The Art of Persuasion

In Stuart Ewen’s Chapter Six “House of Truth” PR! (A tale of the rise of public relations) Ewen discusses how the Committee on Public Information used propaganda to promote support for the war, they believed that facts were simply not enough to rally the public support. There tactics played on the emotions of the American people. The CPI was government run to gain the public’s support of WW1 created by Past President Woodrow Wilson. The images they displayed in the media played on their emotions and in some cases were known to instill fear, which created paranoia.

“ Nearly 150,000 times each week, men like Williams would rise before their communities to preach the holiness of the American war effort, to condemn the heresy of antiwar opinion.” (Stuart Ewen PR! p104)

In order to further Americans support the president moved this to the top of his list. The CPI published its own paper, to influence and penetrate “the minds of the masses.” Due to this publicists began to expand their knowledge on understanding the art of persuasion, using venerable power symbols to inspire and control or sway the public’s thoughts into support.


EFleurival