The world in which we live in is extremely complex and contains an immense amount of underlying processes that allow our societies to function efficiently. Propaganda is one of these processes that affects, and is affected by, nearly every aspect of our lives. The media is the funnel through which propaganda is utilized, and its reaches are never-ending with the aid of the television, radio, and most recently the internet; however, this is not a recent phenomenon. In 1938 millions of Americans were fooled by their radios into believing that the world was under attack by aliens in the event “War of the Worlds”. Renee Hobbs and Sandra McGee explain this in their article “Teaching about Propaganda: An Examination of the Historical Roots of Media
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When people have a familiar or well-renowned face to look towards they are more likely to throw their support towards whatever their icon does as well. When something is familiar to someone, they feel more comfortable with it and are more likely to believe in it. This is true for everything, and is explained as the Social Learning Theory, detailed in the article “A Case of Social and Media Influence on Religion” by Miranda Dawn Emery. When children see their parents behaving a specific way, they imitate it and accept this behavior as familiar. Miranda Dawn Emery states that, “The child’s imitation would be the response and also a stimulus for positive feedback from others, which would stimulate similar behavior from the child in the future” (19). People also have a difficult time recognizing the difference between fiction and reality, and will react to fictional characters in the same way that they would real people, which means that these icons simply need to exist; they do not need to be real or truthful in order to be effective and win people …show more content…
Its reach extends far beyond mundane life choices, even to the point of influencing your government and military. In order for either of these institutions to work and have power, they need the support of the people, and they use propaganda to achieve this; however, instead of wanting you to purchase a product, they want you to give them your undying support. . Hitler himself even had an appointed propaganda minister by the name of Joseph Goebbels. David Yanagizawa-Drott exclaims in his article “Propaganda and Conflict: Evidence From the Rwandan Genocide” that “Elites in control of autocratic states have repeatedly used mass media—often under their direct control—with the intention to induce citizen support of and participation in violence against certain groups”(1948). Without the support of the people, neither the government or military have any power or resources to function efficiently, and as both of them are necessary for order, working efficiently is of the utmost priority Naom Chomsky has stated in his book Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda, that “Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state” (21). Since we do not live in a totalitarian society, the government can not use force or scare the populace into supporting them, so instead they must persuade them through the use of media and propaganda. This is easier said than done. Sometimes falsities need to
When people have a familiar or well-renowned face to look towards they are more likely to throw their support towards whatever their icon does as well. When something is familiar to someone, they feel more comfortable with it and are more likely to believe in it. This is true for everything, and is explained as the Social Learning Theory, detailed in the article “A Case of Social and Media Influence on Religion” by Miranda Dawn Emery. When children see their parents behaving a specific way, they imitate it and accept this behavior as familiar. Miranda Dawn Emery states that, “The child’s imitation would be the response and also a stimulus for positive feedback from others, which would stimulate similar behavior from the child in the future” (19). People also have a difficult time recognizing the difference between fiction and reality, and will react to fictional characters in the same way that they would real people, which means that these icons simply need to exist; they do not need to be real or truthful in order to be effective and win people …show more content…
Its reach extends far beyond mundane life choices, even to the point of influencing your government and military. In order for either of these institutions to work and have power, they need the support of the people, and they use propaganda to achieve this; however, instead of wanting you to purchase a product, they want you to give them your undying support. . Hitler himself even had an appointed propaganda minister by the name of Joseph Goebbels. David Yanagizawa-Drott exclaims in his article “Propaganda and Conflict: Evidence From the Rwandan Genocide” that “Elites in control of autocratic states have repeatedly used mass media—often under their direct control—with the intention to induce citizen support of and participation in violence against certain groups”(1948). Without the support of the people, neither the government or military have any power or resources to function efficiently, and as both of them are necessary for order, working efficiently is of the utmost priority Naom Chomsky has stated in his book Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda, that “Propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state” (21). Since we do not live in a totalitarian society, the government can not use force or scare the populace into supporting them, so instead they must persuade them through the use of media and propaganda. This is easier said than done. Sometimes falsities need to