Propaganda Propaganda

The most basic definition of propaganda is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc (Propaganda).Anything that falls under misleading or biased falls into this category as well, including promotions that one doesn’t view as deceitful. Propaganda in United States’ history dates back as early as the Revolutionary War, but most Americans would argue that propaganda is of the past. Propaganda is alive and well, living in campaign platforms, advertisements, and news channels, attempting to contort their audience’s thoughts to mimic their own.

Propaganda is hard to define as most definitions do not cover the full meaning of the word. The Webster's Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary defines propaganda as " the systematic propagation or discrediting of a given doctrine or cause by circulation of polemical material, such as posters and leaflets" (1353). However, this definition does not cover the full scope of the of the word. Terence Qualter also feels the definition for propaganda needs to be more refined for its new usage. The definition that he gives is "the deliberate attempt...(to) form, control, or alter the attitudes of other groups...(with) the use of the instruments of communication" (27-28). He goes on to say that the propaganda must be aimed at the group in general because that is the basic nature of the word, in that the most effective propaganda is the propaganda which has a large audience. Qualter does mention, however, that there need be no difference in the propaganda to persuade one and the propaganda to persuade the many (28). Germany did this by controlling the flow of information into the country.

On the day of April 6th 1994, the mass murders sparked a ferocious wave of bloody reprisals as thousands of ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus were slaughtered over the next three months, killing almost 10,000 people everyday. Hutu extremists were told to load up on weapons like knives, guns, axes, whatever they could find so they could kill tutsis. They could do whatever they wanted to the Tutsis. The Hutu government said “Spare no one, especially the babies.” The Hutus goal was to kill every Tutsi in Rwanda. As told by Border guards, people have been floating down the river in hundreds everyday for weeks. Many bodies had their hands tied behind their backs. They were either shot, hacked, clubbed, burned, or drowned.

Propaganda is information that is open to an audience or the public for the sake of advocating or endorsing a particular cause or point of view. Types of Propaganda In order to understand the rhetorical strategies used within propaganda, it is important to acknowledge the different forms that it takes. Propaganda can be implemented through the television, testimonies, radio, advertisement, etc. Considering the time era, television was the most popular method of receiving information.

Television is an effective tool for propaganda. Television throws so much false information that people are trained to believe everything, little does the brain know that half the things it is hearing and watching on Television are only propaganda. Propaganda is an extremely complex idea that spreads information especially of a biased or misleading nature used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause or a person. Propaganda can be found in news and journalism, advertising and public relations and education and in all aspects of daily life. It is also shown in politics and government, business, religious and, in many forms of entertainment including music,TV shows, movies, video games and especially on social medias that everyone is addicted to like Youtube,Facebook and Twitter.

Propaganda means to spread information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view.

The killing was not as organized in Rwanda. Hutu militia spread throughout the country, executing Tutsi families with machetes, guns and clubs. The radio controlled by Hutus broadcasted the exact locations of Tutsis in hiding, and further encouraged the killing. In some villages, Hutu militia would force other Hutus to kill Tutsis in their neighborhood, or be killed themselves. Tutsis were also forced to kill their families.

In the first days of April 1994, the radio broadcast the names and addresses of Tutsi and moderate Hutu politicians on the primary death list. Its infamous message was simple: “The grave is only half-full; who will help us fill it?” Militiamen went to “work”-often observing normal office hours- with a machete in one hand and transistor radio in the other” (Peterson 256) The authority of the Hutu government to call for ethnic cleansing was unquestionable in the minds of the Hutus who carried out the murders, and committing genocide was considered part of 5their moral imperative as Hutus.

As long as Habyarimana had an explanation for these deaths and pretended to want peace with the Tutsis, Habyarimana’s government went unchecked. This set an ugly precedent with Rwandan extremist that mass slaughter was acceptable as they suffered no consequences. The French unwittingly provided arms to the Hutu Rwandan Army General Habyarimana which were later used in the 100 day genocide of Tutsis. The Arusha Accords were signed on August 4 1993, a cease-fire ensued between the Rwandan government force and RPF. “The Arusha Accords envisioned a series of democratic reforms, national elections, and repatriation of refugees” (Dorn and Matloff, Preventing the Bloodbath). However, Habyarimana delays putting the provisions of the Arusha Accords into practice. Right up to the signing of this agreement, Habyarimana uses radio to call for the brutal killing of Tutsis. Radio-Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) incite the majority Hutu population to attack and kill all Tutsis. The propaganda to condone the mass murder of the Tutsis was methodical and akin to Hitler’s propaganda campaign against the Jews with eerily similar results. The Hutu’s message not only extreme but dehumanizing as it compared “Tutsis to cockroaches that needed to be exterminated”

Propaganda is a tool for manipulating and changing the opinions people. The bases of propaganda have come forth form the modes of persuasion, Ethos, Pathos and Logos.

First, one must define propaganda and since many have done so already, I shall use the Sheryl Ross model. Her model defines propaganda as “an epistemically defective message designed with the intention to persuade a socially significant group of people on behalf of a political institution, organization, or cause.”

The spreading of ideas, information, or rumor for the purpose of helping or injuring an institution, a cause, or a person; ideas, facts, or allegations spread deliberately to further one's cause or to damage an opposing cause; also: a public action having such an effect. Every commercial ever created has some sort of propaganda device, because there would be no reason to watch it if there was not. Whether it

I decided to look further into the similar situation which occurred in Rwanda during 1994. The historical general reference I used, was the film Hotel Rwanda. The film portrayed the incident quite accurately and historically. The Rwandan genocide started when the military claimed rebels had murdered an official, which they used as evidence for the soon to follow “ethnic cleansing.” The radio was used for hate propaganda, calling upon the Hutus to

First and foremost, we must understand the concept of propaganda and mass media in contemporary world. According to Noam Chomsky, and Edward S. Herman on “Manufacturing Consent: The political Economy of the Mass Media” propaganda model was defined as

You would always think ‘why don’t people stop this kind of brutality?’ and ‘why don’t they have a sense of wrong?!’ The Hutu’s may have had parents or guardians who installed in them that sense of hate, or someone had a way with words and persuaded them that the Tutsi’s were their rivals. Just like Hitler