Propaganda in Politics
With the divisions in our country growing deeper and more hateful by the day, propaganda has become the tool used to stomp on the opposing side of political parties. Propaganda has been a key component to the world that we live in for as long as we can remember. Whether people have used it to mislead and misinform or unite and push for change, it is a tool that is both highly effective and potentially lethal.
In this modern day example of propaganda, you see two very different sides to the left and right political parties in the US. As a member of the democratic party, this form of propaganda stood out to me. The image is depicting people on the right as loyal, normal, strong and the kind of people you want to be associated with. The image on the left is showing people dressed inappropriately, who intentionally seem messy and not people you would want to be connected to. Below these images are a simple note saying “choose wisely. America depends on it” as if somehow if you identify with the liberal party you are dooming our country. This is a very clear depiction of conservitive aggression towards the liberal party to try and push for right wing control in all things. The purpose of this may be to sway voters’ opinions for future elections now that their country has a democratic president.
The symbols being used to attract attention to this specific piece of propaganda would be the photos. The saying “an image speaks louder than words” could not be more clear than when it is used in propaganda. These are very skewed depictions of people in the country being used as a tool to make the democratic party an outcast. As Roland Barthes discovered in his research on advertising through semiotics, “symbols build enduring connections between objects and feelings.” These images build a connection between how people view the different parties that represent our country in an extremely biased way.
People would run into propaganda like this on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and places where quick snapshots of information are consumed. It is a small, simple message that speaks loudly to the ideal audience. You would not see something this aggressive on a news station. The values that are being portrayed through this representation of propaganda are right winged, devoted Americans who believe their ideas and lifestyle are superior to the liberal side in the country. It suggests that people may not think very clearly about the content they are consuming and that this will involuntary allow for those in the middle to become more right winged because they see these images.
The correct target audience would accept this type of propaganda because it very clearly conforms to their beliefs. Others in the country would reject it because it is a clear, blatant form of propaganda used to deface the liberal party. It would not be rejected entirely but there would be many people who would object to the imagery and message behind it.
The book Media Literacy in Action breaks down the ideas behind the content that someone may create and how they will target their audience. It explains that “authors cannot please everyone: to define effective communication, they mentally visualize a group of individuals with common characteristics, attitudes, or beliefs, targeting that audience with a carefully designed message.” This message is not meant to be a symbol that will sway or affect every single person it comes into contact with. It is meant to reinforce the idea that republicans embody the ideas that America wants to protect and that if you are in between parties, you should side with the “better one”.
Propaganda is used to place an idea into someone’s head and push for your agenda through backhanded and unclear messaging. This allows people to believe their ideas and decisions are their own, when in reality, they have been seeing imagery that has swayed their ideas to conform to whatever the creator of that content wanted. The textbook acknowledges the repeatedly changing definition of propaganda and how today, it is used to target specific audiences with, “ideological, political, or commercial purposes through the controlled transmission of one sided sentences.” This definition embodies not only advertising but also “PR, News Management, and Strategic Communication.”
This one piece of propaganda does not even begin to scratch the surface of the bias and controlled messaging we all encounter every single day. It does however put into perspective how clearly biased the information can be. Not all forms of propaganda are this clearly one sided. This one stuck out to me because of how inaccurate and misrepresentative it was of an entire party in our country. In one image, people’s beliefs, values, dreams and efforts were wiped away and replaced with imagery that is unclear and misconstrued. Propaganda is not fair, it wasn’t made to be fair, and that is why we as people have to fight every day for the truth in our country. Just a small image can change hundreds of perspectives on anything if the content is created strategically. Media is a tool used for power and control, and control of it is a privilege that people must hold with respect and the power of its influence in mind.
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