When Will The Band Wagon Stop?

"Everybody is doing it" (pg. 222)

Reaction: Is a phrase that nobody should use to try and convince a person of joining something or participating in something. It's called a free will, a person can do what he or she likes to do for the most part. I myself have strayed far from the path of social norms, to the degree that I'm a normal human being, I just don't give into things that everyone else feels the need to dive right in to. It's a shame that industries force themselves upon people to get them to buy their product, take for instance cigarette ads. They have some of the most pointless advertisments, but somehow they seem to sucker in people, and these people in my opinion are ruining themselves. The picture above implies that with smoking you have a better chance to be intimate with a lady, clearly this is not a true implication. A person normally likes you for many other reasons. The saying "everybody's doing it", could easily be used to harness in a teenager or young adult.

"All the artifices of flattery are used to harness fears and hatreds,
prejudices and biases, convictions and ideals common to the group; thus emotion
is made to push and pull the group on to the band wagon"

Reaction: Smoking companies know exactly what to do with suckering in some kids, so thats why people with good hearts come up with websites like this http://www.thetruth.com/ to help children and other people.

How Can We Detect Propaganda?

According to (Doob, Leonard, p217)

The reason why propaganda is so effective is because it affects our emotions rather than our reasoning. "We are fooled by propaganda chiefly because we don't recognize it when we see it".
If we are familiar with the seven propaganda devices, we will then be able to detect propaganda.
According to Doob, These seven devices are: name-calling, glittering-generalities, transfer, testimonial, plain-folks, card-stacking and the band-wagon device.

"The intelligent citizen doesn't want to be fooled by propagandist. He wants to know the facts and among these the fact of the utilization of his emotions (p223)."
I believe that we are all fooled by propagandist one way or another. If we turn to today's papers we could probably see how these propaganda devices are being used by politicians.

As usual we see an example of how persuasion occurs with a group of Army men and woman. Reporter's base their writings on pure hear say if the President did not answer their question correctly.

"By underming the press you are also undermining the public because they have a right to no what their sons, daughter, brothers, and sisters are doing in
Iraq."

http://masspersuasion.blogspot.com/2007/05/bush-puts-media-in-place.html

I would have to disagree with this quote because who states that the press writes the truth. Even when these reporters and presidents talk, what is printed is not the truth all the time. I believe both are misleading, and once again writing about daughters and sons and Iraq is just another way of building emotions on the fact of propaganda.

Mattson Article

Plain Folks as a form of Propaganda

"They go to country picnics; they attend service at the old frame church; they pitch hay and go fishing; they show their belief in home and mother. in short,the would win our votes by showing that they're just as ordinary as the rest of us-'just plain folks'-and, therefore, wise and good". (Doob, "How to Detect Propaganda" p.220)

Politicians usually use "plain folk" as a form of propaganda during voting season. They do anything they can to portray themselves as regular human beings. They do this in order for voters to know that these politicians are able to empathize with them, and as a result will make the right decisions for them; "the people".

NAME CALLING HELPS BEAT KERRY IN 04!

In the article "How To Detect Propoganda" written by Leonard Doob simple name calling can be used as a major propoganda tool to influence a certain group or community. In one line of the article Doob states,

"Name calling is a device to make us form a judgement without examining the evidence upon which it should be based. Here the propogandist appeals to our hate and fear. he does this by giving "bad names" to those individuals, groups,nations,races,policies,practices,beliefs, and ideals that he would have us condemn and reject."

I think that it is very interesting and true that name calling can be used as an effective means of using propoganda to pesuade an audience or group to a certain way of thinking or idea. For example in the 2004 presidential election John Kerry was labeled a Flip Flopper by the media, especially those at Fox News. In large part because of this he failed to connect with the public and hence George w. Bush and not he is the current president of the united States. Simple name calling helped to elect the President of the United States.

"Follow the Crowd"

According to Leonard Doob, “How to Detect Propaganda,” states that “The band wagon is a device to make us follow the crowd, to accept the propagandist's program en masse. Here his theme is: " Everybody's doing it."


By using the “band wagon” technique promote an action to the people who have a common interest. Band Wagon propaganda is used to convince people to join the winning side. Band Wagon is an appeal to the common interest of the people to follow the crowd. You’re either with us or against us, is the attitude that propagandist used to manipulate the people. The people have a choice to follow the crowd because everybody else is doing it, or stand alone. It’s your choice to decide!

Name Calling

According to Harold D. Lasswell,

"Name calling, is a device to make us form a judgement without examining the evidence upon which it should be based." (Lasswell, Page 218)

Name calling is a technique that creates a false image in ones mind, this usually occurs during wartime scenarios. Some ways this can be done is by words, articles, posters, or a simple picture. Frequently, name calling is engaged using sarcasm and ridicule, and is demonstrated often in political cartoons or writings. By saying that enemy is responsible for certain things they never did can influence ones thoughts. For example, as seen in the picture above of the North Korean propaganda poster, one can easily be convinced that the Koreans are the enemy and our powerful army will destroy them. I believe when dealing with name calling propaganda, we should attempt to separate our feelings about the name and our feelings about the actual idea or proposal.

Symbols & Propaganda

According to Harold D. Lasswell:

"The propagandist is one who creates symbols that are not only popular but that bring about positive realignments of behavior is no phrasemonger but a promoter of covert acts."

Images can speak louder than words and in some cases out live the original message that it represented. It's a t-shirt, a button, a bumper sticker.

It represents strength of a race, country, or religion. A powerful enough image should last beyond the one that created it and in some cases become relavant again in the next crisis or event that needs symbolism. It can create hope or disgust; it's a reminder of why we are following whatever cause that this symbol was meant to symbolize.

The thing about the symbol is, if done right, it'll become an icon that outlasts us all.

Band Wangon as a form of Propaganda

"He employs symbols, colors, music, movement, all the dramatic arts. He appeals to groups held together by common ties of nationality, religion, race, environment, sex, vocation"

"All the artifies of flattery are used to harness the fears and hatreds, predudices and biases, convictions and ideals common to the group" thus emotion is made to push and pull the group on the band wagon.(Doob, How to Dectect Propaganda pg. 222)

Using the Band Wagon method is a device used for propaganda in everyday living, even in something as little as the superbowl. America's that aren't even fans of football get together for superbowl parties and watch the big social event.

Big coperations also use band wagoning to get American's to buy their products such as Target, Walmart, Lazyby everything to get you prepared for the superbowl like ( big screen plasma t.v.'s, snacks, chairs, etc.)

This also is a good thing for whatever city the superbowl is being held at because it generates a lot of money for that city.

Propaganda Analysis Blog Practice

"Without the appeal to our emotion-to our fears and to our courage, to our
selfishness, to our loves and to our hates-propagandists would influence few
opinions and few actions."

( 10 Ways to Detect Propaganda)

I believe that this whole course will truly describe how "we the people" make propaganda one of the most destructable influences we have here in America. It not only plays with our emotions, but most of the time is hurting some type of ethnicity group, class, gender, sexual orientation, and government. Maybe if everyone studies the ways that propaganda tricks us, we will sway away from it and look for more truth.

Promoting Ideas

According to Jacques Ellul, the credibility and objectives of propaganda have evolved. Ellul argues, "propaganda is no longer a self-contained action, covering up for evil deeds." The spectrum of propaganda has expanded and is considered a more credible source for information. Propagandists now actively seek evidence to support their ideas or positions on a topic. Experiments and formulas are manipulated in order to remain factual and informative in promoting ideas. Modern American propaganda is based on scientific reasoning full of calculations and analyses of demographics, psychology, sociology and sciences.

Mastering the Art

" The skilled manipulator makes events so intresting in themselves that attention is spontaneously turned in their direction." (Laswell, p.17 )Laswell leads us to believe that those behind propoganda projected in mass media, are in a sense smarter than the average consumer. So much so that we have no choice but to focus our attention on the manipulators "event". manipulation is a strong word, that may not apply to propoganda as a whole because, the idea generally comes from the minds of many. The idea that there is one manipulator who has honed the craft of attention grabbing, can mean that anyone who masters the art of manipulation can lead a campaign, that the average joe will support with out hesitation.

Does Propaganda Play A Role In War

According to Harold D. Lasswell propaganda has four objectives: “to mobilize hatred against the enemy, to preserve the friendship of allies, to preserve the friendship and, if possible, to procure the co-operation of neutrals and to demoralize the enemy.”(source.)


"Hatred propaganda is always necessary in war time to arouse and intensify animosity against military and diplomatic rivals and to attract neutral support"(Lasswell, p.15)

The above quotes written by Harold D.Lasswell states that propaganda is a necessary tool in war. I find this particualar statement by Lasswell to be true, because propaganda can be used to suggest something as negative and dishonest. Propaganda can also be used to demoralize and manipulate .

"Often times propaganda is a technique used to influence human action."(Lasswell,p.1)

Propaganda relating to the war is most often displayed by speechs ,news reports and pictures taken . The act of war which is most often associated with conflict can be intensified by propaganda. In a war propaganda can be used to confuse individuals opinions and involvement in the war. For example the on War in Iraq , propaganda plays the role in influencing there audience with false and negative exaggerted stories,which for some people this can be used as a tool to moblize hatred. I state this because some individuals are for the war while others are against it.

Education V. Ignorance

“For centuries the name ‘heretic’ was bad. Thousands were oppressed, tortured, or put to death as heretics. Anybody who dissented from popular or group belief or practice was in danger of being called a heretic. In the light of today’s knowledge, some heresies were bad and some were good. Many of the pioneers of modern science were called heretics; witness the cases of Copernicus, Galileo, Bruno.” (How to Detect Propaganda p.218)

According to the Name Calling passage, taken from the Institute of Propaganda Analysis, we come to the generalization that Education is the surest way to fight propaganda, and on an even larger scale, ignorance. One may derive from the reading that in the past, groups of people were inaccurately labeled and persecuted when in actuality they were doing no harm. In one light one might say that the reason so many people were denigrated and miscategorized was NOT due to their actions or beliefs, but their persecutors lack of knowledge on exactly what these groups of people, or so called "heretics" stood for. If an individual is educated on a subject they a far less likely to fall under the propagandists desired effect. However, in contrary belief, there is a wide audience that believe that the more educated someone is, the more susceptible they will be to propaganda.

Propaganda & Technology

"Merely automatic and historically hallowed ways of handling social adjustments have been rendered obsolete by shifts in technology and by strange new conditions of human contact. The programs of contending leaders, duly sanctified by theocratic or aristocratic connections are confuted by one another". (Lasswell, Page 17)

With the new technology now a days there isn't much communications from both parties involved. Now countries at war, that have conflict with each other react much quicker. With all new media informations gets across faster then ever. All parties are worried about what new weapons they have , such atomic bombs, the treat of nuclear weaponry.

Propaganda and it's future

Propaganda

"Propaganda is surely here to stay; the modern world is peculiarly dependent
upon it for the coordination of atomized componenets in times of crisis and for
the conduct of large scale 'normal' operations."

I believe that this quote is true, you need some type of propaganda to keep things in track. It seems like someone is always out there to influence someone else. If the issues are true and can be proven this is the correct way to use propaganda. Even though it seems that propaganda is only used while trying to influnce a person, there are many ways that were not used as propaganda in the past, but new ways have arrived since the inventions like the internet and more technological advances. Now in the present day propaganda can come at you in many ways and we might not even know it. Propaganda is here and it is strong and stays strong as long as someone wants to change for the better or for worse.

Propaganda practice blogg

I would like to talk about "Name Calling". In "How to Detect Propaganda" it says " name calling is a device to make us form a judgement without examining the evidence upon which it should be based." " Here the propagandist appeals to our hate and fear." And " he does this by giving bad names to those individuals, groups, nations, races, policies, practices, beliefs, and ideals that he would have us condemn and reject."

With this being said this just goes to show that in a dispute, it almost makes sense to call someone a name when others are present if you are trying to prove a certain kind of point. I say this because if you want to win the argument or what have you, you get people to prejudge the other person based off of what you said without them even knowing the person. The spectators are going to wonder why they would say such a thing and maybe even think it's true!

Satanic Violators of the Media

"Thus for the mobilization of national hatred the enemy must be represented as a menacing, murderous aggressor, a satanic violator of the moral and conventional standards, an obstacle to the cherished aims and ideals of the nation as a whole and of each constituent part." (Lasswell, 18)

I found this quote to be extremely relevant to the current war we are experiencing with Iraq. As with previous wars that the United States has been involved in that have utilized the media to portray a nationalistic and anti whoever stands against us sentiment, the Iraq conflict does this as well, without fully exposing all the facts, whether empirical or not. It can be said that nearly all wars are fought on two grounds; that of the actual battlefield and the minds of the people via the means of propaganda. The images of the Iraqi people that the media characterizes, whether in cartoon or in print, paired with the manner in which they chose to divulge selective stories regarding the wartime effort overseas, is an attempt to muster up the support of the American people against those in Iraq, and to divulge the desired belief that what is being done is righteous and in the best interest of everyone, justifying the billions of tax dollars and thousands of soldiers lives that are so easily expended. This standard of judging others, rather than looking within our own government and judging ourselves, is fundamentally corrupt and hypocritical. The level of Manicheanism that exists within our nation is pathetic and the lack of humanity, empathy, and compassion for the general public; innocent men, women, and children of Iraq, with no links or social ties to Al Qaeda and its fundamental principles, is a double standard that we as Americans hold, and that the media propagates. Perhaps the satanic violators are rather than our enemy, our own media, for keeping the ironic truths lurking in the shadows, while emphasizing the hatred we kindle in our hearts.

Believe none of what you hear and half of what you see.

The systematic dissemination of information, ideas or rumors designed to skew a perception of a particular entity is a common practice that is very prevalent in modern society. This slanted information is known as propaganda. Though this is a contemporary practice it has primitive roots. According to Lasswell, "Classical Greek and Roman literature is the more or less accidental residue of propaganda. The walls of Pompeii were found to be covered with election appeals...In the American Revolution committees of correspondence fostered anti-English sentiment" (Laswell 14) This sort of manipulation grew stronger with the introduction of Sigmund Freud's theories of psychoanalysis.

Propaganda and War

"Hatred propaganda is always necessary in war time to arouse and intensify animosity against military and diplomatic rivals and to attract neutral support."

As a nation, we are constantly being bombarded with media and propaganda. With this being said, how are we suppose to make an educated decision or form an unbiased opinion? I don't believe one can without the truth. We are constantly being told by the media what to think, what we need, who is good, who is bad and the list goes on. It is disheartening to feel that the American public are just sheep, following and believing what we are told by the mass media.

Welcome!

Welcome to the Propaganda & Mass Persuasion blog. For those of you who have never posted to a blog before here are some simple guidelines:

Blogging is a short form. Posts do not have to be very long. Quality is more important than quantity. Use short quotations from the assigned readings and write brief, focused paragraphs.

A good post should include helpful links. Judicious use of links to key reference materials can ensure that your posts are short and to the point.

Use images that directly relate to the topic of your post. Don't post images just for window dressing. Ask yourself: does the image add to the substance of the post? Or is it just eye-candy

Always proof-read and spell-check your post before publishing.

Is propaganda a necessary evil?

"The modern propagandist, like the modern psychologist, recognizes that men are
often poor judges of their own interests, flitting from one alternative to the
next without solid reason or clinging timorously to the fragments of some rock
of ages." (Lasswell, p.24)

The above is the most well known quote attributed to political scientist Harold D. Lasswell, written in 1934. Mr. Lasswell was no doubt both responding to the rise of Fascism and Nazism in Europe, as well as reflecting on the aftermath of the 'World War', which is now known as World War I. The quote is taken from his essay titled simply "Propaganda". Most of the article does a good job of remaining objective, explaining in great detail just what Mr. Lasswell believes propaganda to be, and it's relevance to the modern world (of the 1930's). The sentiment above, however, placed near the end of the essay, betrays his personal belief that propaganda is a necessary tool to be wielded by responsible governments in the interest of their own people. In other words, it is OK to lie to and manipulate the people you serve in order to accomplish needed objectives, because 'ordinary folks just don't know what's good for them'. This seems just a little Machiavellian to me, despite the fact I agree with the sentiment expressed. If he were alive today, I wonder if he would change his mind after witnessing the debacles in Vietnam and Iraq.

Mr. Lasswell