“The term propaganda always refers to a negative message”
Before exploring the actually statement in depth it is essential
to understand the definition of propaganda. In Latin propaganda meant “things to be propagated and which ought
to be spread” and a general definition of propaganda is a specific type of
message that is presented in order to directly influence opinions or behaviors
of people rather than providing an objective statement or information. The term itself has been through quite a lot
of history, because in original state, propaganda was a neutral reference and used
in a more positive connotation in order to promote more favorable and
affirmative influence on the audience such as creating propaganda on public
health or encouraging people to vote or encouraging people to report crime and
like the article given to us in class about the British and Russia, we see how
they used propaganda in order to promote peace rather than encourage war.
Hence, I disagree with the statement above but I do believe
that as time passed on, many people took advantage of the influence propaganda
can make on people and started using it
to promote more negative concepts and therefore it acquired a more negative
connotation by association to its manipulative nature. Now in the world of media,
propaganda is seen as a political and bias use of techniques in order to
promote a certain set of beliefs and ideas. Such as when watching the
documentary in class of Americans depiction of the Iraq war, one sees how
different types of propaganda had been used to implement their own ideologies
and influence the audiences’ perception of the situation.
As well as when examining the article of Jessica Lynch, the US perception of the war was presented in a more positive light by the means of that propaganda used of her rescue.
So overall I disagree with the statement because I don’t believe that it has to be referring to a negative message but nowadays I do believe that people use it to mislead and deceive people through promoting negative message in order to convince them or influence their perception of a certain situation.
As well as when examining the article of Jessica Lynch, the US perception of the war was presented in a more positive light by the means of that propaganda used of her rescue.
So overall I disagree with the statement because I don’t believe that it has to be referring to a negative message but nowadays I do believe that people use it to mislead and deceive people through promoting negative message in order to convince them or influence their perception of a certain situation.
I completely agree with you! Its true that the people misused propaganda over the years and that the original thought or idea may not be negative. But then again how do you differ a negative message from a positive one?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you! Its true that the people misused propaganda over the years and that the original thought or idea may not be negative. But then again how do you differ a negative message from a positive one?
ReplyDeleteI like the new perspective you've brought to this and I do agree with you to some extent. In context of the 21st century, we've given propaganda a negative connotation. However, it comes back to the aim of propaganda which is to influence or enforce a certain ideology. In this sense, it becomes almost like deception. Thus, you can connect it back to wether deception is acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI think you chose a very interesting prompt and addressed in a new way that allows us to think about it differently. Going back to the history and initial aim of things is always a good way to gain a deeper understanding of things, and you did that very well. Its fascinating to see how propaganda was initially created in order to enhance peoples lives however after its success it became a tool for shaping opinion perhaps in a more negative light. Do you think positive propaganda was as effective?
ReplyDelete