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== Uses of propaganda in society today ==

== Uses of propaganda in society today ==

Former president [[Woodrow Wilson]] is credited with inventing modern political propaganda, techniques first used during the [[progressive]] era in the early 1900's.<ref>[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/4199/ Glenn talks with Jonah Goldberg, author of Liberal Fascism], ''The Glenn Beck Program'', January 15, 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,597464,00.html Journolist Follows the Footsteps of Woodrow Wilson's Propagandists], ''[[Fox News]]'', July 22, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/35938/ Glenn Beck: Obama Zombies], ''The Glenn Beck Program'', February 4, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,593622,00.html Progressives' Fight for American Hearts and Minds], FOXNews.com, May 27, 2010.</ref> Today, propaganda has become the favorite method of [[politics]]. Both politicians and the commentators that support them routinely engage in it. The most egregious example of modern propaganda can probably be found in the films of [[Michael Moore]], which present a classic combination of factual fabrication, distorted interpretation, and emotional dishonesty.  On television, [[Countdown]] with [[Keith Olbermann]] provides a nightly dose of mean-spirited, irrational invective.  The vicious and frivolous tone of so much modern propaganda has contributed, especially in the [[United States]], to a coarsening of civil discourse and, some say, a severe weakening of civility.   

Former president [[Woodrow Wilson]] is known his use of [[deceit|deceitful]] political propaganda in the [[United States]], techniques first used during the [[progressive]]-era in the early 1900's.<ref>[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/4199/ Glenn talks with Jonah Goldberg, author of Liberal Fascism], ''The Glenn Beck Program'', January 15, 2008.</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,597464,00.html Journolist Follows the Footsteps of Woodrow Wilson's Propagandists], ''[[Fox News]]'', July 22, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/35938/ Glenn Beck: Obama Zombies], ''The Glenn Beck Program'', February 4, 2010.</ref><ref>[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,593622,00.html Progressives' Fight for American Hearts and Minds], FOXNews.com, May 27, 2010.</ref> Today, propaganda has become the favorite method of [[politics]]. Both politicians and the commentators that support them routinely engage in it. The most egregious example of modern propaganda can probably be found in the films of [[Michael Moore]], which present a classic combination of factual fabrication, distorted interpretation, and emotional dishonesty.  On television, [[Countdown]] with [[Keith Olbermann]] provides a nightly dose of mean-spirited, irrational invective.  The vicious and frivolous tone of so much modern propaganda has contributed, especially in the United States, to a coarsening of civil discourse and, some say, a severe weakening of civility.   

In addition to civility, the idea of truth suffers from the habitual use of propaganda. Current-events organs that willfully publish propagandistic content not only contribute to the problem, but also demean themselves. In one famous example ([[Rathergate]]), a [[television]] broadcast network circulated for weeks certain memoranda, the contents of which were damaging to the incumbent President of the [[United States]] ([[George W. Bush]]), though those who obtained those memoranda knew, or ought to have known, that they were forgeries.

In addition to civility, the idea of truth suffers from the habitual use of propaganda. Current-events organs that willfully publish propagandistic content not only contribute to the problem, but also demean themselves. In one famous example ([[Rathergate]]), a [[television]] broadcast network circulated for weeks certain memoranda, the contents of which were damaging to the incumbent President of the United States ([[George W. Bush]]), though those who obtained those memoranda knew, or ought to have known, that they were forgeries.

[[Theater]] has been an instrument of propaganda since before such things as current-events organs existed. Significantly, however, whenever theater has lent itself to propaganda, it has always demeaned itself. Even [[William Shakespeare]] was not immune to this. His play ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' is, as any objective observer must attest, a piece of [[Anti-Semitism|anti-Semitic]] propaganda of a very crude sort. Critics have historically decried it as one of the least becoming of Shakespeare's works.

[[Theater]] has been an instrument of propaganda since before such things as current-events organs existed. Significantly, however, whenever theater has lent itself to propaganda, it has always demeaned itself. Even [[William Shakespeare]] was not immune to this. His play ''[[The Merchant of Venice]]'' is, as any objective observer must attest, a piece of [[Anti-Semitism|anti-Semitic]] propaganda of a very crude sort. Critics have historically decried it as one of the least becoming of Shakespeare's works.