Responding to Terrorism using Ethical Means: The Propaganda Index
By Elspeth Tilley
Determining whether communication is as ethical as possible involves assessment of means (texts, language, and communication style) as well as ends (communication intent and outcomes). This article introduces the propaganda index as a way to achieve the former. A tool that measures whether texts contain stylistic devices that have been elsewhere identified as classically propagandist, the index is first overviewed then applied to a case study text: the Australian Government ‘‘terror kit’’ information package. The case study analysis, combined with some background to the kit’s reception in Australia, indicates that the high levels of propaganda were probably not helpful to the kit in achieving its aims either ethically or effectively.
Public communicators face a range of difficult challenges after September 11, 2001 (9/11). In particular, many governments and public authorities, including in the USA, Canada, Europe, and Australia, have seen a need to issue official ‘‘terrorism information packages.’’ Communication theory offers useful risk communication guidelines for developing such documents (e.g., Argenti, 2002; Gray & Ropeik, 2002), however most of the literature is teleologically focused; that is, concerned chiefly with audience outcomes such as attitude and behaviour change. While undoubtedly a key challenge for such information is balancing potentially conflicting aims to increase public preparedness and reduce anxiety, and communication theory helps negotiate this dilemma (e.g., Wray, Kreuter, Jacobsen, Clements, & Evans, 2004) there is also a role for communication theory that focuses on means; that is, the texts, language, and techniques of ‘‘terrorism information’’ documents themselves, particularly the ethics of those means. If the highest standard of ethical communication is understood as involving both ethical ends and ethical means, communication theory also has a role guiding communication practitioners to assess their methods and messages.
This article reports on an 18-month research project to develop a simple ‘‘propaganda index’’ that measures levels and types of propaganda content in texts. It is argued that communicators could make ‘‘terrorism information’’ materials and other potentially controversial public communication outputs more ethical and effective by ensuring propagandistic means are minimized.
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