Chapter 9
Persuasion and Propaganda
Fill-in-the-Blank Questions
1. Advertisements designed to look like news stories are called _____________.
2. Caveat emptor means let the _____________ beware.
3. Milton Rokeach said the extent to which a person has an _______ mind is the extent to
which a person can receive, evaluate and act on information based on its own merits.
Answers to fill-in-the-blank questions
1. Persuasion and propaganda are inherently unethical.
2. VNR’s are to broadcast organizations as printed press releases are to newspapers.
3. It is against the law for the U.S. government to use propaganda on its own citizens
within its borders.
4. Asymmetrical models of persuasion are more likely to be ethical than two-way
symmetrical models of persuasion.
5. Public relations practitioners like to call themselves “PR counsel” because their role is
exactly like the role of a lawyer.
6. Early PR practitioner Edward L. Bernays argued that the public should not know it is
being manipulated.
7. Transparency suggests knowing the messenger, the message, and the motivation of
the messenger.
8. By definition, propaganda is something only the bad guys do.
9. Propaganda we agree with often leads to cognitive dissonance.
10. A persuasive communicator often may find it difficult to balance loyalties.
Answers to true/false questions
1. Product placement:
A. involves companies being paid by moviemakers to show their products in films.
B. involves where products are put on store shelves.
C. occurs when companies pay media organizations to show or mention their products
in movies, blogs, etc.
D. is illegal.
E. is inherently immoral.
2. People who advocate that the market can work fairly with little government
intervention buy into ___ ________ ________ approach.
A. a professional responsibility.
B. a laissez faire
C. an American ideal
D. a traditional utilitarian
E. a moral relativist
3. The textbook argues that persuasive communication can be ethical:
A. at no time; it is inherently unethical.
B. when it is transparent.
C. when the persuader includes complete information on all sides of the topic.
D. when the persuader includes a website with more information.
E. only in written communication; never oral.
4. Former Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart argued that the First Amendment
makes possible free discussion;
A. however, it does not guarantee it.
B. furthermore, it also guarantees it.
C. it makes it morally obligatory.
D. also, it makes persuasive communication subject to government control.
E. however, state laws also play a role.
5. An advocacy culture assumes:
A. buyer beware.
B. seller beware.
C. neither buyer nor seller beware.
D. both buyer and seller beware.
6. The term “propaganda” comes from a Latin term meaning:
A. providing semi-truths to the public.
B. propagating truth-telling to citizens.
C. telling stories.
D. pinning new shoots of a plant into the earth to produce new plants.
E. the creation of proper agendas.
7. Jacques Ellul argues all EXCEPT ONE about propaganda:
A. It works best on closed minds.
B. It is how contemporary society holds itself together.
C. Intellectuals are often likely to fall prey to it.
D. It is inevitable in contemporary society.
E. It is not needed in contemporary society.
8. Which of these is NOT a type of propaganda defined by Jacques Ellul?
A. integration/socialization
B. democratic/socialistic
C. agitation/political
9. To “do persuasion” morally, it is important to balance all of these EXCEPT:
A. minimizing harm vs. truth telling.
B. maximizing good vs. accountability/transparency
C. accountability/transparency vs. loyalty.
Answers to multiple choice questions
1. Why does propaganda work best on people with closed minds?
2. Why does contemporary society depend upon propaganda?
3. What is the relationship between propaganda and cognitive dissonance?
4. Describe the characteristics of a propagandistic message. Contrast it with a non-
propagandistic message.
5. Apply the text’s model for moral persuasion in critiquing a recent political or
advertising campaign.