Encyclopedia of Propaganda Techniques: Part 1
Let me start with some practical advice. The simplest psychological defense against propaganda and “brainwashing” is to consciously break contact with the source of information. For example, just stop watching TV for a week or two from time to time, and your mind will “recover.” The spell cast by television fades away. After that, your awareness increases dramatically, and for a while, you’ll easily notice which TV programs are trying to manipulate you.
Another tip: if you want objective information, go to a scientific library. If you want a dose of advertising and political propaganda, turn on the TV or buy a newspaper. And listen carefully… Just make sure to pause occasionally and filter out the ready-made clichés and illusions that are being forcefully implanted into your mind.
37 Sections Explaining the Main Methods of Mind Manipulation:
- Anonymous Authority
- “Everyday Story”
- Hunger Strike
- “Stop, Thief!”
- Flooding with Talk
- Emotional Resonance
- Boomerang Effect
- Halo Effect
- Primacy Effect
- Presence Effect
- Information Blockade
- Use of Mediators
- Classifiers and Comments
- Statement of Fact
- False Analogy
- Feedback
- Flanking Maneuver
- Distraction
- “Eyewitnesses” of Events
- Rewriting History
- Perspective
- Repetition
- Substitution
- Half-Truth
- Contrast Principle and Trial Balloons
- Psychological Shock
- Ranking
- Sensationalism or Urgency
- Shifting Emphasis
- Creating Associations
- Creating an Information Wave
- Creating a Problem
- Creating a Threat
- Social Approval
- Fused Proposals
- Preemptive Strike
- Poisoned Sandwich
So, let’s get started…
Anonymous Authority
This is a favorite technique for misleading people, actively used by all mass media. It belongs to so-called “gray” propaganda. It’s long been proven that one of the most effective methods of influence is to appeal to authority. The authority in question can be religious, a prominent political figure, a scientist, or another professional. The name of the authority is not disclosed. Instead, documents, expert opinions, witness reports, and other materials are cited to make the message more convincing. Examples: “Scientists, based on years of research, have established…”, “Doctors recommend…”, “A source close to the president, who wished to remain anonymous, reports…”. Which scientists? Which doctors? What source? In most cases, information presented this way is false. References to non-existent authorities give it weight and credibility in the eyes of the public. The source is not identified, and journalists bear no responsibility for false information. So, if a passage in popular media starts with “sources say” or “scientists recommend,” be sure: this is not information, but propaganda or hidden advertising; and the authors are far from being scholars or confident in their own correctness.
“Everyday Story”
The “everyday” or “ordinary” story is used, for example, to help people adapt to information that is clearly negative or evokes rejection. In specialized literature, this method is described calmly and matter-of-factly. For instance, if you want to accustom people to violence, blood, murder, or all kinds of atrocities, a well-groomed TV host with a calm face and even voice will casually report the most heinous crimes to you every day. After a few weeks of this treatment, the public stops reacting to even the most monstrous crimes and mass murders happening in society. (This is the psychological effect of habituation.)
This technique was used, in particular, during the coup in Chile (1973), when it was necessary to make the population indifferent to the actions of Pinochet’s special services. In the post-Soviet space, it is actively used when covering mass protests, opposition actions, strikes, etc. For example, a massive demonstration against the current regime is dispersed by riot police using batons and tear gas. Women and the elderly are brutally beaten, opposition leaders are arrested. The next day, journalists, in a businesslike and unemotional tone, casually report that another protest took place, law enforcement had to use force, a certain number of public order violators were arrested, and criminal cases were opened “in accordance with the law,” and so on. This technique allows the media to maintain the illusion of objective reporting, but at the same time, it devalues the significance of what happened, creating the impression among the public that the event was insignificant and not worthy of special attention or public assessment.
Hunger Strike
An effective method of emotional influence on the electorate and psychological pressure on the authorities. A group of well-paid, healthy young people is selected to organize a “therapeutic fasting course” in a public place, without any real risk. The media creates an incredible buzz around it. Constant accusations are made against the regime, organization, or specific individuals for being inhumane. It’s extremely difficult to resist this technique (if done professionally), because the authorities are forced to respond to the “protesters'” demands in any case.
“Stop, Thief!”
The goal of this technique is to blend in with your pursuers. A vivid example is the CIA’s experience during William Colby’s tenure in the 1970s. When the organization was accused of terrorism, assassinations, bombings, overthrowing governments, drug trafficking, and agent failures, the CIA under Colby rushed ahead of the accusers and started exposing itself so zealously that the accusers could barely keep up. This is how Colby saved the CIA.
This technique is also used for discrediting: when the guilty party, sensing failure, is the first to raise a fuss and direct public anger elsewhere. “Human rights activists” and “mafia fighters” often use this method to disorganize the public.
Flooding with Talk
The “flooding with talk” method is used when it’s necessary to reduce the relevance or provoke a negative reaction to a certain phenomenon. By using it, you can successfully fight an opponent by continuously praising them, appropriately or not, constantly mentioning their name, and exaggerating their abilities. People quickly get tired of this, and just hearing the person’s name becomes irritating. It’s hard to accuse the organizers of intentional discrediting, since formally they are making every effort to praise.
During elections, this technique is actively used in the form of an “information explosion” or a massive “leak of compromising material.” The goal is to cause fatigue and headaches among people, discouraging voters from caring about what any candidate really stands for.
This method is also often used to create so-called “information noise,” when a stream of secondary messages is used to hide an important event or main problem.
Emotional Resonance
The technique of emotional resonance can be defined as a way to create a certain mood in a wide audience while simultaneously delivering propaganda information. Emotional resonance helps break down psychological defenses that people build on a conscious level to protect themselves from propaganda or advertising “brainwashing.” One of the main rules of propaganda is: always appeal to a person’s feelings first, not their reason. When defending against propaganda messages, a person can always build a system of counter-arguments on a rational level and nullify all “special treatment” efforts. But if the propaganda influence occurs on an emotional level, outside conscious control, no rational counter-arguments will work.
These techniques have been known since ancient times. They are based on the phenomenon of social induction (emotional contagion). The emotions and feelings we experience are largely social phenomena. They can spread like an epidemic, sometimes infecting tens or hundreds of thousands of people and making the masses “resonate” in unison. We are social creatures and easily pick up the feelings of others, especially in close relationships. Everyone knows what it means to “ruin the mood” of a loved one and how easy it can be. For example, a mother in a bad mood always passes it on to her small child; a spouse’s bad mood can instantly affect the other, and so on.
The effect of emotional contagion is especially strong in a crowd—a situational group of people not united by a conscious goal. A crowd is a social entity characterized by the similarity of its members’ emotional states. In a crowd, emotions are mutually transmitted and intensified. The nature of mass emotional contagion is still not well understood. One interesting hypothesis suggests that the main role is played by resonance oscillations in the electromagnetic fields generated by the human body.
The behavior of people in a crowd has been described in many sources, all agreeing that a person, becoming part of a mass, falls under the power of passions. Typical signs of crowd behavior are the dominance of situational feelings (moods), loss of intellect and responsibility, heightened suggestibility, and easy manageability. These states can be intensified by various means. The necessary moods are induced by the right environment, time of day, lighting, mild stimulants, theatrical forms, music, songs, etc. In psychology, there is a special term—fascination—which refers to conditions that increase the effectiveness of perceived material through accompanying background influences. Fascination is most often used in theatrical performances, game and show programs, political and religious (cult) events, etc., to infect people in a crowd with a special emotional state. Against this background, the relevant information is delivered, but care should be taken not to overload it.
In today’s world, the emotions we experience are largely the result of induction by mass media. Creating emotional resonance is one of the main goals of most information messages and entertainment shows. The media always tries to evoke strong emotions in a wide audience, and if necessary, they push these emotions to the extreme (see Psychological Shock). A simple example: pay attention to the tone of voice radio or TV hosts use when reading news about events in the country or the world. When it comes to tragic events (disasters, wars, terrorist attacks), the tone is usually filled with noble sorrow or indignation at the perpetrators. If, for example, the next message is about another meeting between the head of state and miners (pilots, teachers, doctors), you’ll notice how the host’s face instantly changes and their voice takes on a “constructive optimism” and confidence in the nation’s happy future. This technique is called “emotional adjustment to the situation.” In this simple way, you can shape the audience’s emotional attitude toward an event.
Besides emotional adjustment, there are other methods to make the audience “vibrate” with the desired intensity. One is the rhetorical device of gradation: the commentator repeats arguments with increasing intensity: “Our people endured, endured for a long time, endured for a very long time! We endured hunger, poverty, humiliation, shame! We suffered, suffered for a long time, suffered for a very long time! How much longer…” This technique emotionally “charges” listeners. To increase the emotional impact, messages are often filled with specific details, which are better remembered and absorbed. “Eyewitness Testimonies” are especially effective, as they rely on elements of personal experience. Various classifiers are also used to create emotional resonance.
Many techniques for creating the desired moods in media audiences were perfected in Germany during and before World War II. For example, radio broadcasts used sound effects to artificially intensify aggressive feelings. All of Hitler’s speeches were accompanied by Wagner’s music, which had an oppressive effect on listeners: heavy and complex, it created a sense of the approaching Nazi war machine, capable of crushing a person, and carried a threatening character. To fuel mass psychosis, parades, marches, and rallies were broadcast on the radio.
Here’s a more complex example of emotional resonance: the numerous TV series and entertainment reality and talk shows that flood modern television. Notice the high emotional intensity of these shows. The characters in the series are constantly arguing loudly, expressing their emotions passionately, and the plots are designed to keep viewers in constant suspense: “What will happen next?” Professionally trained talk show participants, playing the role of “ordinary people from the street,” tell their “life stories” vividly and emotionally, often trying to settle scores with their offenders live on air. Almost every such show features a fight or heated argument, designed to emotionally “charge” the audience and hook them emotionally. All this is done for a reason. The goal is to create emotional dependence in viewers. Once people get used to receiving a dose of intense emotions from a particular source, they will continue to prefer it. This is how TV executives build a loyal audience of series-addicts, show-addicts, and so on, essentially “zombifying” them to keep them hooked on this way of getting emotional highs. And a loyal audience is a commodity that can be sold to advertisers for a high price. Mass media “zombies,” like any addicts, will try to maintain their “high” endlessly—meaning they will endlessly consume more and more TV content, generously mixed with commercial and political advertising…