Currently I am doing a history paper on Nazi Germany and some of its infamous people. I know Joseph Goebbels was the Minister of Propaganda for the Nazi Party, but was his job title and description kept secret from the German public, or was he widely known and accepted in Nazi Germany?
For example if he ever appeared in rallies or in the media did the German people know that it was literally his job to spread propaganda, half-truths, etc to influence the people for Nazi causes since I don't think he would publicy say "My job here is to only say things to help the Nazi's and it may or may not be true."
We must remember that the word 'propaganda' itself did not originally have negative connnotations. These only appeared between the beginning of the First and end of the Second World War, by which time 'propaganda' came to be seen as entirely negative.
The word itself came about in the 17th century with an institution called Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congregation_for_the_Evangelization_of_Peoples - if you're interested). So at the time you are asking about being a professional propagandist was nothing to be secretive about. Try to forget about our contemporary associations, think not 'propagandist', but 'propagator.' You could, with a degree of simplification, equate it to being a spokesperson for the government nowadays. You know that the person's job is to present only one side of the general picture. The issue with Goebbels' Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda was that it not only served as the spokes...person(?) for Hitler's government, but was also responsible for filtering Germany's media and culture through a national-socialistic sieve.
I asked myself the same question some time ago, wondering if the general public of Germany actually referred to/knew all this media and social propaganda was, well, "propaganda". I have to agree with tlumacz, propaganda only experienced negative connotation in relatively "recent" times. Back then it was a term for spokespeople and the kind of work they fulfill. In Germany media "management", if you can call it that, fell under the duties of a propagandist like Goebbels. The Germans connected almost nothing negative to the term propaganda, prior to WW2.
A while ago I also found this pic: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fe/Bundesarchiv_Bild_146-1981-124-32A,_Theaterzug_der_DAF.jpg
It's not very easy to read, but the words "Reichs-Propaganda-Amt Theaterzug" are present on the frontdoor of the vehicle. These theatre buses drove all through Germany at the behest of the Ministry of Propaganda and its sub-organizations. For the average German it was self-evident this all was propaganda, but not with the attributed meaning it carries nowadays.
