Propaganda 1

Propaganda, The Mainstream Media, and Today’s events

Brian Morgan

Axia College

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Each individual has his or her own perception of what the word propaganda means, how

and why it is used, and how it might affect them. For this work I think it is necessary to first give

a standard definition for reference.

Propaganda - The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor, for the purpose of helping

or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person (Webster Online Dictionary, 2009).

Using that definition alone, one can start to see the potential uses for propaganda, both

positive and negative. The spreading of ideas and information for a particular purpose can apply

to almost anything; as influential as the mainstream media and as minute as a personal exchange

of words or ideas with another person or small group. The use of propaganda allows the

employer of this technique a great deal of power, by identifying when this technique is being

employed and understanding the underlying significance of its use one can properly manage its

effects. While using propaganda may have various benefits to government, corporate, and

religious entities; at the bottom of it all, propaganda is a basic tool of covert mind control. These

‘campaigns’ are structured to influence others unknowingly and can inspire feeling and thought

that would otherwise never come to be. The influencing of the attitudes, emotions, and opinions

of the people without knowledge or consent of this “perception management” occurring is

hazardous to society, and can cause long standing damage, consider the propaganda used in

World War II by Nazi Germany.

Propaganda can be as blatant as a swastika or as subtle as a joke (Delwiche, 2002).

There is no doubt that today is an age of information; the information, that is accessible

as a result of technology, has the quality of being dualistic. Information becomes slanted based

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on the context that it is used in; therefore the creators of propaganda can manipulate the facts to

fit their needs accordingly. The vast majority of the population gets their news and information

from mainstream sources such as movies, television networks, magazines, radio stations, and

newspapers.

The majority of all these outlets are owned and operated by a handful of huge

corporations. For example, Colombia Journal Review cites Time- Warner Company as owning

over 100 media outlets (2008). From cable icons CNN, HBO, TBS, Cartoon Network, Headline

News, and Bloomberg, to many popular magazines such as Fortune, Entertainment Weekly,

Business 2.0, Money, People Magazine, Time Magazine, Sports Illustrated, and the list goes on

to include AOL, Winamp, and MapQuest among many others. Same goes for News Corp,

Viacom, and Disney. This centralization of power of media is undermining the possibility of

having the free and open, aware and informed society that our fore-fathers envisioned.

The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the

general populace. It is their function to amuse, entertain, and inform, and to inculcate

individuals with the values, beliefs, and codes of behavior that will integrate them into

the institutional structures of the larger society. In a world of concentrated wealth and

major conflicts of class interest, to fulfill this role requires systematic propaganda

(Herman & Chomsky, 1994)

The relationship these master companies have with many sub-companies under their

command is pertinent in understanding the dynamic of propaganda. If one observes a channel

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closely, the advertising on that channel will be directed towards its affiliates. The company

stands to make more money if one goes to another sub-company owned by that corporation to

meet its ‘other’ needs. This is important in noting that many newspapers, movies, and television

news broadcasts all cover the same topics. Essentially the larger corporation shares the same

information within the subdivisions of that company.

The vast numbers of television news networks available make little impact on the variety

of information because they all stem from a limited number of parent companies. If there were

only one source for the information the public would know that there were no actual choices

available. By putting different logos and names to essentially the same company the illusion of

freedom and choice is born. With the shared conglomerate ownership, each outlet offers the

same perspective, no matter which source for information one picks. The individual is still faced

with the same “official” story of what happened and is often presented with the same stories

repeatedly. It is not important which option or channel is chosen because each choice is limited

to the same owners and producers. One cannot choose any possibility for mainstream media

because by nature the information is limited to the possibilities that are presented before them.

The following is an excerpt from a widely known retired military major specializing in

psychological operations. Military operations are a good place to start to understand the

complexity of what one is faced with when propaganda is in play.

Psychological Operations or PSYOP are planned operations to convey selected

information and indicators to audiences to influence their emotions, motives, objective

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reasoning, and ultimately the behavior of organizations, groups, and individuals. Used in

all aspects of war, it is a weapon whose effectiveness is limited only by the ingenuity of

the commander using it. Psychological operations may be defined broadly as the planned

use of communications to influence human attitudes and behavior ... to create in target

groups behavior, emotions, and attitudes that support the attainment of national

objectives. The form of communication can be as simple as spreading information

covertly by word of mouth or through any means of multimedia (Rouse, n.d.).

As understanding of propaganda increases the individual becomes exposed to a new way

of thinking. The threats of not understanding become clear, for instance psychological operations

and the mass media can be a combined force for psychological domination of the general

populace. Even the very word “government” breaks down into “govern-mental” or more simply

“govern the mind”. Each human being on this planet creates his or her individual reality from

the thoughts and observations held in the mind. Controlling and guiding the path of these

thoughts and observations is vital to maintaining a public opinion or group mentality that

supports, or is oblivious to a given agenda; whatever it may be.

Propaganda has been used throughout history to sway the opinion of the masses; and the

world of today is no exception. For example, take a look at war propaganda. All sides of war

spread propaganda to de-humanize the enemy and create an emotional detachment from what is,

in reality, cold blooded murder. Today, America uses the terms “terrorist” and “insurgent” in a

similar fashion as “sub-human” was used in Nazi Germany. These terms are then used to justify

in the public mind the torture and murder of individuals whom the establishment deems a

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“terrorist” or “insurgent”. Right now, the government has the authority to detain an individual

indefinitely merely by calling him or her a “terrorist”.

Most people in the world are detached intellectually and emotionally from the actions of

governments, corporations, and the elitists that comprise them. The concealment of motives in

producing and spreading propaganda is essential in maintaining the integrity of it. Public scrutiny

must not be included in the process or propaganda cannot be successful. Propaganda can

ultimately be the most beneficial and detrimental tool available to be used in manipulating

attitudes, emotions, and opinions of the people without their knowledge or consent.

In order to cohabitate with propaganda one must understand its complexity and

dynamics. Once this concept is grasped the individual will be able to comprehend when he or she

is being confronted with the practice of propaganda, thus enabling the understanding of the

source, motive, and intentions that are behind its creation and use. Every Individual is

responsible for decoding and analyzing his or her own reality. When this power is given away by

accepting or condemning information as truth or lies without proper investigation, undercover

mind control is born.

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Columbia Journalism Review (2008). Who Owns What: CJR's guide to what the major media

companies own. Retrieved July 25, 2009. From:

http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=timewarner

Delwiche, Aaron (2003) Why think about Propaganda, Propaganda Critic, (February 2003)

Retrieved July 10, 2009 from

www.propagandacritic.com/articles/intro.why.html

Herman, E.S. & Chomsky, N. (1994)

Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.  p. 1

Propaganda. (2009). In Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary.

Retrieved July 5, 2009, from

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda

Rouse, E.(n.d.) History of PSYOP Retrieved July 5, 2009 from

http://www.psywarrior.com/psyhist.html