Techniques of propaganda generation
A number of techniques which are based on social psychological research have been used to generate propaganda. These include:
Appeal to authority: Appeals to authority cite prominent figures in support of a position idea, argument, or course of action.
Appeal to fear: Appeals to fear seek to build support by instilling fear in the general population, for example, Joseph Goebbels exploited Theodore Kaufman's Germany Must Perish! to claim that the Allies sought the extermination of the German people.
Appeal to Prejudice: Using loaded or emotive terms to attach value or moral goodness to believing the proposition. "A reasonable person would agree that our income tax is too low."
Argumentum ad nauseam: Uses tireless repetition. An idea once repeated enough times, is taken as the truth. Works best when media sources are limited and controlled by the propagator.
Bandwagon effect: Bandwagon appeals attempt to persuade the target audience to take the course of action that "everyone else is taking."
Inevitable victory: invites those not already on the bandwagon to join those already on the road to certain victory. Those already or at least partially on the bandwagon are reassured that staying aboard is their best course of action.
Join the crowd: This technique reinforces people's natural desire to be on the winning side. This technique is used to convince the audience that a program is an expression of an irresistible mass movement and that it is in their best interest to join.
Black-and-white fallacy: Presenting only two choices, with the product or idea being propagated as the better choice (for example, you can have an unhealthy, unreliable engine, or you can use Brand X oil).
Common man: The "plain folks" or "common man" approach attempts to convince the audience that the propagandist's positions reflect the common sense of the people. It is designed to win the confidence of the audience by communicating in the common manner and style of the target audience. Propagandists use ordinary language and mannerisms (and clothe their message in face-to-face and audiovisual communications) in attempting to identify their point of view with that of the average person.
Demonizing the “enemy”: Projecting a person or idea as the "enemy" through suggestion or false accusations.
Direct order: This technique hopes to simplify the decision making process. The propagandist uses images and words to tell the audience exactly what actions to take, eliminating any other possible choices. Authority figures can be used to give the order, overlapping it with the Appeal to authority technique, but not necessarily. The Uncle Sam "I want you" image is an example of this technique.
Euphoria: The use of an event that generates euphoria or happiness in lieu of spreading more sadness, or using a good event to try to cover up another, or creating a celebratory event in the hopes of boosting morale.
Flag-waving: An attempt to justify an action on the grounds that doing so will make one more patriotic, or in some way benefit a group, country, or idea. The feeling of patriotism which this technique attempts to inspire may diminish or entirely omit one's capability for rational examination of the matter in question.
Glittering generality: Glittering generalities are emotionally appealing words applied to a product or idea, but which present no concrete argument or analysis. A famous example is the campaign slogan "Ford has a better idea!"
Obtain disapproval: This technique is used to persuade a target audience to disapprove of an action or idea by suggesting that the idea is popular with groups hated, feared, or held in contempt by the target audience. Thus if a group which supports a certain policy is led to believe that undesirable, subversive, or contemptible people support the same policy, then the members of the group may decide to change their original position.
Quotes out of Context: Selective editing of quotes which can change meanings. Political "documentaries" often make use of this technique.
Red herring: Presenting data that is irrelevant, and then claiming that it validates your argument.
Scapegoating: Assigning blame to an individual or group that isn't really responsible, thus alleviating feelings of guilt from responsible parties and/or distracting attention from the need to fix the problem for which blame is being assigned.
Slogans: A slogan is a brief, striking phrase that may include labeling and stereotyping. Although slogans may be enlisted to support reasoned ideas, in practice they tend to act only as emotional appeals. For example, "blood for oil" or "cut and run" are slogans used by those who view a situation. Similarly, the names of the military campaigns, such as "enduring freedom" or "just cause," may also be regarded to be slogans.
Stereotyping or Name Calling or Labeling: This technique attempts to arouse prejudices in an audience by labeling the object of the propaganda campaign as something the target audience fears, hates, loathes, or finds undesirable. For instance, reporting on a foreign country or social group may focus on the stereotypical traits that the reader expects, even though they are far from being representative of the whole country or group.
Testimonial: Testimonials are quotations, in or out of context, cited to support or reject a given policy, action, program, or personality. The reputation or the role (expert or respected public figure) of the individual giving the statement is exploited. The testimonial places the official sanction of a respected person or authority on a propaganda message, in an effort to cause the target audience to identify itself with the authority or to accept the authority's opinions and beliefs as its own.
Re: Is the counterculture today doing a better job than the counterculture in the 60s and 70s?
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But we are all so far away from each other, which make it very hard to get in touch personally…
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