COML 509 - Propaganda

Assignment - ​Create a piece of propaganda. This could be a fake news story, or an image designed to persuade the audience. Post on your blog and discuss what makes it propaganda. 

My propaganda is a script for a fake political radio advertisement. Since the elections are a month away, television and radio advertisements here in Seattle are filled with political spots. Negative political advertisements are generally loathed by the public, but they are effective and political campaign managers and consultants believe they work, even if the evidence is inconclusive. They take a kernel of truth and twist and mold it to shape an extreme negative perception of an opposing candidate or issue.

​We've all seen political advertisements and most of us express annoyance that they clog up our commercials. But we often remember the message delivered in the advertisements. Negative campaign advertisements exist because they work. They could be considered a type of propaganda because of some of their characteristics, including being misleading and publicizing a political point of view. But most political ads are tied to a fact, which is why I would not consider them to be true propaganda.

My example, however, is true propaganda because it is not true. It is a good example of the absurdity of political advertisements. I see it as propaganda and also satire, because it seems like it could be real. 

Fake political radio advertisement 

:30 seconds

[Introduction begins with ominous music in the background]

Narrator: Many Washingtonians consider their pets to be part of the family and would do anything to get them the medicine they need to survive. As a state representative, Joe Smith voted to raise taxes on medical supplies for pets by 400 percent. Those tax increases resulted in thousands of families in Washington having to give their beloved pets away.

Sound: Dogs sadly barking and whining in the background

Narrator: Joe Smith and his cronies in Olympia want to make pets unaffordable for everyone but the one percent. He doesn’t share our values. Joe Smith: Bad for our pets, bad for Washington. 

Narrator (quickly speaking): Paid for by People Protecting the Population against Pet Taxes

Sound: Single happy dog bark