Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are

acting on their own free will. Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the
government can play. ...the rank and file are usually much more primitive than we
imagine. Propaganda must therefore always be essentially simple and repetitious. This
is the secret of propaganda: Those who are to be persuaded by it should be completely
immersed in the ideas of the propaganda, without ever noticing that they are being
immersed in it. The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless
one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few
points and repeat them over and over. Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of
aggression by specifying the targets for hatred. It is the absolute right of the State to
supervise the formation of public opinion. Not every item of news should be published.
Rather must those who control news policies endeavor to make every item of news
serve a certain purpose. It would not be impossible to prove with sufficient repetition
and a psychological understanding of the people concerned that a square is in fact a
circle. They are mere words, and words can be molded until they clothe ideas and
disguise. The essence of propaganda consists in winning people over to an idea so
sincerely, so vitally, that in the end they succumb to it utterly and can never escape
from it. There is no need for propaganda to be rich in intellectual content. Good
propaganda does not need to lie, indeed it may not lie. It has no reason to fear the
truth. It is a mistake to believe that people cannot take the truth. They can. It is only a
matter of presenting the truth to people in a way that they will be able to understand. A
propaganda that lies proves that it has a bad cause. It cannot be successful in the long
run. It is not propaganda’s task to be intelligent, its task is to lead to success.
Propaganda is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. If the means achieves the
end then the means is good... the new Ministry has no other aim than to unite the
nation behind the ideal of the national revolution. During a war, news should be given
out for instruction rather than information. That propaganda is good which leads to
success, and that is bad which fails to achieve the desired result. It is not propaganda’s
task to be intelligent, its task is to lead to success. To attract people, to win over people
to that which I have realized as being true, that is called propaganda. We have made
the Reich by propaganda

Joseph Goebbels

After World War II, U.S. personnel discovered diaries dictated by Goebbels which
included his principles of propaganda. Louis Lochner, Associated Press war
correspondent who reported from within Germany throughout the war, translated the
diaries. The diaries were published as: Goebbels, Joseph. (1948). The Goebbels Diaries,
1942-1943. Translated by Lochner, Louis. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. A list of
nineteen principles of propaganda were extracted by Leonard Doob, and published in
1950 as part of the following journal article: Doob, Leonard W. (1950). Goebbels’
Principles of Propaganda. Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 14, Issue 3, Fall 1950, 419-442
Doob’s article is accessible through a paywall. These principles are reproduced widely
on the web. Retrieved 8-21-18 from:
http://www.physics.smu.edu/pseudo/Propaganda/goebbels.html

When reading these propaganda principles, keep in mind that they were applied in
wartime (WWII) and involve issues that don’t arise otherwise. It’s a long list, but
Goebbels was dealing with the complexity of an all-out war. While reading them you
may realize that some of the principles are generally applicable and not limited to
wartime. Some might be quite familiar today. It is interesting to note that Goebbels’
principles derive from Hitler’s own ideas of propaganda.

1. Propagandists must have access to intelligence concerning events and

public opinion.
2. Propaganda must be planned and executed by only one authority.
1. It must issue all the propaganda directives.
2. It must explain propaganda directives to important officials and maintain
their morale.
3. It must oversee other agencies’ activities which have propaganda
consequences.
3. The Propaganda consequences of an action must be considered in
planning that action.
4. Propaganda must affect the enemy’s policy and actions.
1. By suppressing propagandistically desirable material which can provide
the enemy with useful intelligence.
2. By openly disseminating propaganda whose contents or tone causes the
enemy to draw the desired conclusions.
3. By goading the enemy into revealing vital information about himself.
4. By making no reference to a desired enemy activity when any reference
would discredit that activity.
5. Declassified, operational information must be available to implement a
propaganda campaign.
6. To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience
and must be transmitted through an attention-getting medium.
7. Credibility alone must determine whether propaganda output should
be true or false.
8. The purpose, content, and effectiveness of enemy propaganda; the
strength and effects of an expose’; and the nature of current
propaganda campaigns determine whether enemy propaganda should
be ignored or refuted.
9. Credibility, intelligence, and the possible effects of communicating
determine whether propaganda materials should be censored.
10. Material from enemy propaganda may be utilized in operations when it
helps diminish that enemy’s prestige or lends support to the
propagandist’s own objective.
 11. Black rather than white propaganda must be employed when the latter
is less credible or produces undesirable effects.
12. Propaganda may be facilitated by leaders with prestige.
13. Propaganda must be carefully timed.
1. The communication must reach the audience ahead of competing
propaganda.
2. A propaganda campaign must begin at the optimum moment.
3. A propaganda theme must be repeated, but not beyond some point of
diminishing effectiveness.
14. Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive phrases or
slogans.
1. They must evoke responses which the audience previously possesses.
2. They must be capable of being easily learned.
3. They must be utilized again and again, but only in appropriate situations.
4. They must be boomerang-proof.
15. Propaganda to the home front must prevent the raising of false hopes
which can be blasted by future events.
16. Propaganda to the home front must create an optimum anxiety level.
1. Propaganda must reinforce anxiety concerning the consequences of
defeat.
2. Propaganda must diminish anxiety (other than that concerning the
consequences of defeat) which is too high and cannot be reduced by
people themselves.
17. Propaganda to the home front must diminish the impact of frustration.
1. Inevitable frustrations must be anticipated.
2. Inevitable frustrations must be placed in perspective.
18. Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by
specifying the targets for hatred.
19. Propaganda cannot immediately affect strong counter-tendencies;
instead it must offer some form of action or diversion, or both.

These would be principles guiding the conduct of propaganda operations.

20.