For her final project, Cassidy created this website that sheds light on the many forms of propaganda and misinformation present both historically and in the present day. The value of this website lies in its ability to help individuals recognize propaganda and combat misinformation.
The Many Forms of Propaganda
https://penguin-dahlia-rs4m.squarespace.com/
When a visitor enters the website, the first thing they see is the “Home” page. This page contains a few different elements. At the top of the page, a menu bar takes visitors to different parts of the website. In the centre of the top is the title of the site. The eye is drawn to the welcoming text to the left of the screen. It reads:
“What is Propaganda?
Propaganda can be described as communication that is intended to persuade or indoctrinate an audience. Propaganda is not contained to specific areas of the globe, specific industries, or specific mediums (Merriam-Webster, n.d.). Propaganda at its basis is storytelling, to fulfill a greater agenda.
On this site, you can explore different forms of propaganda through the examples of prominent figures throughout history, learn how to combat misinformation and advocate for truth!”
To the right of this text is a drop-down list that includes names of prominent historical figures as well as other keywords. When a visitor clicks on one of these headings it drops down, revealing a sub-heading that provides some guiding information on each section. This informs the visitors to the site of what they can expect to find as they explore the different pages and posts.
Scrolling down on the home page, a screenshot from Merriam-Webster displays a concise definition of what exactly propaganda is. This is helpful as it informs the viewer of what propaganda is and what definition of propaganda informed Cassidy’s understanding as she built this site.
Scrolling down even further is where one can find the main content of the site. Here several featured posts can be clicked. When these posts are clicked, they take the reader to a different page that contains an in-depth article. The colorful images and succinct headlines prompt the reader to begin exploring and learning through the site.
The first article is titled “Alexander the Great.”
When one clicks on this headline, they are taken to a separate page that contains the article.
This article begins by featuring a photograph of a statue of Alexander the Great, providing a valuable visual tool to paint the image of this historical figure in viewers’ minds. This is followed by some text introducing the article and delving into more information about Alexander the Great and how his history relates to propaganda.
The article reads:
“Who Is Alexander the Great?
Alexander the Great was the ruler of ancient Macedonia and Persia, the largest empire in ancient history. Alexander became the ruler of Macedonia at the age of 20 after his father Philip II passed away (Mark, 2013).
Propaganda as a Cult of Personality
In the film Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies, David Welch and Colin Moore (1.18.45) explained that Alexander the Great said he was the first person to use propaganda as storytelling (Weinstein, 2019). Alexander the Great became a God because he symbolized and created a story of himself, which is known as a cult of personality. He painted himself as a God to his empire. Moore and Welch describe that he had a vast territory to lead and keep their beliefs in him but he physically could not be everywhere at once. Therefore he created the narrative that he was a God. His omnipresent persona solidified his citizens’ belief in him as a ruler. He had statues made of him all over his empire, and he had coins made with his face on them so that even if he physically wasn’t present his Godlike powers were. The charisma of his cult of personality played a huge role in his success in conquering and ruling a land so vast.”
This text is followed by a photograph titled “Coins of Alexander the Great.” This artifact gives a unique visual insight into the period of history mentioned.
The final section of this article is titled “The Hellenistic Period.”
“The Hellenistic Period
After Alexander the Great passed away and his empire fell, that period of time is known as the Hellenistic period. Hellenistic means of Greek culture or relation, Alexander the Great created such a strong green narrative throughout his vast empire that areas far from Greece still kept their Greek culture from Alexander’s rule. His Godlike presence, statues, and gree culture were so engrained in his empire’s citizens that the narrative lasted thousands of years (Ferguson, 2018). The Hellenistic period is a direct link to the power of the cult of personality Alexander the Great created of himself. A whole time period was dedicated to the aftermath of his successful reign, that success being partly due to his use of propaganda.”
After finishing this article, visitors to the site can navigate back to the home pages to explore some of the other articles written by Cassidy.
The next article featured on the website is entitled “Cleopatra.”
It reads:
“Cleopatra 69 B.C. – 30 B.C.
Who is Cleopatra?
Cleopatra VII was the last ruler of ancient Egypt. Her family, the Ptolemaic dynasty, had ruled Egypt for 275 years. The throne was passed down to her at only 18 years old when her father Ptolemy XII Auletes passed away (Miles, 2011). Cleopatra had ruled Egypt for a total of 21 years, from 51 B.C to 30 B.C (Ashton, 2011).
According to Pucci, there are two versions of Cleopatra (2011). Many scholars have coined Cleopatra as the most famous and powerful woman in the world (Bowen, 2016), But what is more commonly portrayed of Cleopatra today is an evil and hyper-sexual enchantress. Cleopatra has become a sex symbol in mainstream media. Pucci explains that Cleopatra has become a vessel through which authors create their own fantasies and desires (2011).
Propaganda’s Impact
Cleopatra’s legacy was destroyed because of propaganda. The Romans spread false narratives throughout their empire, that she is a witch, an enchantress, and a harlot (Bowen, 2016). Augustus, emperor of Rome at the time Cleopatra died, got rid of all the evidence he could of Cleopatra’s success and reign as the ruler of Egypt. Her sexual nature has been portrayed through centuries of art and media, which has perpetuated the Roman propaganda that covered up her success long ago. This demonstrates how powerful and long-lasting misinformation can be.”
This part of the article includes the cover of the 1963 film, “Cleopatra.”
The final section of the article reads:
“Media Representation
The cover, and the film itself is a representation of how propaganda has impacted Cleopatra’s legacy and is presented as a sex symbol in the media.
The misogyny and propaganda of the past has lingered through centuries. The Roman generals Cleopatra had relations with are never purely discussed in a sexual light, but Cleopatra being a woman has been showed in the media through shallow characters with beautiful features and a seductive nature. She has only been recognized because of her relations with men, while the men are not only recognized for their relations with Cleopatra but are also celebrated for the successful generals they were.
This Youtube Video by Ted-Ed is a perfect example of the patriarchal propaganda that has oppressed the history of Cleopatra’s success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6EhRwn4zkc“
Another option for navigating the articles rather than going back and forth between the home page and the other pages is to scroll down. There is a navigational tool underneath the article that allows viewers to flip between the previous article and the next article.
The next featured article is called “Donald Trump.”
It reads:
“Who is Donald Trump?
Donald Trump is an American businessman and media figure turned politician. He became the 45th President of the United States in 2017 and was in office until 2021. (The White House, n.d.). Donald Trump represented the Republican Party and pledged to “Make America Great Again” while he was in office. Trump and his time in office is undoubtedly recognized across the globe as his personality, policies, and tweets were polarizing and often had the attention of the international community as well as American citizens.
Cult of Personality
Donald Trump’s tweets, his loyal following and the constant buzz around his name was propagandist tactic. He is a media personality after all, and his use of the media to create polarization, a loyal following, and a loud personality affirms that. Trump used his cult of personality to his advantage before, during, and after being in office (Wimberly, 2018).”
This is followed by visual evidence, including screenshots of Donald Trump’s tweets.
After briefly looking at these tweets, Cassidy moves into an examination of how social media has been used by Trump as a propagandist tool.
Now that visitors to the site have had the opportunity to learn more about how propaganda has been used by prominent historical figures, the next featured article focuses on the various forms of modern-day propaganda.
It reads:
“Modern-Day Propaganda
A look at industries and war
Industrial Propaganda
O’Connor & Weatherall use the tobacco industry as an example when they dissect industrial propaganda in their book The Misinformation Age (2019). Industrial propaganda involves the industry persuading their consumers to be in favour of their products despite the consequences. Media plays a huge role in achieving this persuasion. Tobacco, for example, was embedded in American culture and media. Movies, TV, and social media play a massive role in modern propaganda. Celebrity endorsements, pop culture and media are highly influential. Drawing on the tobacco industry, the media portrayed people smoking very frequently, which helped the sales and popularity of smoking continue to rise despite research showing how harmful it is. Biased production and research funding are other reasons industrial propaganda can be so powerful. If an industry funds its own research, they have control over what research gets published. Therefore, research can be left out, and the findings will be in the industry’s favour (Shaw, 2022).
Industrial propaganda is a perfect example of how everyone is affected by forms of propaganda, no one can escape misinformation when an industry only publishes findings in their favour, and shows advertisements only using the point of view of said funded research. How can citizens know falsehood from reality when all the research from certain industries only shows part of the truth?”
This article features a photograph of a cigarette ad as evidence of the role of advertising in spreading propaganda.
“Wartime Propaganda
Wartime propaganda has been around for a long time. However, with the new digital age, it has significantly evolved. Old examples of wartime propaganda can be recognized as the Rose the Riveter, Uncle Sam and the Soviet Union’s motherland. Wartime propaganda before the digital age was usually portrayed through posters, advertisements on the radio or TV, and political speeches.
Today, media platforms reach more people and in a quicker amount of time. News and social media are being utilized in wars as wartime propaganda. The current Russia-Ukraine war is an example of how Russia uses the media to sway the narrative of what is going on during the war. Russia uses specific topics and vocabulary to infiltrate and destabilize Ukraine’s media and the global narrative (Karpchuk & Yuskiv, 2021).”
After learning about some of the ways that propaganda manifests in the modern-day, the final featured article provides some useful insight on how students can fight against the influence of propaganda.
It reads:
“O’Connor and Weatherall gave some excellent examples of how we can fight against the spread of misinformation and propaganda in their book The Misinformation Age, which I highly recommend reading to further your knowledge about the spread of propaganda (2019).
Below is a list of ways in which students can advocate and help stop the proliferation of propaganda.
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Do not be apathetic to the cause of propaganda, it can happen anywhere.
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Fact-check your news sources, media articles, and the ways in which you ingest media.
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Advocating for financial and political independence from sources who distribute news.
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Practice linking actual truths to local and small scale issues that everyone can encounter.
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Advocating for the abolition of industry-funded research.
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Avoiding sources such as Wikipedia, and any other site with the Wikipedia standard.
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Understand the media bias chart and stay aware of the differences between news outlets and opinion outlets.
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Acknowledge the rhetorical proofs; logos, ethos, and pathos in advertisements, speeches, and media.”
“Further Recommendations
Here are more recommendations on what to read and watch to further your knowledge on propaganda and act against it.
Read This!
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No One Is Talking About This by Patricia Lockwood
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Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
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The Misinformation Age by Cailin O’Connor & James Weatherall
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The Twittering Machine by Richard Seymour
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Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino
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Flat Earth News: An Award-Winning Reporter Exposes Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media by Nick Davies
Watch This!
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Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies by Larry Weinstein.
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Inside Job by Charles Ferguson
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An Inconvenient Truth by Davis Guggenheim
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Merchants of Doubt by Robert Kenner
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Fake: Searching for Truth in the Age of Misinformation by Connecticut Public
After travelling through the different articles featured on Cassidy’s website there are still a few more tabs on the menu bar at the top of the site that have not yet been visited. One of these tabs is the “About” page. This page features an explanation of Cassidy’s motivations and goals in creating this site.
“Why?
I created this website as a final project for English 203: Topics in composition at the University of British Columbia Okanagan. Dr. Cathi Shaw asked us to create a final project using a creative medium of our choice. I have always been curious about how websites are created, which motivated me to make one of my own for this project.
I decided on exploring this topic because it is vital for young adults to have a holistic view of propaganda in its many forms. Understanding the patterns and the long-lasting effects of propaganda are crucial in order to combat the propaganda we may face today. Young adults today are future policymakers, heads of corporations, technology producers, global leaders, and voting citizens. If society wants to strive for transparency and growth, there must be a focus on the complex aspects and issues of society, such as propaganda. We must learn from its past, combat it in the present, and prevent it in the future.”
The final page is a contact page where visitors can contact Cassidy if they have any other questions about her website and the work she has done.
It reads:
“Contact
If you have any questions on the contents of this website, want to learn more about the fight against propaganda, or want the reference list of the sources used to curate this content, please reach out.
Email: Cassidyrburkart@gmail.com”
Cassidy’s website is a great example of a creative way to implement research into a project that spreads awareness on an important issue.
Note to Reader:
How many ways can society be blinded to the truth? The Many Forms of Propaganda website attempts to tackle that question. This project introduces the many ways in which propaganda infiltrates society. The first step to being able to fight against misinformation is to understand the ways misinformation presents itself. My website introduces different forms of propaganda that have been used throughout history so university students can be aware and actively combat propaganda to create a more transparent world.
As seen on the homepage of my website, I included a definition of propaganda, discussed how it can take on many forms, and then introduced what my website will entail. My homepage is my background section, and to keep my audience’s attention, I did not make it long and complex. Since I am introducing many subtopics on my website that have their own background and introduction sections within the project, I decided to keep the background on my homepage concise. On the home page I included a basic definition of propaganda and what topics are being discussed on my website. That way, readers know what propaganda is and then can click on whatever topics or figures pique their interest to learn more.
I chose an audience of university students for several reasons. Firstly, I am a university student, and therefore I could gauge what the audience values and believes in and understand how they would react to my project. Furthermore, I chose university students because they would be more likely to have a basic understanding of propaganda either from high school or university. In addition to having some knowledge of propaganda, university students and young adults are more inclined to understand the depth and issues that propaganda creates instead of being apathetic towards the topic like high school students potentially would be. Finally, I chose the primary audience of university students because understanding propaganda can supplement their studies and they can start to form connections between the impacts and history of propaganda. These students will be the future of policy-making, heads of companies, lawyers, and judges. If this generation is aware and understanding of the impacts of propaganda, there is more of a chance for progress and a more transparent future.
The secondary audience could include those slightly younger and slightly older than my target demographic such as high school students or people who have already graduated from university. While being created from credible scholarly sources, I believe my project is still easy enough to digest for those who are younger and is still academic and precise for those who may be older than my primary audience. No matter the age, it is never too late to start informing oneself about the many forms of propaganda.
I decided to explore this topic because I have always been interested in propaganda, especially how it has developed throughout history. Ever since I learned of propaganda in high school, it sparked curiosity, and I’ve studied it every chance that I could. More importantly, propaganda can take a plethora of forms, have many different tactics, it has been used across the globe, and it has been used in many contexts by multiple people. The vastness of the topic gave me the ability to choose from many angles that would appeal to my audience as well as leave room for my audience to do their own research on the topic. My project can spark curiosity and interest in the topic without covering every subtopic, giving my audience the space to do their own research and find what aspect of propaganda interests them the most. Young adults need to have a holistic view of propaganda in its many forms. Understanding the patterns and the long-lasting effects of propaganda are crucial in order to combat the propaganda we may face today. Young adults today, including myself, are future policymakers, heads of corporations, technology producers, global leaders, and voting citizens. If society wants to strive for transparency and growth, there must be a focus on the complex aspects and issues of society, such as propaganda, so that we can learn from its history, combat it in the present, and prevent it in the future.
My project was fully informed by scholarly and peer-reviewed research. I decided to include in-text citations directly inside my project since it is an acceptable platform. I believe that my university student audience would appreciate in-text citations. I would gain their trust quicker if I showed the reputable sources used to create each section. I used my research to inform each area of my website, and then I added commentary to relate why my research is relevant and connect it back to my topic.
The section on Alexander the Great was primarily inspired by Weinstein’s (2019) film Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies. Historians Welch and Moore explain how Alexander the Great was one of the first people to use storytelling as propaganda to gain the favour of his citizens, creating the first example of a cult of personality (Ferguson, 2018). Cleopatra’s section was heavily inspired by the link between misogyny and propaganda (Miles et al., 2011) and the ways her successful legacy was eradicated from history (Bowen, 2016). Donald Trump is undoubtedly a perfect example of modern-day propaganda with his use of social media to persuade his followers and grow his cult of personality (Wimberly, 2018). O’Connor & Weatherall (2019) and Dr. Cathi’s lecture (2022) on industrial propaganda provided me with the information necessary to introduce the topic of industrial propaganda. Karpchuk & Yuskiv (2021) delve into modern-day wartime propaganda regarding Russia and Ukraine, which helped me introduce wartime propaganda in a current way instead of focusing on previous wars, which are usually taught in high school, and my audience may already know of . O’Connor & Weatherall (2019) also provided me with ways to think about fighting against propaganda and inspired me to give my audience a list to start thinking about how to combat it .
To conclude, understanding propaganda in the many forms it presents itself in is crucial in developing a society that values transparency. By analyzing the many forms of propaganda, society can become more aware of the world they live in and strive for honesty and truth. My project introduces these forms of propaganda using examples of popular figures throughout history and how these ideas have evolved. In the future, I hope my generation can recognize propaganda and advocate for the truth in all aspects of our society.
References:
Bowen, S. A. (2016). Finding strategic communication & diverse leadership in the ancient world: The case of queen Cleopatra VII, the last pharaoh of Egypt. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311983.2016.1154704
Ferguson, R. J. (2018). Propaganda as ‘knowledge’ production: Alexander the great, piety, portents and persuasion. Culture Mandala: The Bulletin of the Centre for East-West Cultural and Economic Studies, 12(2), 49-94. https://pure.bond.edu.au/ws/portalfiles/portal/46269829/Propaganda_as_Knowledge_production.pdf
Karpchuk, N., & Yuskiv, B. (2021). Dominating concepts of Russian federation propaganda against Ukraine. Politologija, 102(2), 116-152. https://doi.org/10.15388/Polit.2021.102.4
Mark, J. J. (2013, November 14). Alexander the Great. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/Alexander_the_Great/
Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Propaganda. Merriam-webster dictionary. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propaganda
Miles, M., Ashton, S.-A., Pucci , G., Gurval, R., Takács. S., Curran. B., Rowland. I., DeMaria-Smith. M., Wyke. M., Montserrat. D., & Green. P. (2011). Cleopatra: A sphinx revisited. University of California Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520950269
O’Connor, C., & Weatherall, J. O. (2019). The misinformation age: How false beliefs spread Yale University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv8jp0hk.5
Shaw, C. (2022, March). Chapter 3: Industrial propaganda. [Lecture notes]. Canvas. https://canvas.ubc.ca/courses/86882/pages/chapter-3-industrial-propaganda?module_item_id=4265972
Ted-Ed. (February 2, 2017). History vs. Cleopatra. [Video]. Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6EhRwn4zkc
The White House. (n.d.). https://www.whitehouse.gov/about-the-white-house/presidents/donald-j-trump/
Weinstein, L. (Director). (2019). Propaganda: The art of selling lies. [Film]. Hawkeye Pictures.
Wimberly, C. (2018). Trump, propaganda, and the politics of ressentiment. The Journal of Speculative Philosophy, 32(1), 179–199. https://doi.org/10.5325/jspecphil.32.1.0179
Worthington, I. (2019). The treasures of Alexander the great: How one man’s wealth shaped the world. History: Reviews of New Books, 47(4), 100-102. https://doi.org/10.1080/03612759.2019.1613833