Suddam Hussein and the invasion of Iraq often compared to the need to invade Germany and occupied France.
This comparison appeals to our sense of honor, duty, patriotism and neglects the fact that at the time of invasion Hussein had not attacked another sovereign country nor invaded their borders but the comparison brings the audience into the emotional and moral side of the statement often foregoing any intelligent critique.
10. Testimonials: Testimonials are another of the seven main forms of propaganda identified by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis. Testimonials are quotations or endorsements, in or out of context, which attempt to connect a famous or respectable person with a product or item. Testimonials are very closely connected to the transfer technique, in that an attempt is made to connect an agreeable person to another item. Testimonials are often used in advertising and political campaigns. When coming across testimonials, the subject should consider the merits of the item or proposal independently of the person of organization giving the testimonial. Persuasion by celebrity is one of the most commonly used propaganda [testimonial] in Main Stream Media (MSM) For example, Fox News uses several including; testimonial, transfer, pinpointing the enemy, card stacking and glittering generalities. Then they present it with attractive females, pseudo-intellectuals and unleash it on the uneducated simplistic audience. When MSM generously invites contrary or alternate opinion in a debate forum it usually involves name-calling consisting of stereotyping or comparative association. Examples;
A visually attractive female pundit delivers an opinion or assessment on a MSM broadcast. She delivers an expressly conservative and hawkish view or solution to a military or defensive strategy. In the opinion she renders words such as "weak, cowardly, failure, defend and protect" in her assessment. This is directed at the male population who personalizes these adjectives and reacts subconsciously to this subtle personal attack of their manliness, pulling these viewers towards her femininity sexually and or questioning their masculinity or alpha male tendencies.
During a broadcast, an actor celebrity presents himself as a 911 conspiracist. Though the viewer has not investigated or rationalized the theory, they accept it based on their emotional attraction or critique of the actors ability in his or her profession. In commercial advertisements "I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV" is followed by product endorsement for a pharmaceutical product to the viewers. In this case the actor states before hand he is not medically trained. If Charlie Sheen had said he was not on the 911 commission, an engineer, scientist, explosive expert or eyewitness beforehand, would it have diminished his argument? Most certainly so.
11. Transfer: Transfer is another of the seven main propaganda terms first used by the Institute for Propaganda Analysis in 1938. Transfer is often used in politics and during wartime. It is an attempt to make the subject view a certain item in the same way as they view another item, to link the two in the subjects mind. Although this technique is often used to transfer negative feelings for one object to another, it can also be used in positive ways. By linking an item to something the subject respects or enjoys, positive feelings can be generated for it. However, in politics, transfer is most often used to transfer blame or bad feelings from one politician to another of his friends or party members, or even to the party itself. When confronted with propaganda using the transfer technique, we should question the merits or problems of the proposal or idea independently of convictions about other objects or proposals. Examples;
Comparing your opponent to Adolph Hitler or a group to Al Qaeda alt. Comparisons of a candidate to President Ronald Reagan or John F. Kennedy
MAIN STREAM MEDIA has refined these techniques to include others that tend to leave the public confused, in chaos, uninformed and subdued.
Ad nauseam - repetition so consistent to the point we accept it without thought "CNN - The best political team on television"
Authority - The introduction of curriculum vitae so impressive we assume authority regardless of accuracy, motives and intent of the authority e.g. "Commenting on the Israeli Gaza situation we have Dr. Jones, Professor of Linguistics at MIT"
Scapegoating - The introduction of face saving lie or villain explain a failure of the authority or action in question . e.g.. Saddam Hussein and 911.
Misinformation - The introduction of forged information, falsehoods and omissions of facts the authority is trying to discredit. e.g. Nigerian Yellowcake Uranium and Saddam Hussein's WMD intelligence and the subsequent memos that stated it was unreliable intelligence or forgeries
Half Truth (context, misquote) - Manipulating quotes or statement that may contain some truth or by omitting portions, punctuations etc. the content is intended to deceive the public."Israeli officials ordered blockades of humanitarian aid to the West Bank""Israeli officials ordered blockades of humanitarian aid to the West Bank until they could assure there were no weapons moving through to that region"
This material may seem academic to many, but a refresher in these techniques when looking at the broadcasting, publishing and internet sources we access regularly, clearly identifies the use of these tools in unrestrained and common practice. My family watched Walter Cronkite until his retirement in 1980. Whether he was or was not deservedly the most trusted man in America and whether the news that was fit to report came from his CBS nightly reports one thing is for sure. Most of the anchors today are not fit to report the news, most of the news is not fit to print and in the words of Cronkite himself. "I think we've got a bunch of thugs here, Dan."
sources: library.thinkquest.org.
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