Propaganda

:This article deals with public image and message control. For other meanings, see Propaganda (disambiguation).

Purpose of propaganda

The aim of propaganda is to influence people's opinions actively, rather than to merely communicate the facts about something.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For example, propaganda might be used to garner either support or disapproval of a certain position, rather than to simply present the position. What separates propaganda from "normal" communication is in the subtle, often insidious, ways that the message attempts to shape opinion. For example, propaganda is often presented in a way that attempts to deliberately evoke a strong emotion, especially by suggesting illogical (or non-intuitive) relationships between concepts.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

An appeal to one's emotions is, perhaps, more obvious a propaganda method than utilized by some other less overt and perhaps even more insidious forms. For instance, propaganda may be transmitted implicitly. Propaganda can be transmitted as the presupposition or presuppositions within an ostensibly fair and balanced debate or argument. This can be done to great effect in conjunction with a broadcast news format. Here is an example of a hypothetical situation in which the opposing view points are supposedly represented: the hawk (see: hawkish) says, "we must stay the course", and the dove says, "The war is a disaster and a failure", to which the hawk responds, "In war things seldom go smoothly and we must not let setbacks affect our determination", the dove retorts, "setbacks are setbacks, but failures are failures." As one can see, the actual validity of the war is not discussed and is never in contention. Brief, succinct, and reductive arguments like these are often referred to as sound bites. In giving the appearance of representing opposing positions and view points, a debate (of what is really aspects of the actual, genuine, argument worthy issue) in which the debaters argue from the same basic assumptions, implicitly inculcates the presupposition(s) as sacrosanct truth, thus, establishing it as an accepted fact about the given issue.

Related Topics:
Balanced - Hawkish - Sound bites

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The method of propaganda is essential to the word's meaning as well. A message does not have to be untrue to qualify as propaganda.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In fact, the message in modern propaganda is often not blatantly untrue. But even if the message conveys only "true" information, it will generally contain partisan bias and fail to present a complete and balanced consideration of the issue. Another common characteristic of propaganda is volume (in the sense of a large amount). For example, a propagandist may seek to influence opinion by attempting to get a message heard in as many places as possible, and as often as possible. The intention of this approach is to a) reinforce an idea through repetition, and b) exclude or "drown out" any alternative ideas.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In English, the word "propaganda" now carries strong negative (as well as political) connotations, although it has not always done so. It was formerly common for political organisations to refer to their own material as propaganda. Other languages do not necessarily regard the term as derogatory and hence usage may lead to misunderstanding in communications with non-native English speakers. For example, in Brazil and some Spanish language speaking countries, particularly in the Southern Cone, the word "propaganda" usually means the most common manipulation of information—"advertising".

Related Topics:
English - Misunderstanding in communications - Brazil - Spanish language - Southern Cone - Advertising

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~