Propaganda

What is Propaganda?

The term is thrown about frequently these days.  Infotainment channels, from CNN to Fox spew talking points and repeated stories at us 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  Defined by Merriam-Websters as "ideas or statements that are often false or exaggerated and that are spread in order to help a cause, a political leader, a government, etc," it is a subtle art form to which many Americans are easily susceptible in our modern media-saturated environment.

But how does it manifest?  How do we recognize it?  How much of it has already tainted our national discourse and how do we see through it to the actual facts?  To do this, we must briefly examine the methods of its greatest designer.

Joseph Goebbels, the Nazi Minister of Public Enlightenment outlined several principles in what it is and supposed to do.  Let's examine a selection of it below and see where we stand.

Propaganda must be planned and executed by only one authority & Propagandist must have access to intelligence concerning events and public opinion.  In our case, rather than a Totalitarian State, we have many, many authorities making many many statements, day-in-day out.  We can see from this statement that it's imperative for a well-informed citizen to get their information from multiple sources, but considering that Fox News is rated as the most-watched information source on TV, it could easily be argued that it fits the mold of propagandist best in our nation.

The propaganda consequences of an action must be considered in planning that action and it must affect the enemy's policy and action.  Take, for example, the outcome of the 2000 Election.  With results too close to call, Fox was the first and only network to call it for Bush.  They hammered the airwaves with their own results, contrary to the facts, and eventually forced public opinion towards Bush's direction so completely that the Supreme Court itself took the unprecedented move of deciding the election for us.  By sticking to their chosen candidate, Fox itself determined public policy.

To be perceived, propaganda must evoke the interest of an audience and must be transmitted through an attention-getting communications medium.  Unlike the 1930's, when radio and newspapers and posters dominated the media scene, our current culture has TV and the unprecedented power of the Internet, bringing vast amounts of information to our fingertips with very little effort on the consumers' part.  The ease of receiving propaganda and mistaking it for fact cannot be underestimated.

Credibility alone must determine whether propaganda output should be true or false.  "Take our word for it".  Take, for example, the reaction on Fox during the 2012 election.  So sure were they in their own narrative spin that when the results didn't actually bear out, they attacked their own number crunchers' integrity.  Time after time, Regressive narratives are proven factually false, and yet they continue to push the same narrative.

Propaganda must be carefully timed and on the home front must create an optimum anxiety level while diminishing the impact of frustration.  Did anybody else notice that nearly every time Bush was in political hot water, suddenly his administration would issue another terror alert?  Dan Rather certainly did.  It inevitably shifted attention away from the Administration, keeping the population at home constantly off-balance.  Fear-mongering is a hallmark to watch out for -- especially when it makes sure that the population is distracted from the real problems facing them.    

Declassified, operational information must be available to implement a propaganda campaign and must prevent the raising of false hopes which can be blasted by future events..  In other words, the best lies are mixed with truth and the lies must not be vulnerable when the facts refute them.  The more facts can be obscured and remixed, the more credible the propaganda seems.  Often, keeping the messenger in the dark can ensure that the messenger delivers a message they truly believe, even when it turns out to be blatantly untrue.  

Propaganda must label events and people with distinctive phrases or slogans.  "Support our troops."  "Freedom isn't free."  Bill Maher wasn't wrong with his assessment of sloganeering.  Slogans are catchy and are increasingly being used instead of logic, reason and factual critical assessment.  I continue to deal with this in my dealings with Regressives, who insist on parroting propaganda even when confronted with evidence that directly contradicts the slogans they repeat.

Propaganda must facilitate the displacement of aggression by specifying the targets for hatred.  Ascribing to one's enemies one's own faults, plus the usual tactic of scapegoating fall under this category.  Consider the renewed focus on the Right towards blaming the President whenever the repercussions of the Right's own policies are brought up.  Also consider the rampant Xenophobic rhetoric and policies promoted by Regressive governors.  Blaming outsiders is a classic method of promoting a Right-Wing agenda.

Propaganda cannot immediately affect strong counter-tendencies; instead it must offer some form of action or diversion, or both.must prevent the raising of false hopes which can be blasted by future events.  In other words, when propaganda is confronted with factual evidence that refutes it, it invariably will change the subject to something "safer", where these is less evidence to defend against.  The GOP's obsession with the tragedy at Benghazi is a perfect example of this.  You'll notice that they'll invariably go back to that when all their other talking points fail.  

Now, this isn't to say that propaganda is solely used by the Right.  Its methods appear from all corners today.  From Left and Right to Advertising to the handbooks given out on the first day of a new job, propaganda is everywhere in our nation today.  It is imperative to all of us who still love our Democratic Republic to check our sources, to do our research and to be truly well-informed via multiple credible sources.   Then, and only then, will we be in a position to determine the best course of action for ourselves and our nation's future.  

If we fail in that responsibility, then we truly are lambs to the slaughter.