RESULTS OF 24 JANUARY CONSULTATION ON THE SEMANTICS OF DISINFORMATION

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88B00443R000301380014-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 4, 2010
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: February 4, 1985
• Content Type: MEMO

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4 February 1985
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
THROUGH: Deputy Director for Intelligence
Acting Director of Soviet Analysis
Senior Analyst, Office of Soviet Analysis,
Policy Analysis Division
SUBJECT: Results of 24 January Consultation on
the Semantics of Disinformation
1. Action required: Attachment A to this information
memorandum presents for your approval a tentative agenda for our
planned conference on disinformation. At Attachment B is a
similar agenda, containing a first cut at identifying possible
speakers, for your comment.
2. Our consultation with outside scholars and State
Department officials helped to clarify the important substantive
issues for the proposed conference. The attached agenda
represents what the CIA members of the consultative group
distilled from the ideas raised at the meeting. We are sending
this draft agenda to our consultants for their comments and
suggestions on speakers for specific topics. (The group's
members are listed in Attachment C.)
3. It was clear from the outset that the notions variously
described as "semantic pollution," "disinformation," and
"propaganda rhetoric" added up to something everyone around the
table generally understood and agreed was important, but not to a
single concept the group could easily define. The group decided
to broaden the focus beyond "disinformation," because it failed
to encompass a whole range of important and related issues: how
messages impact on different target audiences and why Western
audiences are so susceptible to images introduced from the
outside and so inarticulate and slack in response; the linkage
between language and culture (how rhetoric reflects cultural
attitudes and modes of thinking); the historical dimension (how
values and meanings attached to words evolve); the international
relations context of propaganda; how the nature of modern
communications affects the ways in which verbal warfare is waged
and perceptions are created and cultivated; and the important
underlying role of ideology. By the close of the meeting there
was general agreement that.the proposed conference should span 25X1
CONFIDENTIAL
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CONFIDENTIAL
SUBJECT: Results of 24 January Consultation on the
Semantics of Disinformation
both the rhetoric of political discourse and the techniques of
disinformation. We also agreed that to be manageable and
coherent, it should focus on the Soviet Union--the main source of
the rhetoric and disinformation with which we are primarily 25X1
concerned.
4. lexpressed the view that if the conference
is to have tangible impact it should result in policy guidelines
for effective counter-efforts. The consensus of the group,
however, was that a prescription for counteraction should be
reserved for follow-on deliberation and that the proposed
conference should pursue the first-step goals of heightening
awareness of the problem and elucidating its dimensions. That is
a tall order in itself.
5. The group settled tentatively on a title like
"Contemporary Soviet Propaganda and Disinformation" and decided
that two days would be a reasonable length for the conference.
As Attachment A indicates, we envisage an introductory overview,
a discussion of the ideological framework, and a series of case
studies that would elucidate various aspects--the historical
dimension, the cultural and political contexts, the nature of the
Soviet propaganda apparatus, and the rhetorical techniques that
are brought into play--as well as a concluding assessment. The
case-study approach seems the best way to attack a problem so
resistant to prec' dpfinif-' 7n. It was felt that speakers
should include as well as Western scholars.
6. The audience probably should represent a range of
disciplines and professions, including journalists, former
negotiators, psychologists, semanticists, political scientists,
public opinion and marketing people, Kremlinologists, and
propaganda analysts. We recognize that more needs to be done in
introducing more specialized skills (semanticists, psychologists,
etc.) into the list of participants at Attachment B, and are
working on this.
7. We will soon be negotiating the administrative aspects
of co-sponsorship with the State Department. From a practical
point of view, we should probably allow 4-5 months for organizing
the composition of the conference and allowing speakers
sufficient time to research and prepare papers on their topics.
We also plan to put together a reading list in advance of the
conference to spur some thinking and enrich the discussion.
Meanwhile, we await your comments on the conference design and
composition. 25X1
-2-
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 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/01/04: CIA-RDP88B00443R000301380014-5
CONFIDENTIAL
SUBJECT: Results of 24 January Consultation on the
Semantics of Disinformation
Attachments:
A. Tentative Agenda
B. Possible Speakers
C. Participants in 24 January 1985 Consultation
A'ct-i"ng D: rector of -Soviet Analysis Date
i At
Depu Director for In elligence p ate
19 APR 1985
Orig
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to originator w/att.
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DCI, w/att.
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DDCI, w/att.
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EXDIR, w/att.
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ExReg., w/att.
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DDI, w/att (for chrono)
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ADDI, w/att (for chrono)
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DDI Reg., w/att.
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D/SOYA, w/att
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SOYA/PA (for chrono)
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