Ministry of propaganda

An agency or ministry of propaganda is the part of a government charged with generating and distributing propaganda.

Though governments routinely engage in propaganda^[1], ministries with the word "propaganda" in their name have become progressively more rare since the end of World War II, as a result of which the term took on its present negative connotation. Instead of using the word "propaganda", governments today often use the terms "public relations", "psychological operations", "education", or simply "information".

Historical examples

• Germany had employed Joseph Goebbels as head of the Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda.
• The Soviet Union had a Department for Agitation and Propaganda.
• The Brazilian Estado Novo had a Department of Press and Propaganda (DIP).
• Ireland had a Department of Propaganda, established 1918 and renamed to Ministry for Publicity 1921.

In literature

• The Ministry of Truth is the ministry of propaganda in George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four.

See also

• Propaganda
• Mind control
• Crowd psychology
• United States Information Agency

References

1. ^ Herman, Edward; Noam Chomsky (January 15, 2002). Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Pantheon. ISBN 978-0375714498. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manufacturing_Consent.