Terms and Concepts

Staying Aware: Propaganda and Disinformation 

    

    To be aware of the world around you doesn't just mean your general surroundings, it also applies on a much broader scope. Propaganda and disinformation infest our media everyday, from outright saying it to the smallest seed hidden in between the lines. How can we protect ourselves from the influence and find the right information? Let's talk about it! 

    Propaganda is described to be dissemination of information to influence public opinion by Britannica. How is it is done?  You can find its use in advertisement, entertainment, journalism, in your government, and even in your education. Now what is Disinformation? Disinformation is described as  is false information deliberately spread to deceive people. SFU Library has 8 ways to spot disinformation; 1. consider the source, 2. read beyond the headlines, 3. check the author, 4. check the supporting sources, 5. check the date of publication, 6. is it satire, 7. check the biases, and 8. ask an expert. It can be hard to always find a trust worthy source but making sure you take a moment to look deeper into what you are reading or hearing is the first the step. 

    Leaders and people with power have been using propaganda to their advantage for years, it is nothing new. The first World War brought the popularity of propaganda in the United States, between the years of 1914 to 1918, war propaganda was nearly unavoidable; Posters, leaflets, short films, and even door to door campaigning. War bonds and enlistment posters are just a couple of the ways utilized during this time. When one bought a war bond they were helping fund the military and the fight, by the end of WW1 approximately 12 million bonds were bought. During World War 2 posters about women helping during the war times were everywhere, the most famous of them all being "Rosie the Riveter" telling women that they can help. From 1940 to 1945 the percentage of women in the U.S. workforce increased, nearly one out of every four married women worked outside the home. 

    When watching a movie or commercial you aren't trying to get information about a subject, you're just trying to enjoy your time. This is a perfect opportunity for higher ups to push a message between your ears, take in example of Marvel. So many of Marvel's movies have U.S. military propaganda, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Nick Fury, and so many more worked for the U.S. government and it is a huge part of their characters. The U.S. military worked with Marvel Studios to help design the character of Captain America because they believed that he possesses the values of today's modern soldier along with promoting American patriotism. Tony Stark designs weapons for the U.S. government and Iron Man's script had to be approved by the Pentagon, Iron Man's movies heavily relies on American exceptionalism.  

     Along with propaganda, disinformation follows shortly behind. According to MIT false information is 70 percent more likely to be spread. Those in power use false information for their own gain hoping that people's fear, anger, or gullibility towards leaders is strong enough to stop them from questioning if its true. Some examples in recent years would; be the Trump administration spreading disinformation about his loss in 2020, the Bush administration's claims about the Hussein's regime, false stories of U.S. soldiers, and limitations put on coverage about the war casualties during the second Iraq War, and the Hitler's claims against the Jewish people.  

    The New York Times wrote an article on Hitler's use of propaganda during World War 2. Hitler's use of propaganda and disinformation changed the style of propaganda for the next century to come. He believed that propaganda "must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over" from the very beginning he understood this.  He claimed that any kindness that a Jewish person was showing was just a way for them to "trick" weak minded Germans, he used them as a scape goat for all the problems Germans were having post- WW1. The fall of newspapers during the Great Depression greatly helped the Nazis and with what reporters were left were discredited and silenced. Nazi films played a big part of the Nazi propaganda by portraying Jewish people as "subhuman creatures infiltrating Aryan society." The Medium has an excellent article about the importance of knowing and understanding Nazi propaganda that I suggest reading. 

    So many people fall for the lies and manipulation from those in power and don't even try to find the correct information, or when faced with information that doesn't aline with what they already know they deny it. There's a saying that I often think about "if you don't know history, it's as if you were born yesterday, if you were born yesterday then any leader can tell you anything." This quote reminds me how important it is to know about the past. History will always repeat itself, knowing which side of it you are on is what's important. So remember to look farther into the truth, look at different sources, different biases, and always fact check before making a stance.