Propaganda What is propaganda? The goal of propaganda is to spread ideas that further a cause: political, commercial, religious or civil. It is used to manipulate the readers' or viewers' reason and emotion; to persuade you to believe in something or someone, buy an item or vote a certain way

Propaganda There are some common techniques that we see in forms of propaganda...

Name Calling Consists of attaching a negative label to a person or a thing. People often do this when trying to avoid supporting their own opinion with facts. Rather than explain what they believe in, they may try to tear their opponent down. Think of an example.

Name Calling Examples: Calling all Middle Eastern people terrorists. There is no evidence to support this and is just giving a group a bad name. Rooting against a sports team instead of cheering for your own.

Name Calling

Glittering Generalities Uses “glad” positive sounding words that have little or no real meaning. These words are used in general statements that cannot be proved or disproved. "We believe in, fight for, live by virtue words about which we have deep-set ideas. Such words include civilization, Christianity, good, proper, right, democracy, patriotism, motherhood, fatherhood, science, medicine, health, and love.” Each may mean something different to a different person—who automatically assumes it means the same thing for everyone else.

Glittering Generalities The Institute for Propaganda Analysis suggests that you ask yourself what a particular word really means and leave that word out of the advertisement or persuasion and then think about how you feel.

Glittering Generalities Examples: “Pure, fresh, mountain spring water. Bottled especially for you in Utah from only our purest mountain springs.”...How do you know these springs are the purest? What makes Utah water better than any other state?

Glittering Generalities

Transfer An attempt is made to transfer the prestige of a positive symbol to a person or an idea.

Transfer Example: Using an American flag as a backdrop for a political event makes it look like the event is patriotic and in the best interest of the US. A commercial for a medicine may show a person in a lab coat, to make them look more scientific and reliable. Has to do with SYMBOLS most of the time.

Transfer

False Analogy In this technique, two things that may or may not really be similar are portrayed as being similar. You must ask yourself if the two are truly similar. There is usually not enough evidence to support a comparison.

False Analogy Examples: Most extremists follow Islam. Therefore, Islam is religion that propagates extremism. You would be the perfect candidate for the job but you are a former felon, and according to records almost 80% of all former felons relapse to their old ways.

False Analogy

Plain Folks The “plain folks” approach convinces us by depicting ordinary looking people doing ordinary activities. The propaganda institute suggests when a politician does this, to separate their personality from their views and facts.

Plain Folks Example: The president wearing jeans and being at a baseball game makes him look like a “normal” person. Infomercials show average looking people using their product and “if they can do it, so can you.”

Plain Folks

Testimonial When “big name” personalities are used to endorse a product. You might ask yourself what the celebrity actually knows about the product.

Testimonial When “big name” personalities are used to endorse a product. You might ask yourself what the celebrity actually knows about the product.

Testimonial

Card Stacking This term comes from stacking a deck of cards in your favor. Card stacking is used to slant a message. Key words or unfavorable statistics may be omitted in an ad, leaving “half truths.” Sometimes called selective omission. How to avoid this? Find more information before making a decision.

Card Stacking Example: A food may be low in sugar, but they don't tell you that it is high in fat. A politician advertises the positive things they have done and omit the mistakes.

Bandwagon This approach encourages you to think that because everyone else is doing something, you should do it too, or you'll be left out. “Keeping up with the Joneses”

Bandwagon Examples: In sports, when people start rooting for a popular, winning team, others might say they jumped on the bandwagon. If everybody you know is upgrading to a 50” flat screen TV, you want one too.

Bandwagon Propaganda techniques be used in good ways sometimes.

Either/or fallacy Also called “black and white” thinking because only two choices are given. You are either for or against something with no middle ground. It is used to polarize issues and give no gray area.

Either/or fallacy Example: A politician might say you're either For America or Against America, even if you don't agree on everything the country does.

Either/or fallacy

Faulty Cause & Effect Suggests that because B follows A, A must cause B. Just because 2 sets of events are related, does not mean they caused each other.

Faulty Cause & Effect Example: Since Obama has been in office, global warming seems to have gotten worse.