I sat through a class back in the 1980s....which dealt with propaganda. By the end, I had the basic understanding, but in a way....it's a sad skill to have. I tend to sit and look at stories, and realize that various journalists (even folks at the NY Times/CNN) pump out propaganda.
Since mid-Feb, on the Ukrainian/Russian war business.....there's probably over 1,500 stories that I'd label as bogus or propaganda....some done by Russia, some by the Ukraine, some by British journalists, some by German journalists, and so on.
I've even gone back now to my old BS-meter which I used a lot during my Air Force period. Although I used it more then because you'd be told all kinds of BS and you had to decide which was worthily BS, or plain utterly worthless BS.
You can reach a level where you hear something....then yell....'cite-the-source' at people....demanding some accountability on propaganda (which you will never get).
Dictators tend to use a lot of propaganda....even at times...believing it themselves.
Propaganda being a major part of the old Soviet Union empire? Well....they had authorized newspapers, and a storyline had to be approved/scripted....to fit the end-result desired. Amusingly enough, I've noticed in the past ten days....Russia has gone entirely to that idea for their citizens. Most know the drill, and already have a disbelief in whatever they are told.
If you want a great example of how far the Soviet press would go....go Google up the name 'Pavlik Morozov' and read the story on the 'kid'. It reached the point where Pavlik was a legend....maybe even a cult-like 'Jesus'.
My general advice....the more you look for news, the higher the chance that it'll be 'infected' with propaganda. That's the plain sad fact.
No comments:
Post a Comment