From the Editors June 6, 2011 Issue

Perception management

The Editors

Every year some $100 billion worldwide goes toward public relations—and that doesn’t count vast sums the United States military spends on what it calls “perception management.” 

The US Department of Defense defines perception management in part as, “Actions to convey and/or deny selected information . . . to foreign audiences to influence their emotions, motives, and objective reasoning . . . . perception management combines truth projection, operations security, cover and deception, and psychological operations.”

The phrase “perception management” also serves as a euphemism for “information warfare.” 

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