Propaganda & Mass Persuasion: Bloody War

Thursday, February 16, 2006

Bloody War

In the "Blood, blood, blood" May 17th 1896 article from the New York World, there seems to be much protest against the war. There is a picture of a poster in the article that talks about brutal murders in Cuba done by the guerillas during the Spanish American war. There is an out right attack on the war in the article. We can easily see that the author is obviously against the war, this is evident by how the coverage was shaped. How the war is summed up or covered in this article is by portraying the war as costly, bloody, and needless. People are being butchered, "Blood in the fields blood on the doorsteps, blood, blood, blood" the author is using the travesties of war to state his view on the war. By pointing out the many horrors of the war the author can be very successful in swaying people against the war.

1 Comments:

Blogger A. Mattson said...

Yes and no. . . Our war with Spain did not begin until the spring of 1898. What is being described in these articles is the Spanish attempt to pacify the Cuban rebellion. The authors of these articles are expressing outrage at the Spanish tactics. They are using the sensational details to dramatize the situation in Cuba and to sell papers to a readership that loved these bloody portraits of Spanish atrocities. What many people argue is that sensational content like this helped to prepare the public for war with Spain. Your point that these articles would turn people against war is logical but emotionally these are articles that stir the passions, for justice, and for war.

2/20/2006 11:08 PM  

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