Ro Percy
Communications 416: Propaganda
Professor Renee Hobbs
Introduction
In our lives we will encounter a gross amount propaganda. We see propaganda in many different forms such as newspapers, advertising, entertainment, and so fourth. Although propaganda may present itself in different shapes and forms, they all are designed to be a line of communication that will convince, influence, or gear our minds towards a cause or distinct stance. It is insane that our daily lives are filled with many different conduits of media that are constantly influencing us. As we have evolved, we have been able to transform how we are gathering information to be point where it has become as easy as breathing. We open our phones or laptops and are instantaneously victims of propaganda. Propaganda personally affects my life in ways I haven’t really thought about until taking this course. I now deeply analyzing where it may emerge and what channels it can embody.
Advertising
In my own life, I have seen advertisements dominate the social media platforms I commonly use. Whether it is twitter, facebook, snapchat or instagram, I am immediately inviting propaganda into my phone. Since social media is used world wide, I have found it to be one of the main ways propaganda advertisements will try and reach people. A perfect example of how I encounter propaganda is through the phone application called snapchat. With snapchat I am able to connect with my friends using photos and videos. I can send my content to direct contacts or I can post them to “my story”, which allows all of my friends and connections to view what I post. Originally snapchat was designed to be a very personal and didn’t host advertisements. As the application grew extremely popular the snapchat market drastically changed. Advertisements were placed in between the stories of your contacts. For example, I would swipe through my bestfriends content and an advertisement about pancakes would be mixed in the middle. Snapchat also added a new to connect all snapchat users to a central information center. In the information center, corporations or companies would have the ability to push different articles and global stories to all snapchat users. Caroline Jack explains that propaganda can emerge through advertisements and can also be referred to as publicly, but often that judgment is left in the eye of the beholder (p.7, 2017).
In my central information center on snapchat, an advertisement for a specific brand of condoms posted a series of facts about sexaully transmited diseases and infections. The twist in regards to the advertisement is that it requires the viewers to interact, by playing a game of true or false. In one of the snapchat advertisements they shared a fact that “Half of adults will get at least one STI by the age of 25.” You would then find out this fact is true and it would change your view about STIs and the condoms you currently use. This form of advertisement is unique in the sense that it is interactive, but it also slowly is gearing you towards buying the specific brand of condom. In this instance, I view this as propaganda due to the fact it takes you through multiple true and false questions to shape your opinions and feelings. Once that is completed you will be more inclined to buy the specific brand of condom advertised.
Entertainment
Through entertainment we are connected to a variety of stories. These stories can feature many different concepts and ideas. These ideas can actually be a form of propaganda that are intertwined into the TV shows, movies, comics, etc that we are exposed to. A very popular TV show that I watch every Saturday night is Saturday Night Live (SNL). In SNL they create many different skits about issues and topics that are circling throughout our society today. With the past election they featured many different skits about the candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. In the heat of the presidential debates they would use the foundation of these debates in order to create their own comical versions. In all of the SNL debates they would insinuate that Hillary was the sole victor of each debate, when in fact these debates didn’t have a clear winner. Aside from that, these debates aren’t actually “debates”because they don’t focus on argumentation. Instead they are designed to explain the platforms of the candidates and their ideas for our country. This is a form of propaganda as it pushed the political agenda of SNL. Although a huge amount of humor is constructed into all skits, they are still able to push their political agenda and place a “winner” into our heads.
In this instance we are witnessing satire. “Satire uses exaggeration, irony, and absurdity to amuse the audience, while calling attention to, and critiquing perceived wrongdoings (Jack,p.11, 2017)”. This is a perfect embodiment of what SNL was able to accomplish by creating these skits. They are able to draw attention to the Donald Trump's “wrongdoings” and thus blast that image out to society in creative way. Satire is used in many instances throughout daily life to broadcast messages and forms propaganda. As a huge fan of SNL, I am able to witness this hands on throughout a weekly basis.
Government and Politics
The government can be one of the heaviest users of propaganda as they have different agendas and policies they need to push. As a political science student, in my daily life I study and analyze different forms of governments, both domestic and internationally. As even just a general college student, I have been exposed to different forms of propaganda that are designed to solidify a certain stance that all college students should have. One of these examples is the notion of obtaining free college. This is a topic that is very pertinent in our government and how they handle education policy.
Although this is a highly debated issue and the government as a whole isn’t in consensus, for those who try to push college students and their parents into wanting free college, they constantly remind us of our toppling student debt. By hitting us where it hurts, they are able to push an agenda towards the way we view education and how much it should cost. Politicians will use their propaganda, rhetoric and our crippling debt in order push us to a solid stance on tuition.
📷
Journalism and Public Relations
One of the first few things I do when I wake up is check the news on my phone, CNN and FOX. First I check CNN and read through most of their posts and articles. As I read through CNN I typically see a very common trend with how the articles are written. The reporter and journalists, although factual, have underlying tones in the articles they write or report out. The same exact thing can be said with the articles I read on FOX news. Each article takes a different approach to the issues that are going on and have certain ‘call to actions’ that are aligned with different agendas.
With the recent shooting that occured in Florida, CNN and FOX both took two approaches on how they will share the tragic story. CNN focused on calling out the president and forcing him to make stronger policies that would put more restrictions on access to guns. FOX wanted to call out the democrats that want the president to make a stance and have them instead give the families affected time to grieve before they push their agendas. Both sources have their facts correct, but in a way use their angles as propaganda in order to create an opinion on what should happen next in terms of gun control and the right to bear arms.
This in turn creates strong opinions and divisions as the news is where people gather information to develop their stances. “Most people don’t really understand how today’s information cycle really works. Many have no idea of how much of their general worldwide view is influenced by the way news is generated online. What begins online ends offline (Holiday, 2012)”. This is an important statement as it allows us to see how the continued fabrication of different worldviews. When I wake up everyday and look at two different news sources, I am basically living the life of two different people and how they perceive the world. Many of the information that is obtained from online is then implemented into our daily lives. The types of products we will buy, how we will vote, or what we might tweet out is how we are taking that online information and essentially transforming it to offline information.
Advocacy
In my life I have always found myself highly involved in social justice and promoting issues that are prevalent in today's society. I have been a part of the #blacklivematter movement since it came out. As I learn about propaganda, I realize that not all propaganda is bad. The issue of police brutality is real and affects millions of Africans Americans. As an advocate and a member of the movement, I have produced many forms of propaganda in order to push people into believing what I stand for. My propaganda looks to tap into the pathos of the people I am trying to convince in order to make them empathize with what the black community is going through. I will use emotional visuals of the fallen victims like Trayvon Martin. I will sometimes draft poetry in order to sway the stance of all those who listen.
“The internet has become a key medium for dissemination propaganda in all forms and flavors and, like radio, it routinely conflates entertainment, information and persuasion (Hobbs & McGee, p.57, 2014)”. This quote speaks life into the #blacklivesmatter movement as the internet was one of the main platforms for spreading the messages of the organization. A common misconception in regards to the movement, is that every rioting black person who screams out “black lives matter” is representing the movement. The organization's home is online and that is the way they have spread their content. By using twitter, facebook, and even their own personal website they have been able to mobilize believers, share their messages, and bring awareness to a systemic issue.
blacklivesmatter.com
Education
Education is a powerful tool in the life of many people. In my daily life, I feel as if I sometimes am taught information in classes that are skewed in order to make me think a particular way. In highschool I was in a very liberal environment and everything I was taught, even math, was the embodiment of liberal views. In classes I felt my emotions pushed in certain places in order to make a template liberal. For example, in my algebra class all the worded questions were written in a way to make believe in certain liberal aspects such as less regulation and lower taxes. This propaganda shaped the way I carried my thoughts and perspective towards issues going on in the world.
Hobbs and McGee, say that education is a great tool against propaganda (p.59, 2014)”. Although I can believe that, I also want to challenge the fact it can be used to manipulate children going through certain education systems. In mine and many other circumstances we have found those we greater power and knowledge to use education in the opposite way. Although we are learning information that will benefit the quality of our lives, we are pushed an agenda very early on. I can see where education can combat the issues but only if done correctly. In my daily life I see people abusing their positions to manipulate students into believing whatever they place in front of them.
Conclusion
In conclusion, I have taken you through many parts of my daily life. I have explained where in propaganda lives, whether it is through my social media accounts or where I get my local news. I have given you taste of my passion for social justice and how that connects to the spread of propaganda along with some peripheral views of my educational background and a hint for my love of satire. As you can see, propaganda is embedded into my life and sometimes still has the ability to influence my decisions. As a political science student, I’ve been learning how to absorb information and only take the facts without letting the propaganda affect my emotions and decision making.
Reference Page
Hobbs, R. & McGee, S. (2014). Teaching about propaganda: An examination of the historical roots of media literacy. Journal of Media Literacy Education 6(2), 56 – 67.
Holiday, Ryan (2012). Trust Me, I’m Lying. Part I. New York: Pearson.
Jack, Caroline (2017). Lexicon of Lies: Terms for Problematic Information. New York: Data and Society.
