"Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will." - Joseph Goebbels
What is
propaganda
Origin and techniques
Start Reading
How it all began
The use of propaganda is nothing new or modern. In fact, the concept of propaganda dates almost as far back as recorded human history. It was used effectively by Alexander the Great in the form of coins bearing his face. Furthermore, Greeks and Athenians used games, the theatre, open courts and religious festivals to sway public opinion. However, propaganda was not only utilized in Ancient Greece. Julius Caesar was exceptionally good at deploying propaganda methods throughout the Roman Empire. Propaganda could also be found in early Christianity. In the early 1500s Martin Luther used the newly invented Gutenberg printing press to make some of the first forms of propaganda. He sold hundreds of thousands of pamphlets to support the reformation of the church. Each new medium of communication was quickly adopted for the spread of propaganda, especially during the American and French revolutions and later by Napoleon. By the end of the 19th century, improvements in the size and speed of the mass media had greatly increased the effectiveness of propaganda. During the World Wars propaganda experienced a boom when radio and television came to life. After World War II, Edward Bernays became “the father of public relations” when he completely changed the concept of propaganda and transformed how advertisers sold products to consumers.
What is propaganda?
The term propaganda is not negative in itself. It comes from the Latin word propagare and really just means to inform or spread information to the public. The meaning of the word derives from Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, or the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. This was a Vatican organization created in 1622 by pope Gregory XV and had the goal to spread faith. However, during the 20th century the term propagation was used to describe information that was propagated to advance a cause and influence a target audience. Eventually, the term propagation got a negative connotation because it started appearing in a variety of forms that used truths, half-truths and lies with the goal of manipulating people’s emotions, attitudes and opinions. To be successful, propaganda taps into our emotions, our deepest values, fears, hopes and dreams.
Techniques
There are many different techniues used in propaganda to manipulate and persuade a target audience. In the following, seven of the most common techniques will be disucussed.
NAME-CALLING
card stacking
GENERALITIES
Plain folks
TESTIMONIALS
Transfer
BANDWAGON
name calling
Some propaganda techniques focus on being positive and playing up the benefits of a certain decision or way of thinking. Name-calling is not one of them. At the very least, this propaganda technique tends to be quite negative. It can even become derogatory or offensive. The goal of name-calling is to paint a rival or an opponent in a bad light, create fear and arouse prejudice. This might be through negative or derogatory names. A good example of this type of propaganda can be found in politics. In recent political theatre, President Trump has called his opponent “Sleepy Joe” and previously “Crooked Hilary.” He gives other people names like “low-energy Jed” or “rocket man.” All of these are examples of name-calling in propaganda. This method often calls for a conclusion without examining the evidence.
Glittering generalities
This is a way of manipulating someone’s psychological or emotional outlook. While the last technique focuses on the negative, this one focuses on the positive. It plays up positive words to make something sound even better than it might actually be. When these words are used, they demand approval without thinking, simply becuase an important concept is involved. You hear these glittering generalities a lot in recruitment ads for the armed forces. They focus on how patriotic the armed forces are and say things like “You are fighting in defense of democracy.” When someone is asked to do something for democracy, they are more likely to agree because it is something they value. The goal of this campaign is to make people feel good about making such a positive decision like enlisting in the armed forces.
Testimonials
This type of technique tends to use a celebrity, a respected person or someone with experience to endorse a product or cause by giving it their stamp of approval. Propagandists hope that the intended audience will follow their example. This technique exploits the reputation of the individual giving the statement. The public figure says how great the idea or product is and focuses on the benefits. The company wants to make you feel like you will be just as attractive, healthy or smart if you buy the product. Many compnies use testimonials of some sort to market their product.
Bandwagon
The bandwagon technique is a type of peer pressure. The goal is to make people feel like they are going to be left out if they do not do something. It appeals to the the audience to follow the crowd and to join something because others are doing so as well. It creates the feeling that they would miss out if they do otherwise. This technique reinforces the idea that one side is the winning side because other people have joined it. Individuals that do not submit to the pressure often feel a sense of isolation.
Card stacking
This type of propaganda involves the selective ommision of certain facts and the painting of an idea in the most positive light possible. Although the majority of the information presented by the card stacking approach is true, it omits important facts and paints an incomplete or incorrect narrative to influence people. For example, many no-fat products spend a lot of marketing dollars advertising how healthy their foods are because they have no or low fat. They never mention that the majority of these engineered, no-fat foods replace the fat with high amounts of sugar to get the same good taste.
Plain Folks
The plain folks approach is increasingly becoming one of the most effective propaganda device you can come across today. This technique aims to convince the audience that a particular product or service can bring value to a regular human being like themselves. People can relate to everyday experiences portrayed through plain folks propaganda because it appeals to their common sense and because they can see it fit in their everyday lives.
Transfer/Association
The goal behind this tactic is to irrationally tie the audience’s positive or negative associations to a certain concept onto another to make the second more acceptable or to discredit it. It evokes an emotional response, which stimulates the target to identify with the new concept. Transfer propaganda relies on symbolism to push its target audience to make illogical connections.
examples
sources
Propaganda Reading Comprehension
Paola Dinev
Created on February 24, 2021
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Transcript
"Propaganda works best when those who are being manipulated are confident they are acting on their own free will." - Joseph Goebbels
What is
propaganda
Origin and techniques
Start Reading
How it all began
The use of propaganda is nothing new or modern. In fact, the concept of propaganda dates almost as far back as recorded human history. It was used effectively by Alexander the Great in the form of coins bearing his face. Furthermore, Greeks and Athenians used games, the theatre, open courts and religious festivals to sway public opinion. However, propaganda was not only utilized in Ancient Greece. Julius Caesar was exceptionally good at deploying propaganda methods throughout the Roman Empire. Propaganda could also be found in early Christianity. In the early 1500s Martin Luther used the newly invented Gutenberg printing press to make some of the first forms of propaganda. He sold hundreds of thousands of pamphlets to support the reformation of the church. Each new medium of communication was quickly adopted for the spread of propaganda, especially during the American and French revolutions and later by Napoleon. By the end of the 19th century, improvements in the size and speed of the mass media had greatly increased the effectiveness of propaganda. During the World Wars propaganda experienced a boom when radio and television came to life. After World War II, Edward Bernays became “the father of public relations” when he completely changed the concept of propaganda and transformed how advertisers sold products to consumers.
What is propaganda?
The term propaganda is not negative in itself. It comes from the Latin word propagare and really just means to inform or spread information to the public. The meaning of the word derives from Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide, or the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. This was a Vatican organization created in 1622 by pope Gregory XV and had the goal to spread faith. However, during the 20th century the term propagation was used to describe information that was propagated to advance a cause and influence a target audience. Eventually, the term propagation got a negative connotation because it started appearing in a variety of forms that used truths, half-truths and lies with the goal of manipulating people’s emotions, attitudes and opinions. To be successful, propaganda taps into our emotions, our deepest values, fears, hopes and dreams.
Techniques
There are many different techniues used in propaganda to manipulate and persuade a target audience. In the following, seven of the most common techniques will be disucussed.
NAME-CALLING
card stacking
GENERALITIES
Plain folks
TESTIMONIALS
Transfer
BANDWAGON
name calling
Some propaganda techniques focus on being positive and playing up the benefits of a certain decision or way of thinking. Name-calling is not one of them. At the very least, this propaganda technique tends to be quite negative. It can even become derogatory or offensive. The goal of name-calling is to paint a rival or an opponent in a bad light, create fear and arouse prejudice. This might be through negative or derogatory names. A good example of this type of propaganda can be found in politics. In recent political theatre, President Trump has called his opponent “Sleepy Joe” and previously “Crooked Hilary.” He gives other people names like “low-energy Jed” or “rocket man.” All of these are examples of name-calling in propaganda. This method often calls for a conclusion without examining the evidence.
Glittering generalities
This is a way of manipulating someone’s psychological or emotional outlook. While the last technique focuses on the negative, this one focuses on the positive. It plays up positive words to make something sound even better than it might actually be. When these words are used, they demand approval without thinking, simply becuase an important concept is involved. You hear these glittering generalities a lot in recruitment ads for the armed forces. They focus on how patriotic the armed forces are and say things like “You are fighting in defense of democracy.” When someone is asked to do something for democracy, they are more likely to agree because it is something they value. The goal of this campaign is to make people feel good about making such a positive decision like enlisting in the armed forces.
Testimonials
This type of technique tends to use a celebrity, a respected person or someone with experience to endorse a product or cause by giving it their stamp of approval. Propagandists hope that the intended audience will follow their example. This technique exploits the reputation of the individual giving the statement. The public figure says how great the idea or product is and focuses on the benefits. The company wants to make you feel like you will be just as attractive, healthy or smart if you buy the product. Many compnies use testimonials of some sort to market their product.
Bandwagon
The bandwagon technique is a type of peer pressure. The goal is to make people feel like they are going to be left out if they do not do something. It appeals to the the audience to follow the crowd and to join something because others are doing so as well. It creates the feeling that they would miss out if they do otherwise. This technique reinforces the idea that one side is the winning side because other people have joined it. Individuals that do not submit to the pressure often feel a sense of isolation.
Card stacking
This type of propaganda involves the selective ommision of certain facts and the painting of an idea in the most positive light possible. Although the majority of the information presented by the card stacking approach is true, it omits important facts and paints an incomplete or incorrect narrative to influence people. For example, many no-fat products spend a lot of marketing dollars advertising how healthy their foods are because they have no or low fat. They never mention that the majority of these engineered, no-fat foods replace the fat with high amounts of sugar to get the same good taste.
Plain Folks
The plain folks approach is increasingly becoming one of the most effective propaganda device you can come across today. This technique aims to convince the audience that a particular product or service can bring value to a regular human being like themselves. People can relate to everyday experiences portrayed through plain folks propaganda because it appeals to their common sense and because they can see it fit in their everyday lives.
Transfer/Association
The goal behind this tactic is to irrationally tie the audience’s positive or negative associations to a certain concept onto another to make the second more acceptable or to discredit it. It evokes an emotional response, which stimulates the target to identify with the new concept. Transfer propaganda relies on symbolism to push its target audience to make illogical connections.
examples
sources