Goebbels' Principles of Propaganda #11

Black Ops Propaganda

Black Ops Propaganda

BLACK RATHER THAN WHITE PROPAGANDA MUST BE EMPLOYED WHEN THE LATTER IS LESS CREDIBLE OR PRODUCES UNDESIRABLE EFFECTS

“black ops propaganda” - material whose source is concealed from the audience

Goebbels thought that if people knew he was the creator of a news report, it may not be really believed. Imagine that. So elaborate measures were taken to deceive foreign reporters, like placing a German reporter in a neutral country, where they pretended to drunkenly let slip some information that helped the Nazis to a local reporter. It was a way of leaking false information successfully.

note: this propaganda series is based on the work of Leonard W. Doob, who personally reviewed Goebbels’ notes after World War II.

A Credible Leak

Another tactic was to have an article published in the German press with information Goebbels wanted publicized , only to have it retracted and denounced in a press conference immediately afterwards. The sudden and seemingly desperate attempt to hide it only drew more attention and credibility. It’s the Streisand Effect before Barbra Streisand. From Goebbels Principles of Propaganda, by Leonard W. Doob, Public Opinion Quarterly, Fall 1950:

Goebbels sought to increase the number of Soviet deserters by improving the prisoner-of-war camps in which they would be kept—this ancient psychological warfare device rested on the hope that news of the improvement would reach Soviet soldiers through informal channels.