Propaganda and its Use in Society: Is it Fair?

"Propaganda consists of the planned use of any form of public or mass-produced communication designed to affect the minds and emotions of a given group for a specific purpose, whether military, economic, or political" (Levinson). Propaganda is used to gain the support of its viewers on an issue by either false or misleading information.

In every war, from the First World War to the present day in Iraq, military propaganda has been used intensely. Military propaganda is the most effective type of propaganda, because it touches the viewers emotionally. During the Second World War, many pictures of the Jewish concentration camps were shown as propaganda. The primary reason United States went to war was to strike down the dictatorship of Hitler. There were also many economic benefits of United States' involvement in the war. According to senior economist Richard Schumann, the jobs created to support the war itself was able to get United States out of the Great Depression (Schumann). In a propagandist's view, none of these reasons could fire up the citizens as much as documentaries and pictures of suffering people. The view of these gave them an urge to be liberators of these poor souls half way around the world. Even though the scenes of the propaganda were true, they were shown in a way that held its viewers liable if they did not respond.

The war in Iraq is accompanied by a tremendous amount of propaganda from both sides. Propaganda comes in the form of quotes, articles, advertisements, documentaries, and even movies (Levinson). Before America engaged in the war with Iraq, many new documentaries were aired during primetime to show the sufferings of Iraqi citizens under the dictatorship of Saddam Hussein. It sent a message t...

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... stated this famous quote, "voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the peacemakers for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country" (Mikkelson). This method is used any and every time to change the views of the public to that of the politicians.

The base of all propaganda is to shape the information in such a manner that it manipulates the viewers into believing what the propaganda wants them to believe. Its persuasive techniques are regularly applied in day-to-day life by politicians, advertisers, journalists, and others who are interested in influencing human behavior. Since propaganda is used with misleading information, it can be concluded that it is not a fairly used tool in the society.