Yellow Journalism & Propaganda

http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/28722/bk0007t0h57/

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The American media has since the Revolutionary war, used it’s biased ways to influence the society. Back then it was mainly books and newspapers that used propaganda to get Americans to dislike certain things or agree with them on certain topics. But with today’s technology propaganda has grown to a whole new level. With the news, movies, posters, internet, cartoons, etc. people are influenced everyday to believe something they don’t know both sides on. That is the point of propaganda; to get people to agree without knowing all the facts.

Propaganda has been used a lot in wars or major controversies in the U.S. In WWII we used propaganda to get many young Americans to go to war with Axis powers. How? By showing posters of Uncle Sam and Hitler with the caption, “Whose side are you on?” Well obviously we didn’t agree with Hitler, so whats the other option? Uncle Sam. Just because we didn’t support Hitler does not mean you have to join the military to support the U.S. but that’s the way propaganda made us think. It was used in the newspapers to get the U.S. to agree with going to war against Spain for the explosion of the U.S.S. Maine. Saying the spanish have destroyed one of our ships and killed innocent soldiers lives. The government knew it was an engine problem which caused the explosion yet they didn’t stop the rumors. Because they wanted to go to war with Spain.

http://www.pbs.org/crucible/frames/_journalism.html

There are hundreds of methods of propaganda in the U.S. And it influences hundreds if not thousands everyday. Americans are just profit to the media and expendables to the government. If you want something done as a democratic country, you have to get the majority of people to agree with you. What better way than to put it right in there face and make them choose option A or B. Well what about option C? They don’t tell us about that.

Many writers and reporters use their slick tongues to get people to agree without them even noticing alternative views. Media often shows only one side of the issue; the side that makes the U.S. look good or looks like it has taken a hit. Naturally, Americans will jump out of their seats to help their country. Try reading articles written from the other side. If you read something about American soldiers being killed in Afghanistan, normally you will be upset by this issue. But does it say what they were doing there? Or why they were killed? Normally it will not. That’s biased. Show you one side and that’s it. What if those soldiers had killed innocent civilians and the reactions by people were to kill them? Obviously it isn’t right and it should be taken up in a courthouse, not the street. But they don’t tell you that part because they want your instant support.

So just think about the other side and do research before instantly agreeing with what you see on the news, or in a movie, or on some cartoon in the newspaper, or some article written by someone sitting behind a desk whose job is to write good stories in order to sell. What do they know about the issue? In today’s online media we have the opportunity to instantly research many sides of an issue.