The Institute for Propaganda Analysis (IPA) was a U.S.-based organization composed of social scientists, opinion leaders, historians, educators, and journalists. Created in 1937 by Kirtley Mather, Edward A. Filene, and Clyde R. Miller, the IPA formed with the general concern that increased amounts of propaganda

Propaganda

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

 were decreasing the public’s ability to develop their own critical thoughts. The purpose of the IPA was to spark rational thinking and provide a guide to help the public have well-informed discussions on current issues. “To teach people how to think rather than what to think.” The IPA focused on domestic propaganda issues that might become possible threats to the democratic ways of life.

Publications

To get their message across, the IPA distributed flyers, wrote several issues of the Propaganda Analysis Bulletin, and published a series of books, including:

• McClung Lee, Alfred & Briant Lee, Elizabeth, The Fine Art of Propaganda (1939)
• Propaganda Analysis
• Group Leader's Guide to Propaganda Analysis
• Propaganda: How To Recognize and Deal With It

The Propaganda Analysis bulletin indirectly targeted the mass public through newspapers, educators, public officials, and opinion leaders, informing them of who controlled and influenced the flow of propaganda through various channels of communications. The IPA directly targeted the presidents and deans of national colleges, bishops and ministers, educational and religious periodicals, and education students by sending out flyers. Also, in an attempt to educate the public about how to identify propagandistic material, the IPA issued a set of methods called the "seven common propaganda devices":

1. Name-calling
2. Glittering generalities
3. Transfer
   Transfer (propaganda)
   Transfer is a technique used in propaganda and advertising. Also known as association, this is a technique of projecting positive or negative qualities of a person, entity, object, or value to another in order to make the second more acceptable or to discredit it...
   
   
4. Testimonial
   Testimonial
   In promotion and of advertising, a testimonial or show consists of a written or spoken statement, sometimes from a person figure, sometimes from a private citizen, extolling the virtue of some product. The term "testimonial" most commonly applies to the sales-pitches attributed to ordinary...
   
   
5. Plain folks
   Plain folks
   "Plain Folks" is a form of propaganda.A Plain Folks argument is one in which the speaker presents him or herself as an Average Joe, a common person who can understand and empathize with a listener's concerns...
   
   
6. Card stacking
   Card stacking
   Card stacking is a propaganda technique that seeks to manipulate audience perception of an issue by emphasizing one side and repressing another...
   
   
7. Bandwagon
   Bandwagon effect
   The bandwagon effect is a well documented form of groupthink in behavioral science and has many applications. The general rule is that conduct or beliefs spread among people, as fads and trends clearly do, with "the probability of any individual adopting it increasing with the proportion who have...
   
   

These "ABCs of Propaganda Analysis" encouraged readers to understand and analyze their own views on propagandistic material in order to promote informed, thought-provoking discussions.

Success

The IPA proved to be popular having achieved 5,900 subscriptions to its bulletin in the first year. By 1939, the IPA had created flourishing, educational programs which saw high schools, colleges, and adult civic groups engaged in discussions about propaganda. One of the IPA’s goals was to gain as much public support as possible and build a credible reputation. This initial success was due to the time period’s obsession with propaganda.

Downfall

The IPA faced many allegations that undermined its purpose. These suggested that the IPA created “more of a destructive skepticism than an intelligent reflectiveness.” The IPA lost support from many of its publishers and also faced internal conflicts through resignations by its board members and its troubled teachers. The approach of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

also posed a problem. It would force the IPA not only to examine and criticize the enemy’s propaganda, but assess America’s use of propaganda as well. The IPA maintains the reason it suspended its operations in 1942 was due to lack of sufficient funds and not the war.

Assessment

While the IPA existed many people sought assistance from the organization through the many publications that were available. The process includes teaching the audience to avoid emotion while being deceived by tainted propaganda. In order to get the facts, the Institute’s authors wanted the public to “adopt scientific attitudes towards all questions of fact and to accept the conclusions to which they lead as a basis for action whether he [the student of propaganda] likes them or not.” The IPA encouraged students to think intelligently and independently on topics which they discussed. While many hailed the IPA for its guidance, others argued that the approach was “too simplistic because many messages fell into more than one category, and they do not account for differences between members of the audience, and do not discuss the credibility of the propagandist.” Despite controversy, the IPA was a resource available to American citizens in hopes of enlightening and activating minds to think freely and independently.

External links

• PropagandaCritic.com offers analysis, with current and historical examples, of rhetorical tactics often used by propagandists, based on the framework developed in the 1930s by the IPA.