Editing Propaganda (section)

===Politics===

[[File:Kozera DTV.jpg|thumb|right|280px|Propaganda and [[psychological manipulation|manipulation]] can be found in television, and in [[news programs]] that influence mass audiences. An example was the ''[[Dziennik Telewizyjny|Dziennik]]'' (Journal) news cast, which criticised [[capitalism]] in the then-communist [[Polish People's Republic]] using [[loaded language|emotive and loaded language]].]]

Propaganda has become more common in political contexts, in particular, to refer to certain efforts sponsored by governments, political groups, but also often covert interests. In the early 20th century, propaganda was exemplified in the form of party slogans. Propaganda also has much in common with [[public information]] campaigns by governments, which are intended to encourage or discourage certain forms of behavior (such as wearing seat belts, not smoking, not littering, and so forth). Again, the emphasis is more political in propaganda. Propaganda can take the form of [[leaflet (information)|leaflets]], posters, TV, and radio broadcasts and can also extend to any other [[Mass media|medium]]. In the case of the United States, there is also an important legal (imposed by law) distinction between advertising (a type of overt propaganda) and what the [[Government Accountability Office]] (GAO), an arm of the United States Congress, refers to as "covert propaganda." Propaganda is divided into two in political situations, they are preparation, meaning to create a new frame of mind or view of things, and operational, meaning they instigate actions.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_03PpagDaUsC |title=How to Be a Spy: The World War II SOE Training Manual |publisher=Dundurn Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-55002-505-7 |location=Toronto |pages=192 |language=en}}</ref>

Roderick Hindery argues<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://propagandaandcriticalthought.com/author/rhindery/|title=About Roderick Hindery|website=Propaganda and Critical Thought Blog|access-date=4 December 2019|archive-date=2 December 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202221732/https://propagandaandcriticalthought.com/author/rhindery/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last=Hindery | first=Roderick | title=Indoctrination and self-deception or free and critical thought | publisher=[[Edwin Mellen Press]] | location=[[Lewiston, New York]] | year=2001 | isbn=0-7734-7407-2 | oclc=45784333 }}</ref> that propaganda exists on the political left, and right, and in mainstream centrist parties. Hindery further argues that debates about most social issues can be productively revisited in the context of asking "what is or is not propaganda?" Not to be overlooked is the link between propaganda, indoctrination, and terrorism/[[counterterrorism]]. He argues that threats to destroy are often as socially disruptive as physical devastation itself.

Since [[9/11]] and the appearance of greater media fluidity, propaganda institutions, practices and legal frameworks have been evolving in the US and Britain. Briant shows how this included expansion and integration of the apparatus cross-government and details attempts to coordinate the forms of propaganda for foreign and domestic audiences, with new efforts in [[strategic communication]].<ref>{{cite journal|first1=Emma Louise |last1=Briant|title=Allies and Audiences Evolving Strategies in Defense and Intelligence Propaganda|journal=The International Journal of Press/Politics|date=April 2015|volume=20|issue=2|pages=145–165|doi=10.1177/1940161214552031|s2cid=145697213}}</ref> These were subject to contestation within the [[US Government]], resisted by [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] [[Public affairs (military)|Public Affairs]] and critiqued by some scholars.<ref name=Briant2015/> The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013 (section 1078 (a)) amended the US Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 (popularly referred to as the [[Smith-Mundt Act]]) and the Foreign Relations Authorization Act of 1987, allowing for materials produced by the State Department and the [[Broadcasting Board of Governors]] (BBG) to be released within U.S. borders for the Archivist of the United States. The Smith-Mundt Act, as amended, provided that "the Secretary and the Broadcasting Board of Governors shall make available to the Archivist of the United States, for domestic distribution, motion pictures, films, videotapes, and other material 12 years after the initial dissemination of the material abroad (...) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors from engaging in any medium or form of communication, either directly or indirectly, because a United States domestic audience is or may be thereby exposed to program material, or based on a presumption of such exposure." Public concerns were raised upon passage due to the relaxation of prohibitions of domestic propaganda in the United States.<ref>{{cite web|title=Smith-Mundt Act|url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130715/11210223804/anti-propaganda-ban-repealed-freeing-state-dept-to-direct-its-broadcasting-arm-American-citizens.shtml|website='Anti-Propaganda' Ban Repealed, Freeing State Dept. To Direct Its Broadcasting Arm at American Citizens|date=15 July 2013 |publisher=Techdirt|access-date=1 June 2016}}</ref>

In the wake of this, the internet has become a prolific method of distributing political propaganda, benefiting from an evolution in coding called bots. [[Software agent]]s or [[Internet bot|bots]] can be used for many things, including populating social media with [[Media manipulation|automated messages]] and posts with a range of sophistication. During the [[2016 United States elections|2016 U.S. election]] a cyber-strategy was implemented using bots to direct US voters to Russian political news and information sources, and to spread politically motivated rumors and false news stories. At this point it is considered commonplace contemporary political strategy around the world to implement bots in achieving political goals.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Howard|first1=Philip N.|last2=Woolley|first2=Samuel|last3=Calo|first3=Ryan|date=3 April 2018|title=Algorithms, bots, and political communication in the US 2016 election: The challenge of automated political communication for election law and administration|journal=Journal of Information Technology & Politics|volume=15|issue=2|pages=81–93|doi=10.1080/19331681.2018.1448735|issn=1933-1681|doi-access=free}}</ref>