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Wartime Propaganda Report

Good Essays

As noted earlier, radio was used widely and extensively during World War II. War correspondents, military leaders, and political leaders at different points of the world were able to use radio as a form of propaganda. All of the major nations recognized the power of radio to transmit information and use certain rhetoric to influence people domestically and abroad. Wartime propaganda focused on positive themes, such as patriotism and hope as well as negative themes, such as fear of the enemy and hatred. While radio broadcasting aimed to increase the feelings of patriotism similar to the United States forces, the enemy also used it as a tool for shaping the minds of people and soldiers.
As the war progressed and as radio’s effect on people …show more content…

However, all news about the war had to pass through the agency. The Office of War Information determined what and when news should or should not be aired. Radio broadcasters did not have the same freedom of speech as they did before. Americans were given a censored version of the war. However, it also operated to make sure broadcasters were not aiding and abetting the information to enemies; the agency constantly operated for national interest.
Radio’s widespread popularity as a mass communication device during wartime caused leaders and civilians to use the device to negatively influence their enemies. Oftentimes, dictators manipulated propaganda to brainwash people to view the war in the way in which they wanted.
International radio in World War II operated under two types of strategy: offensive and defensive. In an offensive strategy, the themes stressed readiness and ability to carry it out and the weakness of one’s enemies in attempting to carry it out and the weakness of one’s enemies in attempting to resist it. In a defensive strategy, the emphasis was generally on refuting the enemy’s charges by calling attention to their errors or falseness (Browne, 1982, p. …show more content…

Unlike any other medium that was developed before it, radio introduced the world to the ability of information to be transferred from one place to another in a matter of seconds. Families would gather around the radio at home every day and night to listen to the most up-to-date news. It created a whole new sense of efficiency that influenced people’s way of life permanently. People received news quickly and in various ways that strengthened their understandings. Radio broadcasting heightened the American population’s intelligence as a

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