Black propaganda is false information and material that purports to be from a source on one side of a conflict but is actually from the opposing side. It is typically used to vilify, embarrass, or misrepresent the enemy.
Black propaganda contrasts with grey propaganda, the source of which is not identified, and white propaganda, in which the real source is declared and usually more accurate information is given, albeit slanted, distorted and omissive. Black propaganda is covert in nature in that its aims, identity, significance, and sources are hidden.
The major characteristic of black propaganda is that the people are not aware that someone is influencing them, and do not feel that they are being pushed in a certain direction. Black propaganda purports to emanate from a source other than the true source. This type of propaganda is associated with covert psychological operations. Sometimes the source is concealed or credited to false authority and spreads lies, fabrications, and deceptions. Black propaganda is the “big lie”, including all types of creative deceit. Black propaganda relies on the willingness of the receiver to accept the credibility of the source. If the creators or senders of the black propaganda message do not adequately understand their intended audience, the message may be misunderstood, seem suspicious, or fail altogether.[4]
Governments conduct black propaganda for reasons that include: A) by disguising their direct involvement a government may be more likely to succeed in convincing an otherwise unbelieving target audience, and B) there are diplomatic reasons behind the use of black propaganda. Black propaganda is necessary to obfuscate a government’s involvement in activities that may be detrimental to its foreign policies.
White propaganda is propaganda which truthfully states its origin. It is the most common type of propaganda. It generally comes from an openly identified source and is characterized by gentler methods of persuasion than black propaganda (which purports to come from the opposite side to that which actually produced it) and grey propaganda (which has no identifiable source or author).
It typically uses standard public relations techniques and a one-sided presentation of an argument, but in some languages, the word “propaganda” does not have a negative connotation. For example, the Russian word, “пропаганда” (pronounced “propaganda”), has a neutral connotation, similar to the English word “promotion” (of an opinion or argument).
Jacques Ellul, in one of the major books on the subject of propaganda, Propaganda: The Formation of Men’s Attitudes, mentions white propaganda as an acknowledgment of the awareness of the public of attempts being made to influence it. In some states there is a Ministry of Propaganda, for instance; in such a case, one admits that propaganda is being made, its source is known, and its aims and intentions are identified. Throughout the course of a propaganda campaign, however, white propaganda may serve as a cover for black propaganda when the propagandist seeks to mask the latter.
The Propaganda Model: An Overview
In their 1988 book ‘Manufacturing Consent – The Political Economy of the Mass Media‘, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky introduced their ‘propaganda model’ of the media. The propaganda model argues that there are 5 classes of ‘filters’ in a society which determine what is ‘news’; in other words, what gets printed in newspapers or broadcast by radio and television. Herman and Chomsky’s model also explains how dissent from the mainstream is given little, or zero, coverage, while governments and big business gain easy access to the public in order to convey their state-corporate messages – for example, ‘free trade is beneficial, ‘globalization is unstoppable’ and ‘our policies are tackling poverty’.
