The analyst looks in the direction in which the message is going. He defines the propaganda presentation of the people who get the message in terms of all the public information to which the persons addressed have access. If he does not know the purpose of the message, he may divine it from the character of the audience and from the effect he presumes the message may reasonably be expected to have upon the audience. If he does not know the audience, he can at least follow the physical transit of the message. In what language does it move? Whence? Whither? When?

Figure 23: Direct Reply leaflet. World War II propagandists often succumbed to the temptation of using the enemy materials and sending them right back. Sarcasm can be effective if the reader identifies himself with the speaker and not with the addressee. In this Nazi leaflet from the Anzio beachhead, the Germans probably antagonized more Americans than they befriended. A simple statement of the news would have been more effective. (Signal Corps photo.)

The Stasm Formula.

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."

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.