Propaganda Theory: to a given media situation spin doctoring and media management

Abstract
Technological changes have made the definition of propaganda vary, however, the characteristic features of propaganda is distinctively a political issue to be distinguished from cognate issues such as education and information. It is the dissemination of ideas or images with the purpose of convincing people to think and act in a way and for a purpose. Propaganda is the attempt to use ways of persuading an audience for an intended purpose to serve the interest of the propagandist. Information in propaganda presents the audience with straightforward statements and facts in order to evoke a certain response. The reasons can either be directly or indirectly (Connelly and Welch 74).
As opposed to education which teaches the target group how to think, propaganda intends to tell people what to think. Propaganda strives to narrow the audience`s perspective, as well as, to close their minds. In the twentieth century, propaganda has been a valuable tool in politics. It can be conveyed through media, but being an agent of reinforcement it can be manifested in the form of building, painting or a coin. The role of commemoration in reinforcing propaganda is often overlooked. The point of emphasis is the best way to reinforce the present to determine the future, rather than commemorating the past (Connelly and Welch 67).
The other salient features of propaganda are that it may be obvious or secret, brilliant or terrible, straightforward or untrue, somber or funny, coherent or disturbing. Yet the propagandists often design the most appropriate and effective method to approach the audience. It is necessary to think about propaganda in a wider sense and how to influence it. It has influenced the nature of politics, broadened means of communication, as well as, the growth of education and technology which are contributing factors.
Introduction
Propaganda may be conveyed through political speeches, advertising, and news and even in T.V shows. With the development of technology especially mass media, the tendencies of propagating lifestyles and models of behavior have impacted negatively on the society. Propaganda can also be applied for positive purposes such as spreading healthy lifestyles, anti-drug campaigns, as well as, anti-discriminating ideas. The most powerful and effective method of spreading ideas is through visual propaganda. Mostly, public pinion often identifies the term with negative implications especially during war time and discrimination, (Connelly and David Welch 72).
Propaganda should change an audience`s opinion, belief or understanding a situation in order to influence future actions and decisions to make the actions agree with the interests of the targeted group of people. It influences public opinion, and social mood hence, has various means of disseminating ideas. This is one of the features of propaganda, to use many ways as possible to spread information as much as possible. A strong emotional involvement of the public is necessary in propagating in order to replace the missing facts with the public`s attitude to the propagated ideas.
Propaganda implies stereotypes, especially in the contemporary mass culture and telecommunication is closely related to the stereotypes created by the mass media. For example, during war time the technique of creating stereotypes that concern a group of people such as the Nazi propaganda of antisemitism, thus the belief into certain ideas can be directed towards or against different opinions. Information is not disseminated freely and explaining the information as it appears may not be possible. Misleading information may be used to hide some information and create an illusion of confusion and misinforming the targeted group of people. It has to be a continuous process to have an impact on those who do not support the propagated idea, as well as, consolidate those who already support the idea. Doubts may exist, but it intends to eliminate them (Jowett and Victoria 78).
Visual propaganda has been widely used in religious issues. It has been actively used in many cults through their leaders to convince people of their spiritual destination and holiness of their leaders. They use propaganda to impress people. It has also been an effective tool during wartime. An example of propaganda has been evident during the socialist revolution in Russia. It divided the society into social classes by use of massive campaigns against the representatives of different classes. Lasting effects on propaganda are to misinform the targeted population especially in historical context. For example in Germany, the Nazi used propaganda as one of their main war weapons. Before the Stalingrad battle, the German soldiers were exceedingly humane and heroic. The Nazi propagators during World War II created different visions of the British, American and Russian army in order to cause hatred for these armies and their nations hence using the tactic of "divide and dominate". This example shows one more distinctive feature of propaganda, being an inalienable proponent of a political regime and highly fundamental for any authoritarian regime.
According to Jowett and Victoria (74), propaganda is a form of communication aimed at influencing a community`s attitude toward some cause or position. It is a systematic propagation of a doctrine or information that reveals the views of propagators who advocates for such doctrines or cause of an action. The essence of propaganda is the intention of supporting a cause. Literally, the meaning of the term is "that which ought to be propagated". Propaganda is a manipulation designed to lead a simplistic conclusion rather than a carefully considered one. It plays on individuals emotions often defying reasons and facts so as to reach the psyche of an audience. Propaganda is the deliberate, logical attempt to nature perceptions and manipulates a society`s cognitions, and direct behavior to achieve resp...