1. Whose voice guides your choice?
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002
Propaganda techniques in the media

2. How do you decide who is the best candidate…
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002

3. or which is the best toothpaste ?
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002

4. Looking for facts to back up your choice is an excellent idea, but find out who is presenting those facts.
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002

5. Are they facts at all, or is the advertiser using propaganda techniques to persuade you?
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002

6. What are Propaganda techniques?
Propaganda is designed to persuade.
Its purpose is to influence your opinions, emotions, attitudes, or behavior.
It seeks to “guide your choice.”

7. Who uses Propaganda?
Military
Media
Advertisers
Politicians
You and I

8. What are some of the techniques used to persuade us?
Bandwagon
Name-Calling
Testimonial
Glittering Generality
Plain-Folks Appeal
Transfer
Faulty Reasoning
Fear
Red Herring
Card-Stacking

9. Bandwagon Everybody is doing this.
If you want to fit in, you need to “jump on the bandwagon” and do it too.
The implication is that you must JOIN in to FIT in.
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002

10. If the whole world uses this VISA card, you must need one too.
Bank of the World Visa Card-
You can use it from Tennessee to Timbuktu-
anywhere you travel in whole wide world !!
Sign up today at
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002
For example:
If the whole world uses this VISA card, you must need one too.

11. Name-calling
A negative word or feeling is attached to an idea, product, or person.
If that word or feeling goes along with that person or idea, the implication is that we shouldn’t be interested in it.

12. For example: Do we want a mayor who will leave us in debt?
Spending grew 100%
under Mayor Moneybags!
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002

13. Testimonial A famous person endorses an idea, a product, a candidate.
If someone famous uses this product, believes this idea, or supports this candidate, so should we.

14. Milly the Model asks, “Got Milk?”
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002
For example:
If we drink milk we will all be as famous as Milly the model.

15. Glittering Generality
A commonly admired virtue is used to inspire positive feelings for a person, idea, or product.
Words like truth, democracy, beauty, love and timeless are examples of those general terms.

16. If you want to be brighter, you’ll support Bill Brite.
Look on the bright side!
Vote for Bill Brite !
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002
For example:
If you want to be brighter, you’ll support Bill Brite.

17. For example:
What feelings are inspired by the words “true love”? If you wear this cologne will someone fall in love with you?
True Love
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002

18. Plain-Folks Appeal
This idea, product, or person is associated with normal, everyday people and activities.

19. For Example: Vote for Smith
We want a Jim Smith, a mayor who supports the regular American worker.
Vote for Smith
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002

20. Transfer
Symbols, quotes, or images of famous people are used to convey a message.
The message may not necessarily be associated with them.

21. Celebrate the American Way this 4th of July-
Eat at Joe’s
Joe’s Barbeque
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002
For example:
Joe uses symbols of America to tie his restaurant to American values for Independence Day.

22. Faulty Reasoning
Factual supporting details are used though they do not support the conclusion. It works like this:
Christians believe in God.
Muslims believe in God.
Christians are Muslims.

23. For example:
Does this mean that teachers need medication to keep their cool during the school day ?
More teachers recommend Calm-Me to help them make it through the day
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002

24. Fear Our fears are displayed.
Ideas, candidates, or products are shown to put our fears to rest.

25. Guard against Identity theft
Use Safety Ware
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002
For example:
If you use Safety Ware it will people from stealing your identity-or will it?

26. Red Herring
Presenting data or issues that, while compelling, are irrelevant to the argument at hand, and then claiming that it validates the argument.
For instance, I will say America is a great country so you should buy my beer.

27. Card-Stacking
Involves only presenting information that is positive to an idea or proposal and omitting information against it.
Although the majority of information presented by the card stacking approach is true, it is dangerous because it omits important information.

28. Here’s an example of card-stacking:
A lot of people who smoke have lived to be over 90 years old.
People who smoke say that having a cigarette calms them.
The sale of cigarettes generates millions of tax dollars for the government.
What’s wrong with these statements?

29. How do we make sure that we are making informed choices,
Clipart-Microsoft Office XP 2002
instead of allowing others to sway us in our decision-making?

30. We make our own choices when …
we read and listen to reliable sources,
we watch for combinations of truths and lies,
we check for hidden messages,
we watch for use of propaganda techniques,

31. and, most importantly,
educationservice
when we seek out our own facts from reliable sources and listen to our own voices.