Propaganda“By the skillful and sustained use of

propaganda, one can make a people see even heaven as hell or an extremely

wretched life as paradise.”Adolf Hitler

What is Propaganda? writing that sets out to persuade at all costs, abandoning

reason, fairness, and truth information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to

help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.

covert persuasion of large numbers of people the basic defining goal of propaganda is that it seeks to

control what people believe

The History of Propaganda

The term 'propaganda' first appeared in 1622 when Pope Gregory XV

established the Sacred Congregation for Propagating the Faith.

Where Do We See It? The military - wars have always been a good reason for

governments wanting to persuade the people of the justness of their cause, as well as to hide the horrors and failures at the front line.

Education - when you control the education system, you can instill values and beliefs from a very young age.

The media - when you control the media, you can control the messages that are put in front of people day in and day out. If all that people see is a consistent message, then they will eventually come to believe it.

Hitler, the Master Propagandist In 1933, Hitler realized the potential

of propaganda and appointed Joseph Goebbels as Minister for Propaganda. Goebbels was remarkably effective.

Techniques of PropagandaBandwagon

Make it appear that many people have joined the cause already, and that they are having lots of fun or getting significant advantage.

Show that those who join early will get the better prizes, such as positions of authority or other advantages.

Link it to morality and values, showing that those who join sooner are more moral and pretty much better people all around.

BandwagonExamples: an ad states that “everyone is rushing

down to their Ford dealer”McDonald’s tells us that billions

have been served

Bandwagon

Everyone listens to the Fuhrer!

Testimonial A celebrity or expert who endorses a

product, candidate, or idea. Think about all of the commercials with celebrities. The celebrity may not always be qualified to speak on the subject.

Plain FolksThis technique has a person or cause

being associated with regular people. Candidates who are just like you – they put their pants on one leg at a time too.

More Plain Folks America’s recent presidents have all been

millionaires, but they have gone to great lengths to present themselves as ordinary citizens

Bill Clinton eats at McDonalds George W. Bush works on his Texas ranch Jimmy Carter was a peanut farmer before he

became president

“The Jew: The inciter of

war, the prolonger of

war.”

Name Calling

Glittering Generalities Use of attractive, but vague words that make speeches and other

communications sound good, but in practice say nothing in particular.

Use linguistic patterns such as alliteration, metaphor and reversals that turn your words into poetry that flows and rhymes in hypnotic patterns.

Use words that appeal to values, which often themselves are related to triggering of powerful emotions.

A common element of glittering generalities are intangible nouns that embody ideals, such as dignity, freedom, fame, integrity, justice, love and respect.

Glittering Generalities

Advertisers will sometimes give an incomplete comparison like “better tasting”. Better tasting than what? Dirt? Spam?

Cascade claims that their detergent will leave your dishes virtually spotless. In other words, there will be some spots.

Examples of Glittering Generalities

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with the greatest pleasure that I welcome you to this most

auspicious of occasions. We are gathered here on the brink of a challenge to which we must all

rise in concert, for not to do so would be to accept despair, which I will never do and I know

you will never accept.

Transfer Also called “Association” Associate with other people or groups that already

have high trust and credibility. Show that you aspire to similar ideals.

Become a member of auspicious organizations Name-drop and quote them. Show that you have friends in high places. Show

how you are like them.

Transfer As I was saying to the President, it is so

important that we bring our forces together. He agreed, of course, and we will be taking it forward next week.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like to introduce my good friend Brad Pitt. Brad and I go way back, and he’s kindly come here today to tell you what I’m all about.

Stereotyping Cast those who you want to denigrate into an

unpopular stereotype. Talk about the stereotypes as 'them', downplaying their rights as humans. Describe them as threatening, unworthy, disgusting and other negative frames.

Stereotyping can also be used to cast a group of people as good, perfect and otherwise wonderful and desirable.

Stereotyping

Card-Stacking Card Stacking: The strategy of showing the

product’s best features, telling half-truths, and omitting or lying about its potential problems;

Use only facts that support your argument Information is manipulated to make a product

appear better; only the facts in favor of the propagandist are used;

Examples of Card-Stacking a brand of snack food is loaded with sugar

(and calories), and the commercial may boast that the product is low in fat, which implies that it is also low in calories

Someone endorses a certain weight-loss plan, and says she lost a bunch of weight by following that plan; what she doesn’t mention is that she also exercised

Card-Stacking Use only facts that support your argument

Example: You accuse an incumbent of not voting for an increase in social security payments. What you do not tell the voters is that the incumbent wanted a higher increase and that is why the incumbent voted against the raise. You just identify the “no” vote, not “why.”

Liar, LiarThe Ways We Lie

White lies Facades Ignoring facts Deflecting Omission Stereotypes and Clichés Out and out lies Dismissal