Media is seen everywhere and everyday, but it does not show everything. In George Orwell’s 1984, the media is used to spread propaganda for the Party, the main government in the novel. Media censorship and selectivity are used in favor of the government as part of propaganda. Today, the media is more influential than ever. Governments around the world still currently use techniques of propaganda with the media to establish a sense of authority. George Orwell uses propaganda through the media to influence the minds of the public in 1984 similarly to how present-day nations control the media with censorship. There are a variety of ways that the media is used to display propaganda to the public in both 1984 and in today’s world. One of the most
…show more content…
In 1984, there are a multitude of slogans that are integrated throughout the novel. Winston notices that the three major slogans of the Party are “WAR IS PEACE”, “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY”, and “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (Orwell 4). These three sayings are plastered everywhere so that the citizens of Oceania will have them ingrained in their brains. The Russian government also utilizes name-calling to their advantage. Russian television reporters use catchy, yet demeaning, nicknames such as Ukro-fascists, neofascists, neo-Nazis, and Nazis to associate the horrors of World War II with Ukraine to provoke hatred (Sweet). The Ukrainian political resistance has been twisted around and given degrading names to make it seem like the resistance is a new form of fascism to scare the public into hating Ukraine. Names are not only given to the enemy, but they are also given to the main political party to symbolize their importance. In 1984, the government uses an imaginary figure with a well-known slogan to symbolize and embody the importance of the Party. Winston observes that photos of a man with a black mustache were everywhere with the caption, BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, on the bottom (Orwell 2). The words and photos of Big Brother emanate fear and power to the people of Oceania. It demonstrates that the Party can see everything, and that everything revolves around the Party. …show more content…
Media sources are supposed to be evidence of the past and are records of history. History will be completely changed and distorted if the media has been altered or censored. Winston has had recollections about the past and noticed that there were contradictions with what he remembered and what the news had said. In his mind, he thought “. . . if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed - if all records told the same tale - then the lie passed into history and became truth” (Orwell 34). Since the Party repeatedly changes events to how they see fit, society will think it actually happened the way the Party imagined it because that is what the media shows. The fabricated incidents of the government replaces the natural outlook people have on history. The United States population faces a similar issue where the media and propaganda takes the place of firsthand experience. Merely less than 1% of the American population is in combat so the only military reportage that the average citizen is exposed to is inaccurate and censors news about soldiers’ experiences (Froula). The twisted stories of the media and its censorship alters the general perception of the military. As previously mentioned beforehand, media and propaganda have major effects on the public mind and how they view the world and history. In all reality, “. . . every history is two histories: the events that happen
In 1984, there are a multitude of slogans that are integrated throughout the novel. Winston notices that the three major slogans of the Party are “WAR IS PEACE”, “FREEDOM IS SLAVERY”, and “IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH” (Orwell 4). These three sayings are plastered everywhere so that the citizens of Oceania will have them ingrained in their brains. The Russian government also utilizes name-calling to their advantage. Russian television reporters use catchy, yet demeaning, nicknames such as Ukro-fascists, neofascists, neo-Nazis, and Nazis to associate the horrors of World War II with Ukraine to provoke hatred (Sweet). The Ukrainian political resistance has been twisted around and given degrading names to make it seem like the resistance is a new form of fascism to scare the public into hating Ukraine. Names are not only given to the enemy, but they are also given to the main political party to symbolize their importance. In 1984, the government uses an imaginary figure with a well-known slogan to symbolize and embody the importance of the Party. Winston observes that photos of a man with a black mustache were everywhere with the caption, BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU, on the bottom (Orwell 2). The words and photos of Big Brother emanate fear and power to the people of Oceania. It demonstrates that the Party can see everything, and that everything revolves around the Party. …show more content…
Media sources are supposed to be evidence of the past and are records of history. History will be completely changed and distorted if the media has been altered or censored. Winston has had recollections about the past and noticed that there were contradictions with what he remembered and what the news had said. In his mind, he thought “. . . if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed - if all records told the same tale - then the lie passed into history and became truth” (Orwell 34). Since the Party repeatedly changes events to how they see fit, society will think it actually happened the way the Party imagined it because that is what the media shows. The fabricated incidents of the government replaces the natural outlook people have on history. The United States population faces a similar issue where the media and propaganda takes the place of firsthand experience. Merely less than 1% of the American population is in combat so the only military reportage that the average citizen is exposed to is inaccurate and censors news about soldiers’ experiences (Froula). The twisted stories of the media and its censorship alters the general perception of the military. As previously mentioned beforehand, media and propaganda have major effects on the public mind and how they view the world and history. In all reality, “. . . every history is two histories: the events that happen