Propaganda

note: This information is from Luc Steinberg's blog post "Infographic: Beyond Fake News – 10 Types of Misleading News Links to an external site.," (26 July 2017) for EAVI Links to an external site. and was accessed on 15 July 2020.   

About Propaganda

Propaganda Links to an external site. is information that is spread to further a cause, idea or to do damage to a cause or idea. It is not objective. Propaganda, advertising Links to an external site. and also public relations share similar traits by appealing the audience’s emotions.

It is important to remember that while the term propaganda most certainly has a negative connotation, it can also be beneficial. For some great examples of how propaganda can be beneficial or harmful, check out Mind Over Media Links to an external site., a crowdsourced project from the Media Education Lab at the University of Rhode Island, where users upload examples of propaganda, rate it on a level of negative or positive, interpret its message and discuss how it operates.

Examples

The Vote Leave Campaign

This map from the Brexit referendum’s Vote Leave Campaign Links to an external site. uses fear and makes some interesting choices. It shows the countries that may potentially join the EU in the near future and plays on British fears of increased immigration. Note, however, that the only countries that are named are Iraq and Syria. This is done in order to emphasise their proximity to Turkey. Is it suggesting that if the EU accepts Turkey as a member state then Iraq and Syria will follow? The map is cropped from this larger pdf pamphlet Links to an external site..

Nigel Farage of UKIP used anti-migrant propaganda in the 2016 UK Referendum:

 

Anti-Macron propaganda

Sputnik, a Russian news outlet, published many unfounded claims in different languages about Emmanuel Macron in the lead up to the French elections in 2017. Are they propaganda, fake news, partisan, conspiracy theories… or all of the above? What does Sputnik have against Macron? See here Links to an external site. and here Links to an external site. for the images.

 

Video: “Important”

This video Links to an external site.from director, Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Avengers) was released ahead of the US election, as part of a campaign called Save the Day Links to an external site., which was ostensibly about to convincing Americans to vote. The production uses a mix of celebrity testimonials and plain folks appeal Links to an external site. techniques but also uses the anti-marketing Links to an external site. technique. It does this by exercising self-awareness and sarcastically commenting on their own use of the testimonial technique to appeal to the audience. Naturally, there is an ad made in response Links to an external site., which utilised plain folks appeal.

 

Equal Pay day 2017

This ad was part of Equal Pay Day’s 2017 campaign in Belgium. Equal Pay Day is concerned with the pay gap between men and women and the campaign suggests that women have to start working 10 years sooner in order to earn as much as men in their lifetimes. Watch it here in English Links to an external site. with subtitles in most European languages.