Propaganda

"Alexander the Great was one of history's earliest propagandists," writes Matt Labash in a historical overview of military propaganda techniques through the ages, published in the conservative Weekly Standard. He lists examples, some humorous, of psychological ploys used by American, British and Nazi warriors.

The United States faces an uphill battle in using the latest videotape of Osama bin Laden to influence public opinion in the Arab world, where Washington's support for Israel over the Palestinians dominates news coverage and the public tends to regard the fight to dismantle Al Qaeda as something of an American problem. Jamal Khashoggi, deputy managing editor of the Arab News daily in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, says he has no doubt that the tape is authentic.

"The ubiquity of the Internet means that for the first time in communications history all sides in a conflict can project their views to the outside world. It is probably no exaggeration to say that every force in every conflict in the world has a Web site. Partisan propaganda dominates online pages related to conflicts," writes On-line Journalism Review contributor Andrew Stroehlein in an article examining websites that focus on various conflicts in Asia and Europe. Large Western media outlet are no exception to biased reporting, writes Stoehlein.

PR Week writer Douglas Quenqua asks, "Should the administration draw on the propaganda models of past conflicts to communicate the current war against terrorism?" He recounts the history of past efforts by the U.S. government to mold public opinion, beginning with the Creel Committee during World War I. "In the first few months of our current conflict, we have seen countless entities -- government and otherwise -- launch individual attempts at diplomacy," Quenqua writes. "The Pentagon has hired its own PR firm. Navy Planes are dropping leaflets on Afghanistan.