Propaganda Techniques

Buzzword

" words that give the impression of importance through technical or scientific complexity, but actually mean very little.

Big Lie

"The expression was coined by Adolf Hitler in his 1925 autobiography Mein Kampf for a lie so ""colossal"" that no one would believe that someone "could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously."

Agent Provocateur

"a plant, placed inside an organization, designed to make that organization look bad through his actions. This false agent's goal is to discredit the group by making it appear radical, reactionary, or just plain dangerous."

Talking Points

"an effort to control the message by limiting what is discussed.

Testimonial

"endorsements from famous people, often in cases in which the endorser has no direct relationship to the product or idea being peddled. The idea is to make the consumer transfer her positive feelings for the endorser to the product/idea."

Front Groups

"groups that purport to be independent or, in the United States, non-partisan, but actually represented moneyed and powerful interests."

Astroturf

"is a play on the idea of grassroots activism. In the grassroots model, the reform comes from the bottom up, from ordinary Americans. "

Smear

"one of the most common propaganda techniques, in which an opponent is covered in so much filth that he becomes unacceptable/repulsive to audiences.

Scapegoating

"placing the blame on someone who has had marginal (or no) responsibility for a negative event, diverting attention from those truly responsible."

Disinformation

"when a government or corporation distorts the truth to convince the public. When the "truth" comes out, the _________ will have become so widespread that the public either does not know what to believe, or accepts the original lie."

Glittering Generalities

"words that are very positive, but without meaning, designed to make the listener have positive feelings."

Googlebombing

A Google bomb occurs when a group of people conspires to artificially elevate a website in Google's web search results

Double Speak

Derived from Orwell's 1984, ________ refers to the ability of government and corporate officials to use precise language to actually hide or distort meaning."

Name Calling

attacking an opponent using techniques honed on 1st grade playgrounds everywhere: attaching a negative name to a person that overrides realistic assessment of his work/ideas.

Ad Hominem

attacking the person rather than her ideas.

Fear Appeal

designed to frighten an audience into action or belief. They often rely on strong visual images.

Whataboutism

the technique or practice of responding to an accusation or difficult question by making a counteraccusation or raising a different issue.

Euphemism

using positive language to dilute the impact of negative ideas.

Bandwagon

refers to the idea that people should adopt a program or belief because "everyone else is doing it."

Fundamental Attribution Error

sociological claim that we are more likely to blame personal behavior than external factors for the actions taken by other people.

Transfer

the association of positive ideas and feelings from one thing to the idea/person/object that the propagandist wants you have positive feelings for.

Greenwashing

the effort by corporations to burnish their record as champions of the environment through advertising or other rhetorical appeals.

Association

the process of creating bias about an unknown individual or organization by associating it with something familiar. It is very similar to the idea of transfer.

Narrowcasting

" when a political leader or corporation uses targeted messages for specific audiences with the intention of misleading.

Empty Rhetoric

" when someone uses lofty language, promising action, but has no intention of turning the speech into reality."

Photographic Manipulation

" a growing concern, given ubiquitous use of programs like Photoshop and the gullibility of consumers. Manipulated photos are just that—photographs changed to alter the true events. "

Plain Folks

" a propaganda technique that is uniquely effective in the United States, which has a long history of rejecting elitists and intellectuals"

Push Polling

" a relatively new propaganda technique, in which a political party or candidate will use misleading polling to demonize an opponent. Typically, the caller makes false or wildly distorted claims in the course of asking poll questions, leading the listeners to believe negative information about a candidate."

Distraction

" diverting the public's attention away from a critically important issue by presenting a trivial, but interesting alternative.

Least of All Evils

" presents limited options to the audience, in an effort to manipulate it into accepting the rhetor's preferred choice."

Bait and Switch

" promising one thing without intending to deliver it. Its origin comes from unscrupulous storeowners, who used to promise big savings in advertisements and then sell the consumer another product."

Divide and Conquer

" rhetorically dividing and then attacking the opposition. When one can create a schism—real or imagined—in the other side, it becomes much easier to demonize each side."

Junk Science

" the use of bogus or misleading science to persuade people. It often relies on a lack of statistical/scientific reasoning in the target audience.

Passive Voice

" used to deflect responsibility from the responsible party to an undefined agent, excusing the rhetor from his own misdeeds."

Googlewashing

" very recent propaganda technique, in which the propagandist attempts to control history/reality on the Internet. "