• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Propaganda techniques
Propagandists use a variety of 
propaganda techniques
to influence opinions and to avoid thetruth. Often these techniques rely on some element of censorship or manipulation, either omitting significant information or distorting it. They are indistinguishable except in degreefrom the
persuasion techniques
employed in social, religious and commercial affairs.Recently persuasion technologyhas come into common use, in all styles fromdigital image alterationto persuasive presentationand persistent telemarketingbased onrepetition, making these techniques impossible to avoid.
 
Table of contents
 
[hide]
 1 Rhetorical techniques 
 
2 Other techniques/terms 
 
3 Logical Fallacies 
 
3.1 References on Logical Fallacies 
 
4 Persuasion technology arms races 
 
5 Recommended Books 6 External links 
Rhetorical techniques
During the period between World Wars I and II, the now-defunctInstitute for PropagandaAnalysis(IPA) developed a list of common rhetorical techniques used for propaganda purposes. Their list included the following:
•
 
 bandwagon 
Bandwagon
"You're either with us, or against us" appeals to an audience to join a ground swell of publicopinion and activity because everybody else is joining. The "bandwagon" technique appealsto feelings of loyalty and nationalism, as well as the desire to be on the winning side. Thetechnique tends to obscure the ethics of the activity at the expense of victory: better to belongto the winning side than be too concerned with the rightness of the means to achieve it.The "4 out of 5 doctors recommend..." slogan uses both the bandwagon technique and theargument to authority to promote an action. (The two techniques are commonly found linked.)In psychographics terminology, the bandwagon technique appeals most strongly to the groupcalled belongers, those who make decisions because that's what everyone else is doing.In the post-9/11world, public figures in the U.S. find it difficult to express even mildcriticism of theBush administration's foreign policies -- so powerful is the bandwagon
 
mentality that seeks to assert that everyone must unite in the fight againstterrorism, theaxis of evil, the makers of weapons of mass destruction, and those against freedom. Obscured in this powerful propaganda technique are the facts that, for example, the U.S. hasmore weapons of mass destruction than any other nation, and is the world's largest armsdealer.As the "world's most powerful nation," the U.S. has tremendous bandwagon appeal. Lurking behind the bandwagon technique is the fear of losing, and the threat of reprisals.
•
 
euphemisms 
Euphemisms
Euphemisms
are used to make something not sound as bad as it is.
Examples
•
 
passed away
: died
•
 
went to heaven
: died (often used with children, as in "Grandmawent to heaven.")
•
 
fatal injury
: death
•
 
fatality
: dead/killed person
•
 
casualties
: deaths and injuries
•
 
collateral damage
: damage, death, injury to non-combatants andtheir propertySee alsodoublespeak .
•
 
fear  
Fear
Fear
is one of the most primordial human emotions and therefore lends itself to effective use by propagandists. Human beings can do great and terrible things when motivated by fear. Fear is essentially the survival instinct kicking in: "I'd better watch out because you can harm me."
 
Fear being fundamentally irrational, it is one of the most widely used techniques used by propagandists."When a propagandist warns members of [his/her] audience that disaster will result if [it does]not follow a particular course of action, [he/she] is using the fear appeal," observes thePropaganda Critic. "By playing on the audience's deep-seated fears, practitioners of thistechnique hope to redirect attention away from the merits of a particular proposal and towardsteps that can be taken to reduce the fear."Specific types of fears include xenophobia (fear of foreigners), fear of terrorism, crime,economic hardship, ecological disaster, disease, overpopulation, invasion of privacy, or discrimination. With such a broad spectrum of fear, the propagandizer can pick relevant phobias and incorporate them into his/her messages. The power of this propaganda techniquecan be multiplied when it is exploited in conjunction with uncertainty and doubt, that is, wheninformation at hand is not sufficient enough to completely rule out the cause of the fear. Inorder to instill
 fear, uncertainty and doubt 
, propagandists exploit general ignorance. Pushed toits extremes, this combination can lead toconspiracy theories.An example of this technique is the use of the as yet unsubstantiated claim that Iraq posessesweapons of mass destructionin order to justify the US lead invasion of Iraq."One facet of emotional control focuses on the excessive use of fear. Fear of the outside world(flying, opening mail, large crowds and tall buildings) and fear of enemies (evil-doers
 
). Weare asked to stay on full alert, while carrying on with life as usual. While knowledge is power,the withholding of information exacerbates this fear, as we walk through our days in a generalsense of impending doom and distrust of those who look different or dress different from us.Total paranoia."[1] 
•
 
"This is an administration that will not talk about how we gather intelligence, how we know what we're going to do, nor what our  plans are. When we move, we will communicate with you in anappropriate manner. We're at war. There has been an act of war declared upon America by terrorists, and we will respondaccordingly. And I appreciate very much the American peopleunderstanding that. As we plan, as we put our strategy into action,we will let you know when we think it's appropriate - not only to protect the lives of our servicemen and women, but to make sureour coalition has had proper time to be noticed, as well. But we'regoing to act." --PresidentGeorge W. Bush,15 September 2001.
•
 
"President George W. Bush said Sunday he is confident the nationwill rebound from this week's terrorist attacks, and he urgedAmericans to go back to work on Monday knowing their government is determined to 'rid the world of evil-doers.'" --
CNN 
,16 September 2001."I think America needs to know that we in government are on alert; that we recognizelife around the White House or around the Congress is not normal, or is not the way itused to be, because we're very aware that people have conducted an act of war on our 
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...