Propaganda

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Propaganda

• Card Stacking
• Glittering Generalities
• False Dilemma
• Lesser of Two Evils

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Propaganda 4 characteristics
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Part 3 Card Stacking

• Gives unfair advantage to one point of view
• Presents counterpoint (other side) in its weakest
  form, or not at all
• Honest information shared, but misleading
• Present info out of context
• Obscure (hide) important facts

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Card Stacking

• Emphasizes travel and adventure serving in the
  Marine Corps
• Plays down considerable sacrifice required

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Part 3 Card Stacking

• Can be convincing because often rely on sound
  reasoning and facts
• Problem opposing perspectives downplayed or
  left out
• Sometimes referred to sin of omission

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Part 3 Card Stacking

• Example
• A pharmaceutical company wants to test a new drug
  and advertises its need for volunteers to
  participate in the study. The advertisements
  emphasize the benefits of participating in the
  study. The drugs possible side effects are
  mentioned in passing in a speedy voiceover at the
  end of the commercial.

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Often, a propagandist will acknowledge
alternative views, but in an oversimplified,
dismissive way.

• Example
• A group invites two experts on different sides of
  an issue to speak. The expert invited to support
  one side is a well-known, eloquent speaker, with
  extensive scientific credentials. The expert
  invited to represent the other side is a fringe
  scientist, known for a number of unconventional
  theories and for his loud, blustering demeanor.

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Written or visual propaganda Signing contracts

• information that is not favorable to the
  propagandists case may be printed in a smaller
  typeface or in some way visually obscured.
• people are often warned to read the fine print.
  Thats because often, the least attractive terms
  of a contract will appear in small, barely
  legible type.

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Card Stacking - commercials
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When faced with possible instances of card
stacking, ask yourself the following questions

• If the answer to any of these questions is yes,
  card stacking is probably taking place.

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Identify the audience and purpose for this
advertisement, and discuss whether this is an
example of card-stacking propaganda.
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Part 4 Glittering Generalities

• is a colorful term for the appealing but vague
  words that often appear in propaganda.

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Part 4 Glittering Generalities
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Glittering Generalities

• are frequently used in advertising
• also a prominent part of political discourse.
• In the modern age of ten-second sound bites,
  glittering generalities can make or break a
  products reputation or a candidates campaign.

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Glittering Generalities

• Example
• I stand for freedomfor a strong nation,
  unrivaled in the world. My opponent believes we
  must compromise on these ideals, but I believe
  they are our birthright.

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Popular Glittering Generalities
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Glittering Generalities
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Glittering Generalities

• advertising slogans must be short and to the
  point
• advertisers frequently use vague, positive words

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Under what conditions are words like freedom
and choice not glittering generalities? Use
each word in a sentence that does not qualify as
a glittering generality.

• Words like freedom and choice often qualify
  as glittering generalities when they are left to
  stand alone, with no explanation. However, they
  are not glittering generalities when they are
  assigned specific meanings.
• For example, freedom is not a glittering
  generality when used to describe emancipation
  from slavery (e.g., The former slave had earned
  his freedom through years of hard labor)
  Likewise, choice is not a glittering generality
  when it is used to refer to a specific kind of
  choice (e.g., She was given the choice to
  rewrite the paper, but she chose, instead, to
  accept a failing grade).

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Part 5 False Dilemma

• known by many names, including black-and-white
  thinking, false dichotomy, and false choice
• reducing a complex argument to a small number of
  alternatives and concluding that only one option
  is appropriate

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False Dilemma

• In this kind of propaganda

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False Dilemma

• most often in political and ethical discourse
• One option is described as being good, and the
  other is made to seem bad, or even evil
• oversimplifies the situation and denies the
  existence of any neutral ground

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Advertising often makes use of the false-dilemma
technique as well.
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The false dilemma reduces all choices to a simple
matter of either/or.
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Part 6 The Lesser of Two Evils

• a specific type of false dilemma that offers two
  bad alternatives.
• often used when the propagandist is trying to
  convince people to adopt a perspective they will
  be hesitant to accept.
• to make the choice more appealing, an even worse
  alternative is presented as the only other
  option.

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The Lesser of Two Evils
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The lesser of two evils technique is most
effective when one of the possible choices is
truly awful, as in this poster, which pits
frugality against fascism.
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The Lesser of Two Evils

• It is always best to be suspicious of any message
  that purports to show you the only two options
  available
• When youre faced with such a choice, consider
  each option on its own merits, and keep in mind
  that there are probably other, undisclosed
  alternatives.

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Question

• How is the lesser-of-two-evils technique similar
  to the false-dilemma approach? What sets these
  techniques apart from one another?
• Both reduce a complex situation to a limited
  number of possibilities
• Lesser of two evils offers two unpleasant
  alternatives

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Create a caption to go with this image that would
make the poster an example of lesser-of-two-evils
propaganda.
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Part 7 Pinpointing the Enemy

• oversimplify complex problems by pointing out a
  single cause or a single enemy who can be blamed

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Pinpointing the Enemy

• When the enemy in question is blamed for problems
  that are actually someone elses fault, this is a
  particular category of pinpointing the enemy
  known as scapegoating.
• Blaming a scapegoat alleviates the guilt of those
  who are truly at fault, while providing a
  convenient explanation for the problem at hand.

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• Origin

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Pinpointing the Enemy

• Pinpointing the enemy works particularly well
  when the targeted group is already thought of as
  the other.
• the Nazi portrayal of the Jewish people as the
  source of economic problems in Germany.
• People who are easy to recognize by appearance or
  culture make perfect scapegoats if they are easy
  to identify, they are easy to blame.

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• Uncontrolled fishing by greedy commercial fishers
  has reduced the numbers of some fish to one-tenth
  of their original population.
• .

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Question

• How is pinpointing the enemy similar to
  name-calling? How are the two techniques
  different?
• Both are frequently used to attack an individual.
  
• However, pinpointing the enemy is often used to
  assign blame, while name-calling is usually used
  to discredit an opponent.

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