Syntheses of Propaganda Insights

Jeffery Santos

This past semester in COM 416: Propaganda, we explored what propaganda is, not only to better understand it conceptually but to gain the ability to identify it. We also explored how societal functions are altered due to propaganda. With all the insightful and eye opening information I gained on propaganda this semester, my 5 most important takeaways from this course are: 1) Propaganda is everywhere, 2) Propaganda has been used in almost every major historical war as a weapon, 3) The key to stopping the spread of harmful propaganda is to educate people how to identify propaganda, 4) Propaganda has a prominent role within journalism, 5) Not all propaganda is bad.

My LEAP 3 essay goes into greater detail as to why I feel these choices are most insightful to me. Much like we did throughout the course in order to learn, I synthesize and reflect on what I learned and include information I believe best serves to strengthen my assertion. I include syntheses of historical propaganda campaigns to examine their effectiveness. I provide definitions and explanation of some common propaganda tactics and key terms used within government, journalism, education, etc.

My meme is pretty simple because understanding propaganda, in the most basic sense of understanding, is simple; Propaganda is content meant to trigger an emotional response to alter opinions. I chose to create a mock testimonial/bandwagon Klennex ad featuring Tom Brady crying with the caption ‘It’s Alright to Cry Crying get the Sad Out of You’. I wanted to create a mock advertisement similar to somethig we New Englanders mightve seen when Brady was still with the Patriots. I also chose a mock ad rather than a meme because too often it is forgotten advertisers are great propagandists, and as my first insight claims, propaganda is everywhere.

Click here to read my full essay.