"Straight line approaches," as xjwsrock puts so well, were abandoned after the Knorr administration with the power shift to the GB. In the 40s through the 70s it was sufficient to ignore apostates. Their placards and signs outside the conventions were ignored for the most part. By the 90s I can recall a highly placed Bethelite telling me that "Ray Franz' book" was doing tremendous damage--this one book was causing many to go apostate. Gradually over the years more and more mention was made of apostates as well as resolutions being made at conventions pledging loyalty to the organization. Articles, apostate blogs and websites on the Internet were making the Organization look bad and the Organization knew it.
The multiple leaders of the GB were beginning to develop paranoia over this in their ranks. A new public affairs office was created under a new overseer in an attempt to control how the Organization was being perceived. As this control has diminished since that time, the focus has been on image and perception--not on "truth."
In times past "the truth" inspired confidence. Today, their illusion of truth is lost in a massive effort to survive financially and to perform damage control.
