Psychological WarfareLinebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
History
Psychological Warfare
Linebarger, Paul Myron Anthony
Psychological warfare
=The Stasm Formula.= The formula given earlier (page 44) was found
useful in the spot analysis of German broadcasts, both open and
clandestine, and Japanese materials, during the last months of the war.
The formula reads:
=S=ource (including Media)
=T=ime
=A=udience
=S=ubject
=M=ission
The neologism, _Stasm_, may serve a mnemonic purpose.
The formula works best in the treatment of monitored materials of which
the source is known. First point to note is the character of the source.
There are several choices on this: the true source (who really got it
out?) and the ostensible source (whose name is signed to it?); also, the
first-use source (who used it the first time?) and the second-use source
(who claims merely to be using it as a quotation?). Take the statement:
"Harry said to me, he said, 'I never told anybody that Al's wife was a
retired strip-teaser.' Mind you, I don't pretend to believe Harry, but
that's what he said, all right." What are the possible true sources for
the statement of fact or libel concerning Al's unnamed wife? What are
the alternatives on ostensible sources? First use? Second use? The
common sense needed to analyze this statement is of the same order as
the process involved in analyzing the statement: "Reliable sources in
Paris state that the visit of the American labor delegation has produced
sensational repercussions in Moscow, and that Moscow, upon the basis of
the American attitude, is determined to press for unification of the
entire German labor movement."
[Illustration: _Figure 24: Black Use of Enemy Subversive Materials._
This leaflet, printed in brilliant red, white and blue, was found in the
printshop of a Nazi military propaganda company overtaken in Lorraine.
It apparently dates from 1939-40, when the Soviet Union and Nazi Germans
were at peace, with the result that Communists throughout the world
opposed the "imperialist war." The leaflet may or may not be duplicated
from a French Communist original; the important thing is its reuse by
the Germans. This constitutes black propaganda in one of its purest
forms.]
It is soon evident that the mere attribution of source is a job of high
magnitude. A systematic breakdown of the STASM formula produces the
following analysis outline, applicable to any single propaganda item,
civil or military, in war or peace, spoken, visual, or printed. There
are many other possible arrangements; the one given below is not
represented as having official sanction or mysterious powers of its own.
It has simply worked well for the author.
[Illustration: _Figure 25-A: Black Use of Enemy Information Materials._
The Nazis used this leaflet on the Western Front. The real source was a
German propaganda unit; the ostensible source was U.S. Army facilities.
Note that the leaflet has nothing to do with stopping VD among troops,
which is what the originals sought; instead, its effect is to depress
American troop morale.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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