Allison Mao Week 10: Dangers of Propaganda
Propaganda: “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.” Propaganda has been used many times throughout history to manipulate the general public into siding with the one spreading the propaganda, whether it be a movement to condemn a government or encourage citizens to take action for the benefit of the nation.
A good example of the effectiveness of propaganda is when it is used heavily during wars. For instance, after the Boston Massacre on March 5, 1770, Paul Revere made an engraving of the instance (shown below).
Simply observing the picture paints a vivid image of what transpired that day. The British, in their red uniforms, shoot at the unarmed Americans, of which a few already lie on the ground, dead. The British’s smug expressions contrast sharply with the scared expressions of the Americans.
Who is at fault here?
It’s clear that this image paints the British as the antagonist brutes, willing to hurt innocent, helpless victims. However, what really happened was not the seemingly unprovoked attack displayed in the image. The British soldiers were actually attacked by American citizens first who threw snowballs, stones, and sticks and the soldiers. Only after this attack did the British fire on the crowd.
Since the British had been painted as the aggressors by the propaganda, it was able to sway the Americans to believe that it would not be right to be subjected to the rule of the British who were willing to kill their fellow Americans. The propaganda painting the British at fault made it sensible for Americans to not want to support a group depicted to be so violent throughout the town.
Although this particular piece of propaganda spreads its message through the use of visual imagery rather than words, it depicts the two parties so that they are distinguishable. You could not argue that the people wearing red were not British because of how they are seen with those outfits in real life. Similar to the effects of languages, familiar images also allow us to communicate with one another.
An example of propaganda that uses both an image and text is this recruitment poster (shown below).
Although the US Navy Submarine Service recorded the highest casualty percentage of the American forces during WWII (at a 20% death rate), this poster depicts a man and a woman smiling fondly at each other. The post makes it seem as though joining the Submarine Service would be something to be proud of; something that could result in admiring the decision happily with a spouse. This poster does not mention the dangers of the occupation at all, effectively making the job seem more appealing.
Propaganda can be deceptive and elicit a variety of emotions within the viewers. Whether spurring the citizens up to fight or promoting an unappealing position by making it seem better than it actually is, propaganda is effective at manipulating the audience.
Hi Allison! This blog post serves as an interesting warning that has helped make me more aware of how propaganda is used to shift people’s perspectives on certain issues. By beginning the blog with a definition of what “propaganda” actually means, you created an attention-grabbing hook for the introduction while also providing extra context for later paragraphs. Though I knew that propaganda is generally used to misrepresent situations in order to control the opinions of a target audience, I could not easily come up with an example of how it was used in America beyond the anti-Russian ideas that the American government propagated during the Cold War; yet, this blog post comes up with multiple other instances of American leaders spreading propaganda, which has helped deepen my understanding of the history of propaganda in America. The detailed analysis of Paul Revere’s engraving helped convey how effective propaganda is in swaying the population, and even more importantly, how propaganda was necessary to the development of America as an independent nation. This raises some questions about whether propaganda can be considered morally acceptable for a government to spread—if used correctly, it can make a country stronger and build a better sense of community within a nation, but if overdone, it can be harmful to citizens’ view of their government. Another viewpoint regarding propaganda is that it is unethical for an authority to force biased media onto the public. Regardless, propaganda is an issue that will likely continue to persist and pose threats to the free thought process of the American people.
ReplyDeleteHi Allison! I found your discussion on propaganda to be very interesting, especially considering last semester’s focus on rhetorical analysis. It can be argued that propaganda is the most explicit and powerful demonstration of rhetorical choices being used to serve a purpose. Through visual and textual language, propaganda posters are extremely effective in appealing to the general public, unifying them often by villainizing an external entity or glorifying a leader. I found the examples you provided strong in thoroughly displaying the range of propaganda. The poster seeking to enlist young Americans into the U.S. Navy Submarine Service caters to the target audience’s desires for affection and social status. The vivid depiction of a seemingly relatable experience resonates with the audience’s emotions. I remember learning a lot about propaganda in last year’s European History class. Propaganda posters contained simplistic messages to guide the nation toward supporting its leader. This often led to the rise of totalitarian states, in which personal liberties were forfeited for nationalist sentiment and praise of a single leader. I appreciate that you noted propaganda was manipulative, as it truly has enabled some of the worst actions by humans. With propaganda’s dark history, the world should seek to move forward, letting each person make their own informed decisions instead of being influenced by emotions, fear, and repetition.
ReplyDeleteHi Allison! I found your analysis of the effects of propaganda and your discussion of its uses through history to be extremely intriguing. I especially appreciated how you included various examples from different eras to both understand the evolution of propaganda and see it in action many years apart. While reading your blog, I noticed that you provided a detailed analysis of how each type of propaganda displayed is effective. I was surprised to learn how the Revolutionary War propaganda was "twisted" in a way that made it seem as if the Americans were being attacked. Of course, the way a scene is depicted will vary greatly and will always depend on the perceived audience.
ReplyDeleteI also wanted to discuss how the impact of propaganda will evolve in our current digital aid. I would not be surprised to learn that the majority of propaganda today is shared through social media and the internet as opposed to the print forms that you mentioned in your blog. With sharing the propaganda online, an option also presents itself to add audio to the publication. I wonder how effective this will be and if it could be even more effective than text. Audio can share a powerful message and tone conveyed through a speech or audio recording could hold more individual weight than anything on the propaganda poster itself. Additionally, the digital age allows this to be shared to a more specific and a much larger audience than print publications. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in the future.
Regardless, thank you for sharing this blog as it presents a topic that was very interesting and relevant to discuss. As we are currently discussing the Red Scare in class, I am interested to learn how propaganda was used in this time period to both instill a wide range of emotions, including both fear and strength, in the American people.
Hi Allison,
ReplyDeleteYour blog was quite informative and raises awareness of how propaganda’s main intention is to convince people of a specific opinion or idea towards another. Propaganda is present today in so many places, and one of the most prominent places is within governmental institutions. The example you discussed which was the painting by Paul Revere surely makes it seem like the British had initially attacked first, yet it was actually the Americans that provoked them. This engraving is extremely misleading and of course its purpose is to fool the American public into believing the British have been causing violence. And while there were issues with both the British and Americans in releasing propaganda, it does not justify the misleading propaganda. The second example you provided was even more interesting, as it seems to glorify the service of the US Navy while completely ignoring the dangers of serving in the Navy. These types of posters can trick someone into joining without providing the appropriate information. There have been so many uses of propaganda, and in history class, there was a lesson dedicated to how propaganda had been used in the United States, especially during wartime. Propaganda is still present today, especially in government, as I have seen so many arguments in party politics as the different parties constantly blame each other and always try to make one party seem worse than the other. Propaganda can easily mislead anyone and can create false opinions, all being extremely dangerous. It is always important to remember to fact check any information that seems suspicious.