Detecting Propaganda

Propaganda

• is a sustained, organized campaign to influence others to

accept a decision.
• differs from debate in that only one side of a proposition is
given.
• is a pejorative term, especially if it makes use of the
technique known as “ the big lie”.
 Good Propaganda

• when a campaign is organized to get the public to drive

safely or to help prevent fires.
• Another form of propaganda is a campaign to get people
to follow theten commandments or the Analects.
NOte : If you learn the basic nature of argumentation, and
subject propaganda to a critical analysis, you can
distinguish the lie from the truth.
• Sales talk and political speeches are obviously
propaganda, aimed to persuade you to buy a product or
to subscribe.
• Propaganda can persuade you to believe new and
progressive ideas, but it can also present lies and twist
your beliefs.
• Propaganda persuades you by using certain techniques
of speaking and writing that appeal to your wishes and
emotions rather than to your reason.
• There are many varieties of false and phony reasoning.
Some common techniques are explained.

* Name Calling. Name calling easily heads that list of

fallacies in propaganda. It means “get personal”, that
is,divert the readers attention from the facts by questioning
the integrity, morality, intelligence, etc. of the speaker or
writer.
• Ex. A propagandist campaigning for Mr.X says that you
should not vote for Mr. Y , the opponent, because Mr.Y is
inexperienced in government; he didn't finish college, he
doesn't dress well or speak English well, and how , then
would that man make a good president? Mr. X , on the
other hand, has poise and refinement , was a World War
II hero, has written books, and would certainly be a fit
representative of our country as president.
• Hasty or False Generalization means making sweeping
statements without basis. You are guilty of making a
hasty generalization when you spend one day in Jakarta
and upon your return , you tell your friends that
Indonesians are a modern, technically sophisticated, and
highly literate people, and that all their towns have first-
class roads with traffic lights, high - rise hotels,and
condominiums. Or, without presenting proof, you say that
Indonesia has the largest gold deposits in the world or
that the rain forest of Indonesia are the habitat of the
world's most exotic orchids
 Testimonials
• Testimonials refer to the statements made by prominent
and much - admired persons recommending a product or
an idea as excellent. You are expected to accept the
product or the idea because of the prestige and authority of
the one writing the testimonial.
The testimonial is valid if the if the person making it is an
authority.
ex. A statement by the Philippine secretary of agriculture that
says the Philippines is not self - sufficient in rice is valid, but
not a statement from him or her that says XXX brand of flour
is the best for birthday cakes.
 Bandwagon
• Bandwagon gets its name from the practice of having a
wagon carrying a band lead a parade. A propagandist
uses the bandwagon technique when he or she appeals to
your to your desire to belong to a group. He or she asks,
“Everyone's doing it? Why not you? You are pressured into
voting for X because it is the fashion, into getting a cellular
phone because having one is a status symbol. Since you
desire to belong to the group, to follow fashion, to be
considered a person of status , you accept what the
majority approves without questioning the wisdom of the
idea.
 Transfer

Transfer is the technique whereby the propaganda makes

you accept a person , idea or thing by showing that it is
related to other persons, ideas, or things that have proved
to be good or beneficial.
 Card Stacking

• Card stacking is deliberately withholding information,

manipulating or “ correcting” statistics, or even lying about
a product, a person, or an idea.