Public Relations is the business of shaping and maintaining a public image of a celebrity, company, organization, or, even, a government. The Public is defined as clients, voters, members of a community, media consumers, parents/students, online groups, citizens...basically, anyone consuming mass media. With social media, public relations can directly influence or manipulate the masses. Take, for example, Mark Zuckerberg's most recent PR blunder and the Cambridge Analytica apology.
Propaganda is the idea or statement (often false or exaggerated/hyperbole...) that are spread culturally in order to help a cause, a political leader or party, a government, or any established institution. The fiasco concerning the Russian Bots, for example, are a good example of this.
Advertising, on the other hand, uses simple or fixed messages through "ads" to influence a consumer to buy a product. This may include product placement on social media or in films, for example.
TASK: take a look at these cartoons, PSA commercials, or media clips, and ask: What is the idea, statement, or image being shaped or spread? How might the message help a specific cause? What biases are inherent in the message? Then, in the COMMENT section of this post, please choose a few examples from what you've studied here and comment on the role of Public Relations & Propaganda in our Media today. This assignment will be due by Tuesday, May 29.
Noam Chomsky: The 5 Filters of Mass Media (video)
Manufacturing Consent (Chomsky, illustrated video); Manufacturing Dissent (video/interview)
PsyWar (2010, documentary)
Propaganda & Public Relations:
Watch a variety of the clips below today in class. Note how the makers of these films/clips use pathos and logos to persuade us (perhaps by changing our feelings or making us think or feel.) Use what you've just learned about Noam Chomsky's filters of the Mass Media and what you've learned. As you watch, identify: Who's point of view is being presented? After viewing, select up to 5 of the pieces (make sure you have watched at least 1 of each type: commercials, PSA films, and cartoons) and comment on the video in the COMMENT section below for participation credit. Compare/contrast ideas.
Commercials:
Propaganda is the idea or statement (often false or exaggerated/hyperbole...) that are spread culturally in order to help a cause, a political leader or party, a government, or any established institution. The fiasco concerning the Russian Bots, for example, are a good example of this.
Advertising, on the other hand, uses simple or fixed messages through "ads" to influence a consumer to buy a product. This may include product placement on social media or in films, for example.
TASK: take a look at these cartoons, PSA commercials, or media clips, and ask: What is the idea, statement, or image being shaped or spread? How might the message help a specific cause? What biases are inherent in the message? Then, in the COMMENT section of this post, please choose a few examples from what you've studied here and comment on the role of Public Relations & Propaganda in our Media today. This assignment will be due by Tuesday, May 29.
Check this website and read about propaganda here to get you started: United States Holocaust Museum.
Noam Chomsky: The 5 Filters of Mass Media (video)
Manufacturing Consent (Chomsky, illustrated video); Manufacturing Dissent (video/interview)
PsyWar (2010, documentary)
Propaganda & Public Relations:
Watch a variety of the clips below today in class. Note how the makers of these films/clips use pathos and logos to persuade us (perhaps by changing our feelings or making us think or feel.) Use what you've just learned about Noam Chomsky's filters of the Mass Media and what you've learned. As you watch, identify: Who's point of view is being presented? After viewing, select up to 5 of the pieces (make sure you have watched at least 1 of each type: commercials, PSA films, and cartoons) and comment on the video in the COMMENT section below for participation credit. Compare/contrast ideas.
Commercials:
- 1971: Environmental PSA
- 1970's Coca-Cola Commercial
- 1980's Commercial on Drugs & this one & 1990's anti-drug PSA & the updated 2016 version
- Global Climate PSA
- Global Climate PSA #2
- Child Refugees PSA
- US Navy Recruitment & 2012 Marines Recruitment PSA & US Army
- For the clown-phobic student: 1960's commercial for cereal
- 1950's: How to Handle a Bully
- 1960's: Lunchroom Manners
- The Trouble with Women
- 1970's Anti-Marijuana Propaganda
- 1970's Anti-gay Propaganda - Boys Beware
- Sam: Short Film About Gender Identity and Bullying
- Education for Death (1943) Walt Disney
- Commando Duck (1944) Walt Disney
- Make Mine Freedom (1948)
- Duck and Cover (1951)
- Elbow Room (1976)
- The Great American Melting Pot (1977)
- Communist Propaganda
- Dare to Stand
Please use the lab time given you today to further your documentary project (or complete the homework--see below)
HOMEWORK: Continue working on your documentary projects; Aim to complete your filming this weekend!
Read & annotate PR packet.
The idea that is being expressed are companies trying to sell products to consumers without being blatantly obvious. For public service announcements, they are trying to spread information about pros and cons of performing certain activities, like smoking. Certain messages aid to causes by promoting ideas that will earn the movement a good name. Making an announcement that doing drugs is bad (which is a given) makes viewers think, "Wow. This company has good morals!" and will improve the reputation of the organization. In political announcements, biases such as liberalism and conservatism are also evident within their messages. A couple examples that demonstrate the role of Public Relations are the mentioned political advertisements like campaigns toward Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. In order to win the major vote, they need to voice out their interests and goals they want to acheive in their presidency. The two also need to promote an image of wellness (except for Trump) to win more supporters and detract any criticism. Lastly, the two political leaders used bad public relations against each other to derail the competition.
ReplyDeleteSome good and relevant points!
DeleteThe role of Public Relations and Propaganda is prominent and of extreme important in modern media, and was also of immense importance in media in the past. Public Relations and Propaganda promote ideas and products to the masses, which expands the popularity of these ideas and products. A few examples from what we have studied here are the series of commercials regarding drugs and the anti littering commercial. These commercials promote anti drug and anti littering ideas. Drugs and littering are two things that are known to be negative, and promoting ideas that show an attempt at lessening the use of drugs and the actions of littering are sure to get the public's opinion in a positive light. This is exactly the effect that the commercials were intended to have. These examples clearly depict the role and effect of Public Relations and Propaganda in media today.
ReplyDeleteThe Great American Melting Pot
ReplyDelete-This cartoon displays how America was considered to be a country where all different types of people could blend together and thrive together no matter where you're from.
The Trouble with Women
-This PSA film shows how man's depiction of women in a work field are considered bothersome or negative until it is brought to life that these bothersome or negative traits are simple human traits or are simply apart of life, not that they pertain to the person being a woman, plus to add the icing on the cake women increased productivity and yet were still looked at as an issue simply because they were women, but it was brought to life that the women were more productive than the men within the work force and that there is no real issue with women, only the ones that men create.
1970's Anti-Marijuana Propaganda
-This PSA film tries to depict marijuana in a negative light, putting focus on and displaying possible negative traits of marijuana, but with no acknowledgement of facts or its benefits.
Sam: A Short Film About Gender Identity and Bullying
-This short film is about that struggle of finding yourself in terms of gender identity. That fight between, as a girl, what to wear or what toys to play with. It identifies how there is a struggle with finding yourself and what works for you because of societies standards of how you're supposed to be, and it also shows the bullying that comes within this confused state, that then just leads to more struggle with finding yourself, but it more so just sums up that the overall journey will be hard, but you eventually find yourself and either stand up to and fall within societies standards.
1970's Coca-Cola Commercial
-This is basically just an advertisement for Coca Cola trying to persuade people to buy it.
Based on these videos I can come to the conclusion that the role of propaganda and public relations within the media is to influence, persuade or spread an idea in support of a product, a people, or an idea. They live within our media in order to spread to vast amounts of people being that media is a growing source that is used everyday by people. Propaganda and public relations spread an idea in hopes of gaining support from the mass and they do that through commercials, PSAs, cartoons, and many other sources to gain the attention of the mass and to further share their idea. For example, the 1970s Coca Cola commercial was sort of used as an advertisement for coca cola in hopes to persuade people to buy it, in order to support the brand/business.
Excellent commentary! Thanks for breaking these down and using several specific examples.
DeleteThe role of Public Relations is that they are the ones who represent their clients and are responsible for anything that maybe incorrect about their client and clear the dust. They can also use subliminal messages to advertise ideas or products to people without being too obvious or over the top. Of course, things like propaganda are always taken too far and it's when journalists and other PR's come together to deliver the truth or at least their version of the truth.
ReplyDelete1980's Commercial on Drugs
ReplyDelete-This is targeting young viewers who think doing drugs makes them look 'cool' or popular. The role of public relations in this commercial is letting these types of viewers know the consequences that come with it.
The development of public relations and propaganda is an effort to convey a message, and/or advertise one. Propaganda spreads the message out there, persuading and manipulating its audience. While public relations advertises it, or attempts to maintain a particular image.
ReplyDeletePSA announcements on the recruitment of soldiers or anti-drugs are to spread a particular message, that public relations advertises. In this instance, the recruitment of soldiers footage spreads that message of pride and nationalism in one's country, and through the various intriguing scenes the PR is keeping up the image. Whereas, the anti-drugs convey's the message that drugs are a tragedy to your body and life.
The role of public relations and propaganda in our media today is to convey messages, sometimes false or exaggerated, from an individual, organization, or government to the masses. For example, the Schoolhouse Rock song: "The Great American Melting Pot," was a cartoon spread propaganda that suggested the United States has a unique ability to blend various cultures and peoples together, thus promoting nationalism in America. The 1970s Anti Marijuana Propaganda was a PSA film that exaggerated and made up some of the negative effects of marijuana in order to convince younger audiences that smoking marijuana was bad for them and that they should stop. The 1980's anti drug PSA used the phrase "this is your brain on drugs" in conjunction with an egg splitting over a frying pan to attempt to scare audiences into thinking that drugs fry your brain.
ReplyDelete