Since Martin Luther exploited the then-new printing press to spread Protestantism across 16th century Europe, the science of technology and the art of persuasion have been inseparable. Nowhere is the marriage more apparent--or insidious--than during warfare.
As U.S. and British forces attack targets in Afghanistan, spin meisters from all sides recognize that propaganda in this conflict is a mix of old and new, from sophisticated Web sites to radio broadcasts to food rations dropped from bombers.
Different technologies aim at different audiences. Computers are scarce in Afghanistan, so Web sites primarily serve residents in more developed countries with an interest in the fighting. Within Afghanistan, information travels by radio or literally falls from the sky.
"In Afghanistan, you have extremely advanced bombers and jet fighters delivering leaflets to a population that is largely illiterate," said Christopher Simpson, a professor of communications at American University in Washington, D.C.
Simpson and others who study the relationship between technology and propaganda note that wartime information has become a weapon every bit as powerful as the most sophisticated missile. They also agree that propaganda in this conflict is more diffuse than in the past, in part because the rise of user-friendly technologies such as the Internet and mobile phones makes it more difficult for governments to monopolize the message reaching their citizens, allies and enemies.
"The wide-open character of the Web means that the old distinctions between white and black and gray propaganda have completely broken down," Simpson said.
The Internet demonstrated its power during the NATO bombardment of Kosovo in 1999 as residents published personal accounts online, sometimes disputing the official versions of events.
Until World War II, the printing press remained the primary piece of propaganda technology. American revolutionaries used the press to make their case for independence at the end of the 18th century. And the American government printed thousands of posters during World War I, urging citizens to "Beat Back the Hun" by buying war bonds.
During World War II, though, the radio was embraced by all sides. Japan's Tokyo Rose was a familiar voice to soldiers in the Pacific. Today, the Voice of America remains a powerful tool to spread American values and viewpoints around the globe. Even then, though, radio was not traditionally intended to deliver mass messages.
