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A Propaganda Bibliography
If you want a look into the workings of propaganda in daily life, and how best to teach about it, you must not miss the work of Jeffrey Schrank. The books he wrote in the 1970s are as useful today as when they were first published. His more recent video work is available through his LearningSeed.com website. For his current thinking about advertising and propaganda issues, look through his video catalog; especially the Modern Consumer and Everyday Economics sections. Take special note of:
WHY YOU BUY: ADVERTISING IN THE 21st CENTURY
BLIND SPOTS AND BIASES: HIDDEN FORCES THAT SHAPE YOUR DECISIONS
PERCEPTION: THE ART OF SEEINGWhile his books are no longer in print, they can still be found in libraries and through used book sources. Take some time to track them down. You won't be sorry. I especially recommend Snap, Crackle and Popular Taste: The Illusion of Free Choice in America (Dell 1977), and Deception Detection: An Educator's Guide to the Art of Insight (Beacon Press, 1975). If you want to sample his writing, take a look at his widely reprinted essay, The Language of Advertising Claims.
Jeff has posted two terrific slideshare presentations:
- Perception: How We See - http://www.slideshare.net/JeffSchrank/perception-10564694
- Taste: Your Brain on Food - http://www.slideshare.net/JeffSchrank/taste-your-brain-on-food
John McManus' book is must reading for those aspiring to become active, engaged, informed citizens in the digital age. He has also written a version for the student audience, Don't Be Fooled.
This slender book is an absolutely superb overview of the techniques used by political and commercial propagandists; as well as a guide to how one may deal with them so as to avoid manipulation.
FactCheckEd.org (the authors' web site for teachers and students) is also worth the time you'll spend examining it.
Rushkoff also served as the corresondent for the 2001 Frontline documentary, The Merchants of Cool. The program transcript is available online. To read it, click here.
More recently he served as the correspondent for the 2004 Frontline documentary, The Persuaders. Its transcript is also available online. To read it, click here.
- Trust US, We're Experts!
by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
- Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry
by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauber
- Weapons of Mass Deception: The Uses of Propaganda in Bush's War on Iraq
by Sheldon Rampton and John Stauberread the PR Watch page devoted to this book
for more on propaganda in the US war on Iraq, see this classroomtools.com page
This book is a sequel to Weapons of Mass Deception. In the window that will open when you click on the new book's title, you'll be able to read an excerpt and watch a riveting video.
Norman Solomon's documentary film and book examine the propaganda used by U.S. politicians and news media to create popular support for the initiation and continuance of wars from Vietnam to those in Iraq and Afghanistan in the early 21st century. You may also be interested in What is Propaganda?, a PDF slide show I created to use as an introduction to War Made Easy.
the paperback edition is titled Can't Buy My Love
Long Island Social Studies teacher Howard Blue has written the story of U.S. radio propaganda in the 1940s. It "describes how seventeen radio dramatists and their actors fought a war of words against fascism abroad and injustice at home." On his web site, Blue has provided an example of one of the government propaganda plays broadcast during the war. Mass Murder is from the series You Can't Do Business With Hitler, one of the series discussed in Words at War.
First published in 1961, this book remains the best description of the extent to which, and how, public relations rose to dominate American public and commercial life.
Read Martin Mayer's review from the New York Times, April 8, 1962
While not specifically focused on propaganda, this book explores the consequences when individuals fail to perform their responsibility to critically evaluate information in their environments. Postman begins by examining the opposite futures explored by George Orwell (in 1984) and Aldous Huxley (in Brave New World), then stating, "This book is about the possibility that Huxley, not Orwell, was right." The introduction to Postman's book has been adapted to various new media. This link is to a YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMZejVltDDs Here, Stuart McMillen presents it in cartoon form: http://biblioklept.org/2010/12/14/huxley-vs-orwell-the-webcomic/
Most famously, 1984
This link displays Amazon.com's current list of Orwell's works
Golden Oldies
The books listed below are no longer in print, but can be found in libraries and from used book sources. They should not be missed.
This book is a masterpiece. Through it, you and your students will explore the psychological tendencies that propagandists exploit as they develop a mass consensus for war. As the media, government and public responses to the horrendous attacks of September 11, 2001 show, Keen's arguments are as timely as the day he penned them. If nothing else, the 20th century posters and editorial cartoons examined are worth the price of admission. You can see some of them on the Faces of the Enemy page. Also, the Emmy-nominated PBS documentary based on the book is available on videotape from the Social Studies School Service.
read an excerpt from this book (click on the First Chapter Excerpts link under Item Information after the page opens in a new window)
read the transcript of an interview with Lutz about doublespeak
read an excerpt from this book
read the transcript of an interview with Larry Tye about this book
read Malcolm Gladwell's article on Bernays and PR
Parts One and Two of the BBC documentary series the Century of the Self tell the story of Bernays and his role in the development of 20th century propaganda in the United States. Reviews of the series can be found at http://www.tagg.org/rants/selfcent.html.
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original web posting: Wednesday, October 24, 2001
last modified:
Friday, July 03, 2015
