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CHAPTER VIII

MEDIA, METHODS, AND TECHNIQUES

INTRODUCTION

After policy objectives and operational goals have been established (see Chapter VI) and at least part of the intelligence requirements have been met (see Chapter VII), difficult decisions about media, methods, and techniques need to be made. These decisions must in large part focus on at least three areas of concern: (1) the selection of the audience; (2) message composition-that is, the preparation, development, and production of the message; and (3) the channels of communication.

Operationally, to achieve a predetermined purpose, the communicator selects a target toward which to direct the message. He develops a theme and writes a message. He then decides on one or more appropriate channels through which to deliver the message, adapting the channels and selecting the time of delivery according to the particular characteristics of the target. Because there are no predetermined intellectual formulas in the preparation and delivery of a PSYOP message or appeal, all of these areas of concern must be carefully considered in each situation faced by the planner. Decisions should be supported by previous experience, but the last two decades have shown clearly that a message or appeal that was highly effective with one target group may not work as well with another. An effective message or appeal communicated by radio may be totally ineffective when communicated by other means. A message or appeal may be more effective with a certain target group when delivered to coincide with a religious or political event, or at a certain time of day or year. When few ordinary channels seem appropriate, the innovative PSYOP planner may fall back on improvised programs or devices, some of which are risky, but may, under the right circumstances, prove effective.

Audience Selection

Broadly speaking, psychological operations is an attempt to influence. opinions, attitudes, emotions, and behavior; and in very simple terms, the target or audience is the individual or group of individuals whose attitudes or actions the psyoperator wishes to influence.

The target of psychological operations may encompass an entire society, or it may be made up of a very small and select group of individuals. As part of the total process of planning a PSYOP campaign, the communicator first decides on what changes need to be produced to accomplish the objectives of the campaign. Then he decides which audience in the larger population should be reached and influenced to produce such change, and whether to appeal directly to the target group or through existing channels such as prestigious persons or key communicators.

Because the audience is the key to the desired change, it becomes quite evident that target selection based on a sound understanding of how individuals within the target group think and behave under certain conditions is a critical aspect of PSYOP.

Certain factors in communication related to the psychological and physical set of the population positively or negatively predispose the receptivity of target groups to specific kinds of messages. For example, reference groups play a particularly important role in establishing the delivery circumstances of a PSYOP campaign. Membership in a group requires some commitment on the part of the members, and the success of a psyoperator in drawing an individual away from his group will depend heavily on the kinds of pressures exerted by the group on its individual members. Commitment may be lessened by environmental conditions. In this connection, we have learned from post-World War II experience that the drudgery of jungle warfare in an intolerable conflict situation, where the health and well-being of individuals are threatened, may render them malleable to outside inducements to give up, no matter how highly committed they were previously.

Timing is also an important consideration in the planning of psychological operations. Time of day, time of year-along with the physical and social setting-all contribute in some way to the receptivity of the target group and thus to the success or failure of the campaign.

A proper balancing of these and other factors will depend in large part on the psyoperator's knowledge of the target population. He is not only responsible for determining which group to direct the message or appeal to, but also the most propitious time for doing so.

Message Composition

When planning a PSYOP campaign, a message must be designed to stimulate the desired change in attitudes, opinion, or behavior. Depending on which channel is selected, the message will be composed of spoken or printed words, pictures, sounds, or acts, or a combination of these and perhaps other devices used in PSYOP.

Whatever the techniques used, however, the message or appeal must perform three tasks: it must find, attract the attention of, and be received by, the selected target population; it must be simple enough so that its meaning is understood by the target population; and it must provide enough stimulus to get the target population thinking or behaving in the preplanned direction.

To achieve all of this, the PSYOP planner must give attention to some important factors. Care should be taken with language, where a minor blunder may destroy a well-planned campaign. The planner must pay attention to content so that the message is culturally acceptable, geared to the needs of the reader, balanced in logic and emotion, mainly positive in approach, and consistent with past and future communications. He must attend to style, presentation, and tone so that the message will gain

the respect of the target audience and the planner will gain credibility as a source of information. And finally, the PSYOP planner must have some method of pretesting his messages so that he can determine in advance what effect they will have on the target population. He can do this through area experts, surveys of persons similar to the target population, or use of enemy sources such as defectors and POWs.

Exploitation of Channels of Communication

At the same time, the psyoperator must select the means through which his message or appeal will be conveyed to the target group. Essentially, he must adapt the media to the audience (targeting). Because the target group is the key to the desired change, the media should be selected to suit the target group. Two primary factors limit the range of media choice: the ability of the target group to receive and understand the message and the availability of facilities. In this sense media choice is situationally influenced. The ingenuity of the PSYOP planner in devising unorthodox methods for unusual circumstances may reduce the external controls on media selection, however.

Communication channels may be directed toward targets varying in size from an individual to large groups. Moreover, they may allow simultaneous emission and reception of the message, or its transmission may be delayed. Further, channels of communication may concentrate on any of the senses-sight, hearing, touch, taste-although the choice is usually between printed and audio visual channels.

The choice among the various channels available is often determined actually by the nature of the situation. Formerly, radio was less useful than leaflets in tactical PSYOP. However, technological innovation has made radio-based appeals highly useful in some tactical situations in Vietnam. (See "Earlyword" in this chapter and Colburn B. Lovett, "Effective Combat PSYOP in the Delta," Chapter VI of this casebook.) Face-to-face PSYOP is conducive to the transference of ideological motivation by revolutionary groups.

Unorthodox Techniques

Very often the PSYOP planner is faced with unusual circumstances where traditional or ordinary PSYOP methods and techniques do not seem to be appropriate or where innovative approaches will have a particularly high pay-off. In situations like this, the planner must depend on his own ingenuity to improvise and develop what may be considered as gimmicky ways of reaching the target group. These devices may be either verbal or nonverbal forms of communicating. The use of gossip and rumor and "black" propaganda are illustrations of the verbal type; symbolic acts, especially fear-arousal acts such as terrorism and saturation bombing, are of the nonverbal type. In any case, their purpose is to arouse an emotional state or a series of memories, which, when touched off, will elicit the desired change in attitude and behavior.

Because the audience is the key to the desired change, it becomes quite evident that target selection based on a sound understanding of how individuals within the target group think and behave under certain conditions is a critical aspect of PSYOP.

Certain factors in communication related to the psychological and physical set of the population positively or negatively predispose the receptivity of target groups to specific kinds of messages. For example, reference groups play a particularly important role in establishing the delivery circumstances of a PSYOP campaign. Membership in a group requires some commitment on the part of the members, and the success of a psyoperator in drawing an individual away from his group will depend heavily on the kinds of pressures exerted by the group on its individual members. Commitment may be lessened by environmental conditions. In this connection, we have learned from post-World War II experience that the drudgery of jungle warfare in an intolerable conflict situation, where the health and well-being of individuals are threatened, may render them malleable to outside inducements to give up, no matter how highly committed they were previously.

Timing is also an important consideration in the planning of psychological operations. Time of day, time of year-along with the physical and social setting-all contribute in some way to the receptivity of the target group and thus to the success or failure of the campaign.

A proper balancing of these and other factors will depend in large part on the psyoperator's knowledge of the target population. He is not only responsible for determining which group to direct the message or appeal to, but also the most propitious time for doing so.

Message Composition

When planning a PSYOP campaign, a message must be designed to stimulate the desired change in attitudes, opinion, or behavior. Depending on which channel is selected, the message will be composed of spoken or printed words, pictures, sounds, or acts, or a combination of these and perhaps other devices used in PSYOP.

Whatever the techniques used, however, the message or appeal must perform three tasks: it must find, attract the attention of, and be received by, the selected target population; it must be simple enough so that its meaning is understood by the target population; and it must provide enough stimulus to get the target population thinking or behaving in the preplanned direction.

To achieve all of this, the PSYOP planner must give attention to some important factors. Care should be taken with language, where a minor blunder may destroy a well-planned campaign. The planner must pay attention to content so that the message is culturally acceptable, geared to the needs of the reader, balanced in logic and emotion, mainly positive in approach, and consistent with past and future communications. He must attend to style, presentation, and tone so that the message will gain

the respect of the target audience and the planner will gain credibility as a source of information. And finally, the PSYOP planner must have some method of pretesting his messages so that he can determine in advance what effect they will have on the target population. He can do this through area experts, surveys of persons similar to the target population, or use of enemy sources such as defectors and POWs.

Exploitation of Channels of Communication

At the same time, the psyoperator must select the means through which his message or appeal will be conveyed to the target group. Essentially, he must adapt the media to the audience (targeting). Because the target group is the key to the desired change, the media should be selected to suit the target group. Two primary factors limit the range of media choice: the ability of the target group to receive and understand the message and the availability of facilities. In this sense media choice is situationally influenced. The ingenuity of the PSYOP planner in devising unorthodox methods for unusual circumstances may reduce the external controls on media selection, however.

Communication channels may be directed toward targets varying in size from an individual to large groups. Moreover, they may allow simultaneous emission and reception of the message, or its transmission may be delayed. Further, channels of communication may concentrate on any of the senses-sight, hearing, touch, taste-although the choice is usually between printed and audio visual channels.

The choice among the various channels available is often determined actually by the nature of the situation. Formerly, radio was less useful than leaflets in tactical PSYOP. However, technological innovation has made radio-based appeals highly useful in some tactical situations in Vietnam. (See "Earlyword" in this chapter and Colburn B. Lovett, “Effective Combat PSYOP in the Delta," Chapter VI of this casebook.) Face-to-face PSYOP is conducive to the transference of ideological motivation by revolutionary groups.

Unorthodox Techniques

Very often the PSYOP planner is faced with unusual circumstances where traditional or ordinary PSYOP methods and techniques do not seem to be appropriate or where innovative approaches will have a particularly high pay-off. In situations like this, the planner must depend on his own ingenuity to improvise and develop what may be considered as gimmicky ways of reaching the target group. These devices may be either verbal or nonverbal forms of communicating. The use of gossip and rumor and "black" propaganda are illustrations of the verbal type; symbolic acts, especially fear-arousal acts such as terrorism and saturation bombing, are of the nonverbal type. In any case, their purpose is to arouse an emotional state or a series of memories, which, when touched off, will elicit the desired change in attitude and behavior.

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