goal attainment of public management processes. Survey research fulfils three main functions: public opinion polls enable propagandists to prepare and plan their campaigns and persuasive activities in a systematic and precise fashion Opinion polls help to determine attitudes, goals, and needs of relevant publics Especially in wartime those measures support the construction and framing of conflict issues, stereotypes, and enemy attributes, and thus contribute to the mobilization of the population Beside the three functions of propaganda planning and evaluation, the publication of (manipulated) survey research might also serve as a ‘legitimating source’ to justify and rationalize political decisions In political communication, survey research supports the stabilization of existing power hierarchies when national elites refer to survey results to legitimize their actions and to preserve national upheavals or crises by anticipating means of propaganda

Komponen Propaganda Ada pihak yang menyebarkan pesan Dilakukan secara terus-menerus (kontinu) Terdapat proses penyampaian ide/ gagasan, kepercayaan atau doktrin Mempunyai tujuan untuk mengubah opini, sikap dan perilaku individu atau kelompok Suatu cara sistematis prosedural dan perencanaan matang Suatu program yang mempunyai tujuan konkret Propaganda semata-mata alat pengontrol bagi opini publik (Lasswell, 1927)

Bernays and Propaganda In one of his most popular books – Propaganda (from 1928) Bernays states: “If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway.” Back in the day when cigarettes weren’t considered pure evil and women’s status in society wasn’t something to brag about, Bernays was hired by the president of American Tobacco Company, George Washington Hill. Bernays’s mission was to improve the sales of Lucky Strikes among women. In 1928/29, that was not an easy task because the taboo against women smoking in public was still strong. But so was the sense of triumph and freedom after the victory of suffrage movement. Bernays used this to present cigarettes as “torches of freedom” for women, and smoking in public as a way to express desire for equality. In the 1920s, working for the American Tobacco Company, he sent a group of young models to march in the New York City parade. On his signal, the models lit Lucky Strike cigarettes (“torches of freedom”) in front of the eager photographers. The New York Times (1 April 1929) printed: “Group of Girls Puff at Cigarettes as a Gesture of ‘Freedom’”. This helped to break the taboo against women smoking in public.

Bernays and Propaganda One of Bernays's favorite techniques for manipulating public opinion was the indirect use of "third party authorities" to plead for his clients' causes. In order to promote sales of bacon, for example, he conducted a survey of physicians and reported their recommendation that people eat healthy breakfasts. He sent the results of the survey to 5,000 physicians, along with publicity of bacon and eggs as a healthy breakfast.

Propaganda and Democracy In Propaganda, his most important book, Bernays argued that the scientific manipulation of public opinion was necessary to overcome chaos and conflict in society: “The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the masses is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. ... We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of. This is a logical result of the way in which our democratic society is organized. Vast numbers of human beings must cooperate in this manner if they are to live together as a smoothly functioning society. ... In almost every act of our daily lives, whether in the sphere of politics or business, in our social conduct or our ethical thinking, we are dominated by the relatively small number of persons ... who understand the mental processes and social patterns of the masses. It is they who pull the wires which control the public mind.”

Propaganda and Democracy In a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter described Bernays and Ivy Lee as "professional poisoners of the public mind, exploiters of foolishness, fanaticism and self-interest." And history itself showed the flaw in Bernays's claim that "manipulation of the masses" is natural and necessary in a democratic society. The fascist rise to power in Germany demonstrated that propaganda could be used to subvert democracy as easily as it could be used to "resolve conflict." Goebbels and his propaganda plans to consolidate was using Bernays’s book Crystallizing Public Opinion as a basis for his destructive campaign against the Jews of Germany. Obviously the attack on the Jews of Germany was no emotional outburst of the Nazis, but a deliberate, planned campaign.