Age of Propaganda : The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion

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Summary: Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion
Review: This book would have been rated much higher if not for the authors abuse of propaganda, contrary to what they hope to accomplish by putting this book together. The authors in trying to explain different topics of persuasion makes you wonder if they harbor bitterness toward those who are in the right.

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Summary: Consumers and Citizens, Beware!
Review: This insightful book explores the profound differences in decision-making over the last 2,500 years. Despite a penchant for social science jargon, the authors successfully translate a tremendous amount of current communications research on the creation and maintainance of belief systems into an accessible book. "Age of Propaganda" documents the rise of advertising, the decline of genuine public discourse, and the inherent dangers of ten second soundbites in determining our desires, needs, and goals. Further, they detail the unique difficulties in making a "rational" decision in a fast-paced, message-dense, mass-media culture. This provocative and disturbing book also paints a potentially bleak picture for America's democratic traditions. Fortunately, the authors provide readers with "an arsenal" of intellectual tools to decode messages and protect ourselves. As the authors conclude, "we must depend on our own knowledge of propaganda tactics and our own efforts to treat important issues as if they were truly important."

Rating:
Summary: Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion
Review: This is an excellent book which explains how the media, demagogues, politicains and marketers are able to gain compliance from their various publics. The use of lab studies and real world examples bring both theory and practice together. I have used this book for a class in propaganda since its first edition, and without fail students rave about the book in their course evaluations. It is a well-written book devoid of educationalese. This is an important book that provides the reader with genuine insight into a world of total propaganda and how as "cognitive misers" we allow ourselves to be manipulated.

Rating:
Summary: Age of Propaganda: The Everyday Use and Abuse of Persuasion
Review: This is an excellent book which explains how the media, demagogues, politicains and marketers are able to gain compliance from their various publics. The use of lab studies and real world examples bring both theory and practice together. I have used this book for a class in propaganda since its first edition, and without fail students rave about the book in their course evaluations. It is a well-written book devoid of educationalese. This is an important book that provides the reader with genuine insight into a world of total propaganda and how as "cognitive misers" we allow ourselves to be manipulated.