CABAR.asia together with expert, Dr. Rashid Gabdulkhakov, Assistant Professor of the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies of the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, have prepared cards on which main methods are used by agitators and how to understand if you read or watch propaganda message.
Propaganda is a media, communication strategy designed to make people convinced of something.
In our time, when information has become a weapon and wars are waged not only on the battlefield, but also in the media space, propaganda must be understood as the information strategy meant not only to convince people, but also to manipulate their outlook, perception and understanding of some processes and life realities of other people.
The most relevant example today is the propaganda war waged by the Russian Federation to convince people that military operations in Ukraine are justified, necessary and inevitable. This is a complicated example because the word ‘war’ in Russia is banned for use, but at the same time the phenomenon of war is being praised and presented as the solemn duty.
Historically, propaganda as a term is the product of the Catholic Church. In the 17th century, the Roman Catholic Church created the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, whose participants should have spread the Christianity beyond the European continent.
Propaganda, by definition, is not necessarily something bad. It also has a positive meaning, when it concerns the propaganda of healthy lifestyle or propaganda against cruel treatment of animals.
Very often, this is the tool of political parties, people, who have come to power and want to hold on to it, or who want to achieve power. Propaganda is also used by religious leaders. And it makes sense if we take the origin of the term into account. Of course, religion and politics often merge.
In a sense, propaganda is needed to those who deliver it to the masses. These are the servants of regimes: informal leaders, artists, singers. In other words, persons known to the people via TV programmes, films, music. Those who are trusted.
Interests differ: some need power, some want to sell something, some want to earn money, some may be really convinced like fanatics.
For all of them. It is available in the countries with democratic, authoritarian, totalitarian regimes, as well as in monarchies.
The only difference is that totalitarian and authoritarian states have propaganda with no other options. No other sources of information are available there but propaganda ones.
There are many of them, in fact. For example, references to studies, which show that most of people supported something (implementation of the law, policy of the government, etc.) and people start wondering if they lag behind the group. Here we deal with the element of cohesion, the desire to belong to the community of people, who are defined by the state as the true people, right persons.
Another method can be named as “What about you?” Now, for example, anti-colonial narratives are very popular in the post-Soviet territory. The Russian propaganda takes these narratives and repels and uses them against the western countries – United Kingdom, France and others, which have the shameful past of colonies. Thus, they shift the focus. The strategy works well in the African continent, Latin American countries, which have been part of the colonial games.
One of the most widespread methods is misinformation or simply deception. Oddly enough, conspiracy and absurd information is often taken by the public as truth.
It concerns the news of the kind “Toxic birds bred by NATO spread Covid-19”. It also concerns messages about children crucified in Ukraine, which were spread by Russia to justify its invasion. These narratives, despite their absurd nature, are easily perceived by people.
However, it should be understood that today it is very easy to produce misinformation because there are deepfakes and other technologies available. In some cases, agitators produce awkward lies: they take photos from previous conflicts or even video games, and claim them as their own photos from the battlefield.
No, it’s not. In some cases, it is enough to convey information in a specific way. Only part of truth is being told and the worldview changes.
Here’s the example from the advertisement. Potato chips are a harmful product. The manufacturer produces them in a new package, which reads that chips contain 20 per cent less fat than those in the old package. It might be true, but the chips did not become a healthy product, in fact. This is how the manipulative perception is built, and it is favourable for the manufacturer of chips in this case.
Besides, agitators can use other methods to make their messages seem more reliable. For example, despite the large flow of information focused on slandering of western media, Russian resources often refer to western journalists to add a layer of veracity.
The state propaganda often focuses on the state itself, on its history, on belonging to some group (who are we?). Here we have the lost paradise narrative.
Moreover, the sociological layer of the population, who are “not the true people” is emphasised here. They are “blamed” for all the sorrows: there is only one moment that we need to change and then we can go back to the lost paradise. We only have to build a wall with Mexico, restore the USSR, oust refugees from Europe, etc.
The propaganda ideology can be built on the idea that we (people) are not what we are. In this case, they convey the narratives like “it does not belong to us”, “these are not our traditions” and “our families are built otherwise.”
Yes, a digital iron curtain can be built. To do it, it is enough to frighten people, to make so that it is frightening even to think about an alternative, to ‘like’ some piece of news, because it can be deemed as extremism and one can be imprisoned for that. That’s why they write laws to prosecute people literally for any action on the internet.
So, even if a person has an opportunity to find alternative resources via VPN, first she/he will have to overcome the fear of being severely punished for her/his actions. Moreover, to be able to use VPN, one should have technical skills and political/ideological desire to get access to alternative information.
It is very difficult to do this since good propaganda is usually invisible.
However, there is a range of signs typical of propaganda. These are excessive emotionality, repetition, absence of second opinion, unchanging mouthpieces for the provided information – several main agitators are always in sight, the continuous stream of consistent information – the propaganda keeps you busy, does not let you take a break from it.
One can try to discern propaganda as follows: after reading, ask yourself a question: what do I feel? Do I feel hate towards any group of people now? Do I feel the desire to act against them?
You should have several sources of information, discuss events, news with someone. But this is the theory. In fact, it is very difficult to fight propaganda because it resembles religion in many ways – it gives simple answers to complex questions.
In fact, to fight propaganda we need to hold large-scale awareness-raising campaigns, introduce media literacy lessons in schools, universities. We need to have journalistic ethics observed. We need to support NGOs working with the civil society and helping journalists to improve their professional skills, instead of repressing such NGOs.