What Is Propaganda

Serene Qandil

40005784 (Group 3)

Comms- 361 Propaganda

TA: Bradley Peppinck

January 28th, 2018

First 3T Response

Lesson three: Total

Question: Why is it that an organization will be the conceiver and disseminator of Propaganda rather than an individual?  

Individuals are neither conceivers nor disseminators of Propaganda for two reasons. Individuals lack the monetary resources to run propaganda campaigns and lack the credibility to convince the public of their opinions. This idea relates to the notion of Totality, which suggests that all media and resources must be used in propaganda.

Dr. Murphy explains that supporting a propagandist campaign needs extensive amounts of money and administrative resources that an individual simply does not have access too. As the idea of Totality dictates, propaganda is only effective when all its mediums are used, therefore not relying on a few mediums to spread a certain message. As such, financial support is crucial in running a successful propagandist campaign. This can be difficult and overwhelming for a single person to do.

Organizations have a more trusted authority than individuals, which gives them more power and increases credibility. Since an organization has multiple sources for spreading its views, the information given from an organization is more likely to be taken seriously than by an individual. For example, if a political campaign buys Internet, tv, and radio adds that spread the same message about a candidate, the public will be more inclined to believe this over an individual sharing the same information.

The Hungarian Connection example in lesson three proves that an individual cannot accomplish propaganda. To address depression in society, Hungarian doctors proposed using various media outlets to spread the message that people should talk with a therapist. The slogan they used and the efforts of the doctors are an example of total propaganda because of the use of multiple media outlets. In conclusion, this example shows the expenses in propaganda and proves that an individual does not have the resources or credibility to run a propaganda campaign.                  

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