Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
ASSERTION: enthusiastic or energetic statement presented as fact, but not necessarily true; the statement should be accepted without question BANDWAGON: an appeal to follow the crowd, to join in because others are doing so well; because so many people have joined, victory is inevitable and defeat impossible EXAMPLE: Everyone in Lemmingtown is behind Jim Duffie for Mayor. Shouldn’t you be part of this winning team? CATCHY SLOGANS: This tool involves using memorable phrases to foster support for the war effort. EXAMPLE: For example, short phrases like "Remember the Maine!" and "Remember the Alamo!" have been very successful in motivating Americans to strongly support the use of arms against Spain and Mexico, respectively. CARD STACKING: selective omission which involves only presenting information that is positive to an idea or proposal and omitting information contrary to it. EXAMPLE: The government passes a new bill that will forgive college debt. The proponents fail to mention that two years of government service will be required before the debt is forgiven. CHEWBACCA DEFENSE/REASONING: This propaganda technique has varied examples in the modern world. This technique has been defined as speaking something so completely nonsensical and irrelevant to the topic on hand that hopefully nobody listens further. EXAMPLE: In a Defense Department Briefing on February 12, 2003, then Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld made his now famous unknown unknowns statement: “Reports that say that something hasn't happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns - the ones we don't know we don't know.” …or “I believe what I said yesterday. I don't know what I said, but I know what I think... and I assume it's what I said.” Donald Rumsfeld, February 13, 2003 DEMONIZATION: This tool involves portraying the enemy as purely evil, menacing, murderous, and aggressive. The propagandist attempts to remove all confusion and ambiguity about whom the public should hate. EXAMPLE: The enemy may be portrayed as a hairy beast or the devil himself. This tool becomes more powerful when the enemy can be blamed for committing atrocities against women, children, or other noncombatants. EMOTIONAL APPEALS/FEAR: This tool involves playing on people's emotions to promote the war effort. Since the strongest emotion is often fear, propagandists create their work based on the premise that the more frightened a person is by a communication, the more likely he or she is to take action. Thus, propagandists are careful to explain in detail the action that they want the consumer of the propaganda to carry out. This technique is very popular among political parties and PACs (Political “Action Committees) in the U.S. The idea is to present a dreaded circumstance and usually follow it up with the kind of behavior needed to avoid the at horrible event. EXAMPLE: The Citizens for Retired Rights present a magazine ad showing an elderly couple living in poverty because their social security benefits have been drastically cut by the Republicans in Congress. The solution? The CRR urges you to vote for Democrats. EUPHEMISMS: The propagandist attempts to pacify the audience in order to make an unpleasant reality more palatable. This is accomplished by using words that are bland and euphemistic. An example is during war time, since war is particularly unpleasant, military discourse is full of euphemisms. EXAMPLE: In the 1940's, America changed the name of the War Department to the Department of Defense. Soldiers that returned home after war and exhibited signs of mental trauma from the war were first described as “shell shocked” which became “battle fatigue” which evolved into PTSD after the more recent war. EVOCATIVE VISUAL TOOLS: This tool involves using symbols that appeal to people's emotions EXAMPLE: like flags, statues, mothers and children, and enemy uniforms-to promote the war effort. GLITTERING GENERALITIES: words that have different positive meanings for individual subjects, but are linked to highly valued concepts (honor, glory, love of country); they demand approval without thinking since such an important concept is involved. EXAMPLE: An ad by a cigarette manufacturer proclaims to smokers: Don’t let them take your rights away! (“Rights” is a powerful word, something that stirs the emotions of many, but few on either side would agree on exactly what the ‘rights’ of smokers are.) HALF TRUTHS OR LIES: This tool involves deception or twisting the truth. The propagandist may attempt to include some element of truth in the propaganda to make an argument more persuasive. EXAMPLE: For example, blaming the enemy for complete responsibility for the war and portraying one's own country as a victim of aggression is a common propaganda tool. HUMOR OR CARICATURES: This tool involves capturing the viewer's attention through the use of humor to promote the war effort. The enemy is almost always the butt of the jokes used by propagandists. LESSER OF TWO EVILS: tries to convince audience of an idea or proposal by presenting it as the least offensive option; used to convince people to make sacrifices; adds blame on an enemy country or political group. LOGICAL FALLACIES: Applying logic, one can usually draw a conclusion from one or more established premises. In the type of propaganda known as the logical fallacy, however, the premises may be accurate but the conclusion is not. EXAMPLE: Premise 1: Bill Commonsense supports gun control. Premise 2: Communist regimes have always supported gun control. Conclusion: Bill Commonsense is a communist. We can see in this example that the Conclusion is created by a twisting of logic, and is therefore a fallacy. NAME CALLING: use of derogatory language that carries a negative connotation when describing an enemy; labels the target as something that the public dislikes. EXAMPLE: In a campaign speech to a logging company, the Congressman referred to his environmentally conscious opponent as a “tree hugger.” PINPOINTING THE ENEMY: simplifies a complex situation by presenting one specific group or person as the enemy; clear-cut right and wrong. EXAMPLE: A internationally company is caught using child-labor in one of its factories. The CEO claims it is the foreign government’s fault that children worked at the factory. “If their country paid them better, they wouldn’t need to work at our factory.” PATRIOTIC APPEALS: This tool involves using patriotic language or symbols to appeal to people's national pride. PLAIN FOLKS: convinces the public that his/her views reflect those of the common person and they are working for the benefit of the common person. EXAMPLE: After a morning speech to wealthy Democratic donors, Bill Clinton stops by Mc Donald’s for a burger, fries, and photo-op. SIMPLIFICATION (STEREOTYPING): reduces a complex situation to a clear-cut choice involving good and evil; useful in swaying uneducated audiences TESTIMONIAL: This is the celebrity endorsement of a philosophy, movement or candidate. In advertising, for example, athletes are often paid millions of dollars to promote sports shoes, equipment and fast food. In political circles, movie stars, television stars, rock stars and athletes lend a great deal of credibility and power to a political cause or candidate. Just a photograph of a movie star at a political rally can generate more interest in the at issue/candidate or cause thousands, sometimes millions, of people to become supporters. EXAMPLE: “Sam Slugger”, a baseball Hall of Famer who led the pros in hitting for years, appears in a television ad supporting Mike Politico for U.S. Senate. Since Sam is well known and respected in his home state and nationally, he will likely gain Mr. Politico many votes just by his appearance with the candidate. TRANSFER: used in politics and during wartime; often used to transfer negative feelings for one object to another; transferring blame or bad feelings from one politician to another of his/her friends or party members. EXAMPLE: The environmentalist group PEOPLE PROMOTING PLANTS, in its attempt to prevent a highway from destroying the natural habitat of thousands of plant species, produces a television ad with a “scientist” in a white lab coat explaining the dramatic consequences of altering the food chain by destroying this habitat. SCIENTIFIC APPROACH: Using scientific jargon (i.e. numbers, statistics, data, etc.) to convince your audience SNOB APPEAL: Giving the impression that people of wealth and prestige are on board. SYMPATHY/APOLOGIST REASONING: This technique can be seen in the knee-jerk reactions of government done in order to right a perceived previous wrong. Reasoning may be totally unrelated to topic, but is designed to stir up enough emotions/guilt to persuade others to blindly vote for or support an idea. EXAMPLE: In 2009, the Democrats in the U.S. Congress was debating the health care overhaul bill in spite of much public opposition. In trying to keep the bill moving, the phrase “let’s win one for Teddy” was heard. Senator Ted Kennedy was a longtime advocate for universal health care and passed away shortly before the Congress voted to overhaul the health care system.