What exactly is propaganda? The term is bandied about rather loosely at times.
If asked off the cuff, with no cheatin’, some punters, no doubt, have an answer on the tip of their tongue, speedily spouting something along the lines of it being the “official “ (but obviously misguided and lying) word put out to zee masses by some entity or institution. It also has to be spread on those who live in “other” parts of the world, never at home, where the observer has true, trusted sources of information. You know … shite be like this and where propaganda be at.
Source: Wikimedia
Source: Wikimedia
Source: China - Propaganda, Framing & Public Relations
Source / Credit: We Can Do It! | J. Howard Miller (1943)
Source: All About Canadian History…Except Not Really. More Like Bits And Pieces.
Source / Credit: 1950s Socialist Poster (India) by V.N. Shenoy O'key | Kamat's Potpourri
Of course! So it all depends then, and is relative.
It’s way easier and nicer to think that propaganda is stuff “other” folks get exposed to, in “their” country and language, but your sorry, street-savvy (if not eloquently educated), sophisticated derrière, is evidently exempt from such enlightenment, especially if you live in a “democracy” somewhere. Righto … that sounds on point!
Let’s dig a bit more on this.
Think green and recycle, lest we digress.
Some say that propaganda be, like, erhm, only "official" government communication to zee public which is designed to influence opinion. Whether true or false (or a blend), it’s always carefully selected for political effect. But in reality, it goes well beyond that.
It’s omnipresent and we are bombarded with it daily, in words, imagery and music, overtly and subliminally. You don’t always recognize it in advertising, government, politics, education, work and in entertainment. These topics shall all separately be touched upon in time, as with TSTDWYTKAD #0001 - The News … a fine area to start re considering just where much of your basic information comes from, thus framing your personal take on the world.
The term, and its first usage, stems from the Catholic Church (pure coink-e-dink, no doubt) circa 1622, as posted on Fierce Journalism at Sacred Congregation of Propaganda.
Source: Fierce Journalism (23-DEC-13)
Here’s a shortie on how this works from a more academic and clinical analysis with a few relevant examples.
Excellence in practice and how shit be working follows, with 10 minutes of ads to drive home the point. Y’all nonny donny need to be no linguistic rocket scientist neither, to understand what be going down.
And these are every-day consumer ads. What do you think happens with more important stuff ?
It shakes out like this, in the documentary PsyWar (2010) [1hr 39m]. A full transcript of the documentary below can be read here.
Psywar looks at things from a current day political perspective (albeit mostly Americentric), and also goes back in history to the work of Edward Bernays for advertising, bidni$$ and shaping the mind of the modern day consumer. It’s time well spent and the basic principles there are applied in all countries and society as a whole.
Source: Lionel Nation
There’s a lot more on this topic if you dig further on your own and don’t buy into this spin as presented thus far. We’re largely brainwashed about most of the stuff we think is true and beLIEve, until something may tip us off or sow a seed of doubt, and then hopefully spur us into looking further on that particular topic, if not more thereafter.
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Release: Not Alone EP | Hospital Records (UK) [NHS2379DD] (2015)
The Stuff (or Shit) They Don't Want You To Know About Department (aka TSTDWYTKAD)