Propaganda In My Life
“It uses words and word substitutes in trying to reach a goal while using pictures, drawings, graphs, exhibits, parades, songs, and other devices (American Historical Association).” Propaganda has been often discovered through the daily lives of society. The interpretations and intentions of certain propaganda can be easily pinpointed however, most of the time it’s open to clarification. Propaganda have a stigma of a negative connotation and essentially it is used for manipulation. In this case, it can cultivate attitudes and provoke action to unravel the truth behind a media post. According to Propaganda by Edward Bernays, “Modern propaganda is consistent and an enduring effort to create or shape events to influence the relations of the public to an enterprise, idea, or group (Bernays, 1928).” In today’s environment, information is spread quickly throughout the media and propaganda is being found in journalism, advertising, entertainment, education, the government, and activism. Journalism, especially, can use fake news as a form of propaganda.
News and Information:
CNN has been a popular news company with an emphasis on politics and entertainment. Recently, they been questioned by viewers of its biased media posts. President Trump had tweeted out on January 5, 2018, “I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!” Many followers of the President considered CNN to have dishonesty and bad reporting in their news. Mainly for all of the negative reputations they set out for Trump which may become a harmful piece of propaganda. Majority of their political views on the president are negative which viewers tend to question the legitimacy of their content. This became an example of propaganda because it seems that CNN wants society to realize more of the dismissive characteristics of President Trump; rather than reporting both sides of a story. “With a pre-determined negative frame set, they can then just scan through whatever Trump speech or interview they’re covering, pluck out the easiest to spin statements, and then plug them right into their list, completely void of context of course. The rest of the speech or interview might as well have never happened because anything that undermines the negative spin is ignored or marginalized” based on Propaganda Report Daily written by Johnny Blastoff. The article elaborated on examples of the claims of propaganda CNN created.
These set of evidence may expose CNN for their biased actions and feelings towards the President. It questions the company’s motives and propaganda strikes. Advertisements, similar to news broadcasting, hosts much propaganda as well.
Advertisement:
Clicking through channels and surfing the internet, advertisements are inescapable. Ads are a way for companies to showcase their services or products and sell themselves to the world. A confirmation of propaganda through advertisements comes from a Dove campaign. A recent video was released by Dove to show empowerment towards women. Fortune added on, “The new campaign centers women in five global cities being offered the option to enter a building through either of two doors: one labeled “beautiful,” the other “average.” Most women walk through the “average” door. But soon, amid swelling keyboards, their gaits grow more confident and their faces glow as a procession of them the beaming woman with her daughter, the young woman in a wheelchair warm to the inspiring possibilities for those who #ChooseBeautiful” (Chumsky, 2015).
This Dove commercial can be seen as modern propaganda. The positive and awakening energy the video expresses make women feel beautiful in their own skin. It boosted confidence for the individuals in the production and viewers creating a beneficial way to spread ideas through the media.. The social experiment was a perfect way to tie in consumers and have Dove be a consistent competitor for other companies just like them. By having personable examples in the video such as, a child and a disabled individual made the video more memorable and meaningful. This type of propaganda dictates to forget about societal expectations of beauty and become your own kind of beautiful. Advertisements is a way to promote propaganda and the entertainment industry is another prime suspect.
Entertainment:
Celebrities and Artists has been accused for propaganda many times either for their loud posts, outspoken words, or explicit lyrics. Russia has a strict law in showing nontraditional sexual relations to minors. This means that heterosexuality such as public affection is acceptable but homosexualality is not in this country. Lady Gaga, a musician, was accused of breaking this law in her concert while a promoter for her performance was fined for it. Hillary Busis wrote an article in Entertainment weekly explaining, “Specifically, a court ruled, the concert organizers engaged in propaganda of alcohol consumption and homosexuality which violates a Russian law about protecting children from information that could harm their health or development. The offenders were ordered to pay a fine of 20,000 rubles, or $615, on Nov. 14 when the court upheld a ruling passed in May” (Busis, 2013). Russia’s laws impacted the singer with propaganda stating that she was forcing and manipulating minors and the people of homosexuality and alcohol consumption. In this case, Lady Gaga was accused of propaganda which can be harmful to the public of Russia but it can’t be harmful to those in other countries. After the incident passed by, minors were denied entry to her shows by St. Petersburg deputy, Vitaly Milonov. Propaganda can be found in many forms even when it is not intended. Propaganda can be related to education.
Education:
College campuses has been affected by propaganda recently. Specifically, white supremacist, feeling that caucasian individuals are superior to other races, has impacted campuses and made it known it was propaganda. White supremacists’ groups have been going through various college campuses and putting up flyers. According to Chronicles of Higher Education, “For just the fall 2017 semester, the organization found 147 incidents of white-supremacist fliers, stickers, banners, or posters on campuses up from 41 reported during the fall-2016 semester. In the past year, the group said, 346 incidents have been reported in all, at colleges in 44 states and Washington, D.C., from community colleges to the Ivy League. These groups tend to set up contests to see which group can receive the most media attention. The flyers put up are extremely offensive to other races and it embodies the hatred towards people of color. Vanguard America vandalized a Black History Month poster at Middle State Tennessee University with its own propaganda. Black Student Union tweeted out a photo to educate people about the issues college campuses are going through and a seminar will be placed to discuss these issues of white supremacy. White supremacy is a vicious side of propaganda. It became extremely harmful because it leads on an attack to a people of color.
Bernays believed that one of the most effective methods of propaganda is utilizing a group of similar interests and formalizing it in order to spread ideas. The more attention they receive, the bigger their propaganda gets. Similar to education, the government is a source of propaganda.
Government:
The government has faced many predicaments over the years. Propaganda rises when raising minimum wage became an ongoing issue. A tweet was sent out by the US Labor Department explaining how hot dog vendors make approximately $9 and hr which a video was attached. This video included a hot dog and mustard squirted on it stating #RaisetheWage. This referenced propaganda because it implies that the government need to raise the minimum wage for all fast food employees. Individuals making minimum wage feel that they’re hourly pay is unfair and it’s hard to live off of it. The tweet is a perfect example of passiveness but getting the point across quickly and effectively. This piece of propaganda may not be harmful to others especially the majority of the working class making minimum wage. Along with the government, activism played a part in propaganda.
Activism:
Political or social change involves modern propaganda. Activism is created to show different ideas in order to change the feelings of society. A huge issue in the United State was legalizations of marriage for homosexual couples. During 2011, Target released a controversial ad which received not only positive feedback but backlash as well. By analyzing this piece of propaganda, the interpretation can become more clear.
According to an article written by Think Progress, “Target has been a major sponsor for the Pride festivities in its hometown of Minneapolis, sold pride t-shirts benefiting the Family Equality Council, and ranks high on the Human Rights Campaign’s corporate equality index ranking businesses on LGBTQ-friendly workplace policies.” The company became an advocate for the LGBTQ community and remain consistent and ensure support for their customers of that category. This poster is an example of modern propaganda. By showcasing a happy homosexual couple, viewers can depict that it’s acceptable to be your true self and love is love. A Bullseye View by Target mentioned, “We believe that everyone every team member, every guest, and every community deserves to be protected from discrimination, and treated equally. Consistent with this belief, Target supports the federal Equality Act, which provides protections to LGBT individuals, and opposes action that enables discrimination. Creating a beneficial piece of propaganda helps the public cope with social change and acceptance. The target poster exemplifies propaganda used in a positive way which is self security.
Propaganda can be discovered anywhere. Even though propaganda has an imprint of a negative denotation, there's many examples that showcases it in a favorable way. Before skipping that ad, watch it, and see if propaganda can be taken out of it. As discovering propaganda through the current century, Twitter has been a huge contributor to spreading ideas and creating propaganda. Journalism, advertising, entertainment, education, the government, and activism carry propaganda on their shoulders.
References
American Historical Association. (2017). Defining Propaganda.
Retrieved from https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and membership/aha-history-and-archives/gi-roundtable-series/pamphlets/what-is-propaganda/defining-propaganda-i
A BullsEye View. Target Through the Years. Retrieved from
https://corporate.target.com/about/history/Target-through-the-years
Aviva, S. (26 July 2012). Target Releases New Same-Sex Wedding
Registry Ad.Retrieved from https://thinkprogress.org/target-releases-new-same-sex-wedding-registry-ad-9b4e15b93351/
Biased Liberal Listicles. Propaganda Report Daily. Retrieved from
https://propagandareportdaily.com/fake-news-awards-nomination-cnn-for-blatantly-biased-liberal-listicles-with-16-examples/
Christopher, B.(2018 February 1). White Supremacists Are Targeting
College Students ‘Like Never Before’. Huffpost. Retrieved from https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/white-supremacist-college-campus-propaganada_us_5a7317eee4b06fa61b4dfc47
Hillary, B.(2013 November 13). Lady Gaga's Russian promoter
fined for propaganda of homosexuality'. Entertainment. Retrieved from http://ew.com/article/2013/11/18/lady-gaga-russia-gay-propaganda/
John, H. (2015 September 24). How the American government is trying
to control what you think.The Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/09/24/the-new-propaganda-how-the-american-government-is-trying-to-control-what-you-think/?utm_term=.2ee6e35b7984
Johnny, B. (2018 January 4). Fake News Awards Nomination CNN for
Blatantly Biased Liberal Listicles. Propaganda Report Daily. Retrieved from https://propagandareportdaily.com/fake-news-awards-nomination-cnn-for-blatantly-biased-liberal-listicles-with-16-examples/
Susan, C. (2015 April 15). Why Dove's Choose Beautiful campaign
sparked a backlash. Fortune. Retrieved from http://fortune.com/2015/04/15/why-doves-choose-beautiful-campaign-sparked-a-backlash/
