Propaganda in the media
By Emmanuel Perilla
Propaganda is a tool that’s used in media to spread a certain political perspective.
Propaganda is not about getting the objective truth of a situation; it’s about spreading a message. In the article “Are Google’s Personalized Results Making Us Politically Partisan” it states, “Here is an unintended dark side to a search engine that only provides the information we want to see: it cocoons us in an echo chamber of political information that confirms our pre-existing opinions.
“You search for raw information but you’re getting more of what you already agree with. In modern times, propaganda has a twisted effect on the average viewer’s perspective. Media can’t be a genuine tool for current events and information if some media outlets are just telling people what they want to hear and not considering the full context of a situation.
For example, if the president plans to cut funding for social programs, it’s simply propaganda if media outlets parrot his perspective and give no criticisms of his policies. These media outlets would just be confirming the President’s viewpoint to viewers. If propaganda is allowed to thrive in media there will be no genuine democracy.
There will just be one particular perspective being pushed to people instead of being objective and viewers being exposed to the many different sides to a situation. In the article “Facebook’s New Political Algorithms Increase Tension with Publishers” it states, “One ad promoted a news article about President Trump’s summit with Kim Jong un, the North Korean leader.
“By calling it political content,” Ms. Thompson said, Facebook was blurring the line between reporting on politics and politics itself. Examples like this prove that if people aren’t careful honest journalism will be confused with just promoting a specific political angle.
The role of media and journalists, in particular, is to tell different sides of a situation. Propaganda can only really serve as an enemy of democracy because it’s not open-minded and aims to create yes men who only agree with one viewpoint. In fascist regimes like Nazi Germany and Franco’s Spain propaganda was an important tool in keeping people down and ensuring the denial of the truth.
To live in a society where you’re only being fed one angle of something is not only undemocratic its also a form of dehumanization.
For example, if in a certain country people are being told through propaganda that their way of life is the most superior, yet there are tons of problems like poverty, violence, and general exploitation propaganda is obviously the direct opposite of what a genuinely democratic society is supposed to be.
In mass media, people should be aware and careful not to be putting out information for their specific agenda. Even if they are leaning towards certain politics, which is fine, they should be cautious to remain objective. If mass media becomes like fast food chains just working to have their audience get their product, then democracy will certainly suffer. People need honest reporting; not media outlets rushing to sell them an idea.
