Theories of the Information Society, Third Edition - Cryptome

INFORMATION AND DEMOCRACY
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necessary and a positive force: ‘Propaganda is surely here to stay; the modern
world is peculiarly dependent upon it for the co-ordination of atomised components
in times of crisis and for the conduct of large scale “normal” operations’
(Lasswell, 1934, p. 234).
Propaganda here is presented as systematic and self-conscious information
management and as a requisite of liberal democracy. It involves both dissemination
of particular messages and the restriction of information, an activity
including censorship. What is especially noteworthy about this, and why I have
sketched the historical context, is that Jürgen Habermas regards the growth of
‘information management’ as signalling the decline of the public sphere (though
the fact that the democratic process remains testifies to the need for interests to
gain legitimacy for their actions on an open stage, something which helps sustain
the public sphere). Habermas is undeniably correct in so far as the promotion of
propaganda, persuasion and public opinion management does evidence a shift
away from the idea of an informed and reasoning public towards an acceptance
of the massage and manipulation of public opinion by the technicians of public
relations. Propaganda and persuasion are nowadays usually regarded as inimical
to rational debate and are seen as forces that obstruct public reasoning. And
yet earlier commentators were quite open about their conviction that society
‘cannot act intelligently’ without its ‘specialists on truth’, ‘specialists on clarity’
and ‘specialists on interest’ (Lasswell, 1941, p. 63). As Edward Bernays (1952)
proclaimed, ‘Public relations is vitally important . . . because the adjustment of
individuals, groups, and institutions to life is necessary for the well-being of all’
(p. 3).
What is particularly ironic about the present is that information management
has become vastly more extensive, much more intensive and much more
sophisticatedly applied, while simultaneously there has emerged a reluctance
to admit of its existence. Nowadays a plethora of PR specialists, of advisers
who guide politicians and business leaders through their relations with the media,
and of degree courses in advertising and allied programmes, all profess instead
to be concerned only with ‘improving communications’, ‘making sure that their
clients get their message across’ and ‘teaching skills in activities essential to any
advanced economy’. The underlying premise of all such practices is routinely
ignored or at least understated: that they are dedicated to producing information
to persuade audiences of a course of action (or inaction in some cases) which
promotes the interests they are paid to serve – i.e. to control people’s information
environments the better to exercise some control over their actions.
While information management took on its major features in the period
between the two world wars, in recent decades its growth and spread have been
accelerating. Consider, for example, the enormous expansion and extension of
the advertising industry since 1945. Not only has advertising grown massively in
economic worth, but it has also extended its reach to include a host of new activities,
from corporate imagery, sponsorship and public relations to direct mail
promotion. Consonant has been a marked increase in ‘junk mail’ (a strong signal
as to the quality of much additional information) and free local ‘newspapers’
which frequently blur the divide between advertising and reportage. Alongside
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