Exercise 88D Understanding the power of propaganda Key Skills Success criteria
Propaganda is when information, opinions or even pictures are used with the intention of infl uencing people’s opinions. These are generally biased and often false. They are designed to make one group or viewpoint look bad and another look good.
We often think of how Hitler and Mussolini used propaganda to get people to support them and turn against others, but they were not the only people to use propaganda. The image on the right was used to recruit soldiers in Britain for World War I. It creates the impression of men from many diff erent professions joining together for a noble cause. It makes no reference to what the war really involved or that the obviously wealthy men were less likely to have to fi ght on the front line.
Propaganda can be in other formats. Some Hollywood fi lms, such as American Sniper and Zero Dark Thirty, have been seen as propaganda for the US military. Both fi lms present one side of complex issues and do not question whether it is acceptable to execute people without a trial.
Propaganda can also be used to positive eff ect, such as promoting health or environmental campaigns. The children’s writer, Dr Seuss, wrote The Lorax as a tale about the dangers of destroying the environment. The poster shown on the right encouraged people to wear a mask during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Look at the posters below and answer the following questions.
3
I can explain, giving examples, what makes propaganda eff ective.