Propaganda and Persuasion

Rating:
Summary: Is it ABOUT propaganda, or IS IT propaganda?
Review: I was looking forward to a fair and unbiased book about propaganda, so was saddened to see this hope dashed by chapter 3. At this point, several books by conservative authors like Limbaugh, Bennett, and Bloom are referenced, and the authors start using a lot of "quotes" when referring to these authors--of the sort you use when you want to indicate that a thought is silly or wrongheaded. The authors even comment on individuals who make time to "read" these polemical books (their use of quotes indicating that the works aren't readworthy--presumably because they're conservative). I noticed that the discussion only treated conservative icons and books as sources of propaganda in this discussion. Might I take the time to remind authors Jowett & O'Donnell that many liberal authors, such as Franken, Moore, Dubose, Hightower, Conason, and a host of others, exist on the far left--shouldn't these be included in a balanced list of polemical authors? In the next edition of this book, I hope the authors attept more balance in examining a topic that demands fairness. Jowett and O'Donnell might want to include "books" by liberal "authors" as examples of propganda, too, so that readers don't get the wrongheaded impression this book is not just ABOUT propaganda, it is also a SOURCE of propaganda. One shouldn't get the impression that the authors have liberal political biases that are leaking through the page. It's hard to take the authors of this topic seriously if they can't camouflage their own desire to influence opinion.

Rating:
Summary: Well-written, easy to understand, interesting
Review: Terrific book for anyone interested in not only propaganda and its history, but public relations, marketing, advertising, etc

Rating:
Summary: Historical Perspective
Review: What campaigns have effectively changed public opinions over the years and how were they propagated? This book provides some answers as it traces such movements.

The book opens with a discussion on the differences between propaganda and persuasion. It takes up from there in the second chapter with a look at propaganda's early use in the Church. It was positive, as in propagating the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Later propaganda became institutionalized, as explained in chapter three. In the fourth chatper, the authors begin to examine modern propaganda campaigns. Toward the end some case studies are given. And the concluding chapter talks about how propaganda works in modern society.