This weekend a question came up in discussion: does the word propaganda necessarily involve intellectually dishonest techniques of manipulation? e.g. (from Wikipedia)

“…selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented”

I was pretty sure it wasn’t necessarily intellectually dishonest and that the term could be used for any kind of effort to spread information, practices, cultural ideals/mores/preferences, or other flavors of persuasive content.

Time to see if there was actually any reason for this belief.

Wikipedia - pejorative with historical neutral

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda

Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influenceor persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is being presented.

…

In the 20th century, the English term propaganda was often associated with a manipulative approach, but historically, propaganda has been a neutral descriptive term of any material that promotes certain opinions or ideologies.[1][3] Equivalent non-English terms have also largely retained the original neutral connotation.

Propaganda is a… form of propagare, meaning 'to spread' or 'to propagate', thus propaganda means for that which is to be propagated.[4]

Merriam-Webster - neutral, then pejorative

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda

2 : the spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person

3 : ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause

also : a public action having such an effect

Britannica - pejorative as apart from education/free discussion

https://www.britannica.com/topic/propaganda

propaganda, dissemination of information—facts, arguments, rumours, half-truths, or lies—to influence public opinion.

Propaganda is the more or less systematic effort to manipulate other people’s beliefs, attitudes, or actions by means of symbols (words, gestures, banners, monuments, music, clothing, insignia, hairstyles, designs on coins and postage stamps, and so forth). Deliberateness and a relatively heavy emphasis on manipulation distinguish propaganda from casual conversation or the free and easy exchange of ideas.

…

…To many Roman Catholics the word may therefore have, at least in missionary or ecclesiastical terms, a highly respectable connotation. But even to these persons, and certainly to many others, the term is often a pejorative one 

Cambridge - pejorative

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/propaganda

information, ideas, opinions, or images, often only giving one part of an argument, that are broadcast, published, or in some other way spread with the intention of influencing people's opinions:

• political/wartime propaganda

• At school we were fed communist/right-wing propaganda.

• One official dismissed the ceasefire as a mere propaganda exercise.

My Assessment

Using propaganda as a technical term to discuss the general method of trying to propagate idea content is probably a really unusual usage of the word. The most convincing to me above was Britannica’s distinction from other sorts of discussion and educational methods.