English transcript

Perhaps I can help you, Chuck.

I think the election was a victory for good government.

It might also be called a victory for propaganda.

But that would have been equally true if our opponent had won.

But how can you study it?

Well, you can begin by investigating the techniques of propaganda.

Here. I've listed some of the main ones.

Glittering generalities?

What is a glittering generality?

That headline you were quoting.

A victory for good government.

Good government is a phrase we used many times during the campaign.

We said the mayor stood for good government and promised good government.

But it's true, isn't it?

What's true? What does good government mean?

Is the mayor's idea of good government the same as yours?

I see. It's a glittering generality.

One of the best.

There's another.

Yes. And why do you suppose our opponents chose that phrase?

I guess because everybody likes a real American.

Right. And they wanted to transfer that liking for a real American to Mr. Butler.

A day or so after that poster came out, I said in one of my campaign speeches...

Our opponent advertises himself as a real American.

I say he is unreal. Unrealistic.

He is a visionary, a theorist, a dreamer.

He is so thirsty for public office that like a weary traveler in the desert he sees a mirage...

...and he is trying to sell it to you as real.

There. Now what would you call that?

That's name calling. Visionary, theorist, dreamer.

That's right. And those are very polite names.

For my collection of propaganda materials...

...I've made a special record of part of one of Mr. Butler's radio speeches.

Mayor Cooper asks that he be judged by his performance in office.

Very well. Let's ask him who was mayor...

...when the municipal waterworks fell into such a state of disrepair...

...that the whole town was without water for two days.

Let's ask him. But no, let's not.

It might embarrass him.

That's what we call card stacking.

Cooper was mayor when the pumping station broke down...

...but it was the men in office before him who allowed it to get into such a rundown condition...

...and it finally gave way before he could get anything done.

And card stacking is choosing some facts and leaving out others...

...and arranging them to suit your purpose.

Now, did you see our little campaign movie?

Yes, a couple of times.

Well, let's look at it again.

Land sakes. A body hardly has time enough.

The house to clean, the washing to do, and the men folks to feed.

They like their chocolate cakes, too.

But I do want to take time to tell you that I've known Dick Cooper...

...ever since he was knee-high to a grasshopper.

He comes of a good respectable family.

Just as honest as the day is long.

And he knows our town. He's one of us.

That's why I'm going to vote for Mayor Cooper.

Know all my friends are going to vote for him too.

Recognize the technique?

That must be what you call plain folks.

That's right. You'll find many versions of the appeal based on...

...the common man, the man on the street, log cabin to president.

Now let's look at the rest of the movie.

Yes, Mrs. Hamline is voting for Mayor Cooper.

Her friends are voting for Mayor Cooper.

Your friends are voting for Mayor Cooper.

The people know what they want and what they want is Mayor Cooper.

Don't you be left behind. Get on board the victory special.

Vote for Mayor Cooper and ride with him to victory!

That ending's easy to spot. It's the bandwagon.

Yes, the propaganda we've been talking about is easy to detect.

But a great deal of propaganda is much more hidden, much harder to detect.

That's what's bothering me. Even in a small local election, there's so much propaganda.

That poster. A real American.

It uses a transfer device. Does that mean it isn't true?

Not necessarily. Evaluating propaganda isn't that simple.

Recognizing the technique is one step.

Another step is to know the purpose.

What was the purpose here?

That's easy. To get people to vote for Butler.

Yes, to persuade people that Butler is the better man, to move them to vote for him.

In short, to sell Mr. Butler to the voters.

You'll find that the purpose of most propaganda is to persuade people to believe something...

...to do something, or to buy something.

All right. But it still doesn't answer my question.

No. Your next step, and it's a big one, is to get the facts.

Well, is he a real American?

Howard Butler was born in this country, he obeys its laws, he's a good citizen.

Yes, he is a real American.

The same can be said for Richard Cooper.

So ask yourself whether the facts support the purpose.

Do they support the transfer of feeling from real American to Mr. Butler over Mr. Cooper?

No, I guess not.

Well, that's your fourth step. Weigh the facts against the purpose and the technique.

I think I understand. To know whether propaganda is good or not, whether it's true or not...

...I should know the purpose, recognize the technique, get the facts...

...and judge the purpose and technique by the facts.

But when you want the facts about live political battle...

...don't come to a campaign manager. I might give you the facts, but I might not.

I'll do that. But I will also go and see your opposition.

Well, that's all right. Whenever you're tracking down propaganda, get as many different points of view as you can.

Do you know something? What?

I think that it might be interesting to make a really serious study of propaganda.

I find it interesting, and there's plenty to study.

Here I have just a few of the many books on the subject.

You can read them. You can keep your eyes and ears open for little bits of propaganda.

And of course, you can study whole propaganda campaigns.

Here are a few on which I've been gathering material.

Hitler and Nazi Germany had a campaign of propaganda that ran over many years.

Then there's a wealth of propaganda to study on the subject of Russia and communism.

There's propaganda to study in our own American elections, national as well as local.

And in many of the major issues on which elections often hinge.

Well, if I don't learn about propaganda, it won't be because there's no way to study it.

That's right, Chuck. Remember the techniques of propaganda...

...and use the procedure we outlined.

Propaganda is a powerful force.

So powerful that your study...

...your study of propaganda is important not only to you...

...but to me, and to the world.