Media in the 1960s free essay sample

As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda is often biased, with facts selectively presented (thus possibly lying by omission) to encourage a particular synthesis, or uses loaded messages to produce an emotional rather than rational response to the information presented. The desired result is a change of the attitude toward the subject in the target audience to further a political, or other type of agenda. Propaganda can be used as a form of political warfare. ’ Propaganda was used widely during the 1960’s, as the United States and the Soviet Union both used propaganda extensively during the Cold War. When describing life in capitalist countries, in the U. S. in particular, propaganda focused on social issues such as poverty and anti-union action by the government. Workers in capitalist countries were portrayed as ideologically close. Propaganda claimed rich people from the U. We will write a custom essay sample on Media in the 1960s or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page S. erived their income from weapons manufacturing, and claimed that there was substantial racism or neo-fascism in the U. S. When describing life in Communist countries, western propaganda sought to depict an image of a citizenry held captive by governments that brainwash them. The West also created a fear of the East, by depicting an aggressive Soviet Union. In the Americas, Cuba served as a major source and a target of propaganda from both black and white stations operated by the CIA and Cuban exile groups. Psychological warfare became, in essence, a synonym for Cold War. It reflected the belief of many politicians and foreign policy analysts that the Cold War was an ideological, psychological, and cultural contest for hearts and minds that would be won or lost on the plain of public opinion rather than by blood shed on the battlefield. The Cold War lasted from the end of World War II right up to the early 1990s, although the Soviet Union and the USA never actually engaged in direct battle. Instead, the Cold War was expressed through weapons development (the nuclear arms race), technological development (the space race), espionage and propaganda. Western democratic states churned out huge amounts of propaganda material throughout the First and Second World Wars, but practically decommissioned their propaganda machines post 1945. This is why most of the posters that we explore below have emerged from the Soviet Union or independent political activist groups, and not the West. The posters in this article have not only been selected on the basis of their highly creative and original content, each one also conceals a message. In some cases the message is blindingly obvious. In others, the message can only be deciphered once the poster has been placed in its historical context. psychological warfare n. The use of various techniques, such as propaganda and terror, to lower an enemys morale. es ·pi ·o ·nage   (spnazh, -nj)n. The act or practice of spying or of using spies to obtain secret information, as about another government or a business competitor. prop ·a ·gan ·da? ?[prop-uh-gan-duh] noun 1. information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc.