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Dezinformatsia by R. Shultz
Excellent Book
Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1984
105 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 28, 2016
It seems like a somewhat dry textbook at first, or a government report, or perhaps something produced by a beltway think-tank. It is all of this and more. Everything here is according-to-Hoyle. Count on it.
There are voluminous in-text footnotes; there's a 'sub-index' after each chapter; publishing notes; introductions and prefaces and credits page. Impeccable citation for everything stated. The whole thing is very authoritatively presented. Chock full of facts, figures, tables, and statistics. The bibliography brims over with good leads to other works.
So: simply as an exercise of government/scholarship--something that could easily still live on shelves in Pentagon offices--it is superb. Lean and succinct; it uses clear, plain language at all times and makes each of its points forcefully. There's sheer pleasure in all this professionalism, which offsets the stentorian and pragmatic content.
But then as you get farther along into it, the dryness dissipates and a truly vast and surprising netherworld is revealed. For students of communications, this is surely a must-read. Near the last few pages of the book, you feel like you've had your mind blown. Can mass media really be influenced to this extent? Can nations really do this? Yes, they can. It doesn't matter what country carries it out, either; when public opinion needs to be changed, this is the way it is done.
The caliber of the researchers referenced by this book, the numerous studies referred to by way of cross-reference...this is some serious stuff. If you want to know how !@#$%^&* can completely suborn media, this is the book.
There are voluminous in-text footnotes; there's a 'sub-index' after each chapter; publishing notes; introductions and prefaces and credits page. Impeccable citation for everything stated. The whole thing is very authoritatively presented. Chock full of facts, figures, tables, and statistics. The bibliography brims over with good leads to other works.
So: simply as an exercise of government/scholarship--something that could easily still live on shelves in Pentagon offices--it is superb. Lean and succinct; it uses clear, plain language at all times and makes each of its points forcefully. There's sheer pleasure in all this professionalism, which offsets the stentorian and pragmatic content.
But then as you get farther along into it, the dryness dissipates and a truly vast and surprising netherworld is revealed. For students of communications, this is surely a must-read. Near the last few pages of the book, you feel like you've had your mind blown. Can mass media really be influenced to this extent? Can nations really do this? Yes, they can. It doesn't matter what country carries it out, either; when public opinion needs to be changed, this is the way it is done.
The caliber of the researchers referenced by this book, the numerous studies referred to by way of cross-reference...this is some serious stuff. If you want to know how !@#$%^&* can completely suborn media, this is the book.
August 10, 2017
An interesting book. I had known something about propaganda tools and methodology (posters, movies, newspapers and so) before, but this book showed me another level of propaganda influence and its special activities such as: in a scientific area, philosophical area and in a think-tank organisations.
What we must keep in mind is that the book was written during the Cold War and the authors had understandably very restricted base of sources (serious). They are professionals in their fields, but still, I read it with a healthy skepticism. On the other side, the book simultaneously and maybe accidentally pointed at some "strange" current facts and developments... what can be understood as if the book hit the core - from the hindsight perspective (Proving that it was right? Perhaps.). If I look how Russia is acting at the international political level, it shows how it is very similar with Soviet propaganda activities from the past. It describes how to influence public opinion, how to deceive and (mis)interpret different events, how to use "scientific" and "analytical" look to convince receivers about their "truth", how to use overtly/covertly various social organisations abroad to change people´s opinion and approaches, how to use foreign journalists to deliver their message, how to lie plus using human skill to forget.
Isn´t it very familiar with our situation? Isn´t it again happening through a little bit different channels? The "online" cold war or the de-factual conflict is using the same strategy. How sad it is that we do not remember. On the other side I must say, that people living in the Eastern block did not experience these attacks, so we are very vulnerable to it (maybe that is the difference why we believe all strange theories and "new" truths...) in comparison to people from the former Western block.
What we must keep in mind, and the authors underline it, is that this methods are used by all countries, what is different is the scale and extent. This is not about good and bad, this is about how.
What we must keep in mind is that the book was written during the Cold War and the authors had understandably very restricted base of sources (serious). They are professionals in their fields, but still, I read it with a healthy skepticism. On the other side, the book simultaneously and maybe accidentally pointed at some "strange" current facts and developments... what can be understood as if the book hit the core - from the hindsight perspective (Proving that it was right? Perhaps.). If I look how Russia is acting at the international political level, it shows how it is very similar with Soviet propaganda activities from the past. It describes how to influence public opinion, how to deceive and (mis)interpret different events, how to use "scientific" and "analytical" look to convince receivers about their "truth", how to use overtly/covertly various social organisations abroad to change people´s opinion and approaches, how to use foreign journalists to deliver their message, how to lie plus using human skill to forget.
Isn´t it very familiar with our situation? Isn´t it again happening through a little bit different channels? The "online" cold war or the de-factual conflict is using the same strategy. How sad it is that we do not remember. On the other side I must say, that people living in the Eastern block did not experience these attacks, so we are very vulnerable to it (maybe that is the difference why we believe all strange theories and "new" truths...) in comparison to people from the former Western block.
What we must keep in mind, and the authors underline it, is that this methods are used by all countries, what is different is the scale and extent. This is not about good and bad, this is about how.
August 13, 2019
Michael Bay should definitely look into this. Needs more sex.
November 5, 2020
A bit outdated but definitely readable, writing is concise, so you are not going to waste any time with this book.
September 4, 2025
Well organized, well researched, and left me with a list of threads to explore.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews