| − | [[File:Fauci Film.JPG|right|300px|thumb|The [[Fauci]] agitprop film was not well received. [[Rotten Tomatoes]] refused to allow critical reviews.<ref>https://youtu.be/OBbEV8qP4fo</ref>]] | + | [[File:Full-spectrum-cyber-effects-final-p4-large.gif|right|300px|thumb|'''Full spectrum dominnce.''' [[US Government]] document from 2010 part of the Snowden leaks and sharing agreements with the [[UK]]. The [[Five Eyes]] program of the English speaking world (United States, United Kingdom, [[Canada]], [[Australia]], and [[New Zealand]]) use [[social media]] for “[[propaganda]],” “[[deception]],” “mass messaging,” “pushing stories”, and "discrediting” the intelligence agencies' enemies with false information spread online.<ref>https://theintercept.com/document/2014/04/04/full-spectrum-cyber-effects/</ref>]] |
| | Former president [[Woodrow Wilson]] is known his use of [[deceit]]ful political propaganda in the [[United States]], techniques first used by organizations such as the [[Committee on Public Information]], during the [[progressive]]-era in the early 1900s.<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 name=journolist>[https://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>[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,593622,00.html Progressives' Fight for American Hearts and Minds], ''[[Fox News]]'', 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. Journalists have also contributed, forming groups such as the [[JournoList]].<ref name=journolist /> 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]]ful political propaganda in the [[United States]], techniques first used by organizations such as the [[Committee on Public Information]], during the [[progressive]]-era in the early 1900s.<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 name=journolist>[https://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>[https://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,593622,00.html Progressives' Fight for American Hearts and Minds], ''[[Fox News]]'', 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. Journalists have also contributed, forming groups such as the [[JournoList]].<ref name=journolist /> 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 tended to demean itself. Even [[William Shakespeare]] was not immune to this - certain of his Histories, especially ''Richard the Third'' acted as propaganda for the ruling [[Tudor]] dynasty whose founder, [[Henry VII]], had defeated [[Richard III]] to become king. | | [[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 tended to demean itself. Even [[William Shakespeare]] was not immune to this - certain of his Histories, especially ''Richard the Third'' acted as propaganda for the ruling [[Tudor]] dynasty whose founder, [[Henry VII]], had defeated [[Richard III]] to become king. |