Lawrence Medina

The month of March 2018, is now the month of Propaganda. I will be attempting to discuss the glory of Propaganda as a tool. I’m certain that when you saw the word… You recoiled a bit. I suggest you read on, if anything, solely to discover what Propaganda is.

Defining Propaganda

Now, the best way to start would be to set up our definitions, before we really dive in.

“Propaganda: information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.”

According to most dictionaries, Propaganda is a derogatory word. Meant to harm and deride whoever is accused of being responsible for spreading it. Propaganda, for the most part, is seen simply as the spreading of malicious information.

Well, if we do a bit of reading, we can get a different viewpoint on the idea of Propaganda.

Redefining Propaganda

I’ll be looking at Propaganda, by Edward Bernays. According to Bernays, Propaganda is closer to an instrument. It is meant to open the mind to the idea of change. It sways the masses, not solely the individual into… Not quite action, but simply the idea.

When a discussion is opened through the means of propaganda… It is akin to someone thinking they originally came up with the idea being discussed. This will spur on a need or want for change. Anybody can use propaganda to spur change—it can happen at any moment. However, spur of the moment change that sweeps through crowds of people… Is not propaganda.

Propaganda is planned. Information brought up in the right moments. The right places and the right time. That being said, you too can easily use propaganda for your own purposes. There is one stipulation to the use of propaganda… KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE.

Using Propaganda

You must understand the audience you seek to open up a new discussion with. If say your industry is related to art and you wanted to see more artists using oil paint versus acrylic. Then you wouldn’t simply state that one is better than the other outright. You need to bring up the idea—not that its better, but that it could be better.

Then from within the industry itself, you feature prominent people that use oil paint. From historic to modern, you sway the artists’ mind. Open up the possibility that they should be using oil paint. At that moment, the moment someone is open for discussion, you can change their mind, opinion, or idea. For their benefit, your benefit, and the industry’s benefit.

Look at propaganda, as if it is a frame. Everyone has a certain way they view everything. They will always focus on the things that fall neatly within that frame. Propaganda… is the instrument that can shift the frame. Whether it is to focus on smaller details or shift the point view just an inch away.

Ultimately, propaganda is useless if you do not know what the current public opinion is on any topic. If you do not know what the public cares about, then you can change no one’s mind. You can sway no one in your favor.

Propaganda Today

Propaganda this. Propaganda that. I’ve said (written) propaganda so many times. The way propaganda is used today, we all know it. We see it every day. It is one side of a coin. A single step along the path.

In short, it is a piece of advertising. That, however, is a different discussion. After all, this is the month of propaganda. We’ve touched on the use of propaganda just a little (the artist example). We’ll be going more in-depth about the uses of propaganda.

I think I’d like to leave you with this quote from Propaganda:

“Modern business must have its finger continuously on the public pulse. It must understand the changes in the public mind and be prepared to interpret itself fairly and eloquently to changing opinion.”

Let us learn more about this elegant instrument that has gotten its fair bit of bad propaganda.