All throughout high school and middle school, teachers tossed around the term propaganda. I was usually in relation to political leaders creating and spreading posters that depict how great and wonderful they are at leading a country to greatness. We were exposed to these “advertisements” because they were perfect examples of what propaganda looks like. Google defines propaganda as “information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.” Throughout history there have been countless examples of this: in North Korea with Kim Jong-Un, in Russia with Vladimire Putin, and in China with Mao Zedong. In each of these cases, these leaders have used propaganda to legitimize themselves, and encourage the people to support them and their ideas.
Historically, propaganda has not always been a negative term, despite the fact that in our current era we view it as a manipulative approach. Just as feelings about propaganda have changed, so have the platforms that it uses. With all the technological advancements, posters, painting, and political cartoons are considered very outdated. Almost everything today is going to be digital and get posted online. Video, TV commercials, or advertisements on podcasts or radio shows are gaining more and more popularity, and are getting the most views and responses from targeted audiences.
But the digital age is giving “fake news” the ability to spread faster and reach even more people. Biased sources are spreading information and having a major impact on the way people view political candidates. Whether it be slander, or painting somebody as a better person then they are. Propaganda is becoming a huge problem in our modern world.
How can we go about minimizing the negative effects that propaganda brings, without limiting the freedom of speech and press that every american citizen is born with? My simple answer: we can’t. At least in America, will will never be able to prevent media outlets from misleading the public. It would violate our rights and the government would never be able to stay ahead of it. Anytime they squashed one “fake news outlet” another 3 would just pop up. The only way we can really work to minimize this effect is by placing responsibility in the hands of each individual. Every person should fact check the information that they read on the internet, nothing should be taken at face value. Especially when looking for information about political candidates. You should go to their official web pages and try to steer clear of low level blogs or discussion boards. Individuals should be electing officials based on fact, not opinion.
Propaganda is a valuable tool that can really provide positive benefits when done correctly (like above). I think that the massive pay increase that can come from news stories has completely cheapened the industry. People are no longer writing and publishing stories to inform the public, they are doing it to make money. This not only leads to misinformation, it leads to the public having a lack of trust in all media outlets.
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