ABSTRACT
No propaganda can get along without facts. News is the basis of all political warfare, whether it is true, half-true, distorted, wholly invented, or completely suppressed. It is the material from which all propaganda edifices must be erected, and propagandists who disregard it soon find that nobody listens to them. No Government can convince its people that its own assessment and interpretation of the news, that is, of events inside and outside the country, is the only valid and trustworthy one, unless it controls the reporting of such events and makes sure that only those facts become known which it wants to be known, and that they become known in the most suitable version and in no other. The complete centralisation of news in a Government-controlled monopoly organisation is, therefore, the first prerequisite for all totalitarian political warfare. If the news gets out of hand, everything gets out of hand, Conversely, as long as the news is under control, much that is already out of control can for a time give the appearance of perfect order. The German and Italian dictatorships realised this from the start and, suppressing all private traffic, concentrated the coming and going of news in their own hands-the D.N.B. in Germany, and the Stefani Agency in Italy, examples which were soon followed by a number of minor European dictatorships. The Japanese realised this necessity comparatively late. When they became aware of it, they made a thorough job of it.
