Media, Persuasion and Propaganda

This is an eclectic, interdisciplinary overview of persuasive strategies and propaganda techniques. Living in a saturated media environment, we are crowded from all sides by persuasive messages and information. Advice, promotion and propaganda form a spectrum of persuasion - and everywhere we see it performed in its full theatricality, complete with actors, scripts, props and costumes. Media, Persuasion and Propaganda guides the reader through the many varieties of persuasion and its performance, exploring the protocols of rhetoric unique to the medium, from orality and print to film and digital images. Using case studies and exercises, this innovative study poses challenging questions: How do individuals and organisations exert influence to build communities and networks? What role do media play in communicating persuasive messages? How do we use recent discoveries in cognitive science to promote a cause, advocate social change or market ideas and products? How do we defend ourselves against manipulation and undue influence and when does persuasion turn into propaganda? It uses global examples and case studies to define the spectrum of persuasion, from promotion to propaganda. It examines the performance of propaganda, from orality to new media. It includes exercises in each chapter to reinforce the key themes and promote discussion. 1. Orientalism: it explores western scholarly and media portrayals of the Orient the Middle East, North Africa, and Islam for ideological purposes; 2. Abu Ghraib Exposed; it examines the disturbing images which emerged in the US media in 2004 exposing the torture of Iraqi prisoners by the American military and CIA operatives in Abu Ghraib prison, Baghdad; 3. PR and Climate Change: it delves into Cuba's Revolutionary Landscape to look at the presentation of climate issues; 4. The Power of Nightmares; British filmmaker Adam Curtis argues that the global 'War on Terror' is based on a myth providing politicians with their power to govern; and; 5. Rupert Murdoch and his News Corporation Scanda. It also includes: 6. The Israel Lobby: In March 2009, British MP George Galloway was denied entry into Canada because he supported Hamas, an elected political party in Gaza identified as a terrorist organisation by the Canadian government. Soules examines the pro Israel lobby as a significant source of flak challenging media reports on Israeli Palestinian relations; 7. Fox News: raises issues about journalistic ethics and management interference, especially when that interference is sustained, partisan, and inflammatory; and 8. Ai Wei Wei: Never Sorry. In his notorious 1995 performance piece, dissident Chinese artist Ai Wei Wei photographed himself dropping an ancient Han Dynasty urn which smashed at his feet. This case study explores the aftermath and how Ai Wei Wei became a hero of dissent for critics of China's human rights policies. See more