What is propaganda and what is its purpose

Since propaganda can sometimes be subtle and slippery, using the Epistemic Merit Model can aid in analysis and in personal opinion. In the East, the term propaganda now overlaps with distinct terms like indoctrination ideological views established by repetition rather than verification and mass suggestion broader strategic methods.

In practice, the terms are often used synonymously. Historically, the most common use of the term propaganda started to be in the religious context of the Catholic Church and evolved to be more common in political contexts, in particular to refer to certain efforts sponsored by governments, political groups, but also often covert interests. In the early 20th century the term propaganda was also used by the founders of the nascent public relations industry to describe their activities; this usage died out around the time of World War II, as the industry started to avoid the word, given the pejorative connotation it had acquired.

Literally translated from the Latin gerundive as "things which must be disseminated," in some cultures the term is neutral or even positive, while in others the term has acquired a strong negative connotation.

Its connotations can also vary over time. For example, in Portuguese and some Spanish language speaking countries, particularly in the Southern Cone, the word "propaganda" usually means the most common manipulation of information — " advertising ". In English , "propaganda" was originally a neutral term used to describe the dissemination of information in favour of any given cause.

During the 20th century , however, the term acquired a thoroughly negative meaning in western countries, of equalling the intentional dissemination of false, but perhaps "compelling", claims supporting or justifying nefarious political ideologies.

This redefinition arose because both the Soviet Union and Germany 's government under Hitler admitted explicitly to using propaganda favoring, respectively, communism and fascism, in all forms of public expression. As these ideologies were antipathetic to English-language and other western societies, the negative feelings toward them came to be projected into the word "propaganda" itself.

Nowadays nobody admits doing propaganda but, on the other side, everybody accuses the opponent of using propaganda, whenever there is an opponent in question. Munitions of the Mind: A History of Propaganda.

Manchester University Press. Pratkanis, A. Age of propaganda: The everyday use and abuse of persuasion. Freeman and Company. Sproule, J. Channels of propaganda. Bloomington, IN. Carey, A. Taking the risk out of democracy: Corporate propaganda versus freedom and liberty A. Lohrey, Ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press. Parry-Giles, S. The rhetorical presidency, propaganda, and the Cold War: Westport, CT: Praeger. Interesting differences among the three definitions listed. It would be useful to expand these definitions to include what evidence is needed to qualify various examples as constituting propaganda.

You must be logged in to post a comment. Propaganda is the management of collective attitudes by the manipulation of significant symbols. Lasswell, p. Bernays, , p. Miller, A process which deliberately attempts through persuasion-techniques to secure from the propagandee, before he can deliberate freely, the responses desired by the propagandist Henderson, , p.

The attempt to affect the personalities and to control the behavior of individuals towards ends considered unscientific or of doubtful value in a society at a particular time.

Propaganda attempts to persuade through rational or emotional appeal or through the organization of personal opinion. Propagandists use techniques identified by Filene and fellows. You can read complete and detailed article techniques of propaganda. Assertion is commonly used in advertising and modern propaganda.

An assertion is an enthusiastic or energetic statement presented as a fact, although it is not necessarily true. Bandwagon propaganda is, essentially, trying to convince the subject that one side is the winning side, because more people have joined it. Card stacking. It involves only presenting information that is positive to an idea or proposal and omitting information contrary to it. Lesser of Two Evils.

Name Calling. Name calling occurs often in politics and wartime scenarios, but very seldom in advertising. It is the use of derogatory language or words that carry a negative connotation when describing an enemy. Pinpointing the Enemy. Pinpointing the enemy is used extremely often during wartime, and also in political campaigns and debates. This is an attempt to simplify a complex situation by presenting one specific group or person as the enemy.

Plain Folks. The plain folks device is an attempt by the propagandist to convince the public that his views reflect those of the common person and that they are also working for the benefit of the common person.

Simplification Stereotyping. Simplification is extremely similar to pinpointing the enemy, in that it often reduces a complex situation to a clear-cut choice involving good and evil.