Propaganda 3

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• vwo
• Leerjaar 5

Propaganda - Using Laswell's Communicaton Model

Exercise 1 - Putin's speech

1) What is the term Putin used for the invasion?

A Special Military Operation

2) Why do you think he used this term instead of 'war' or 'invasion'?

Perhaps he thought 'war' and 'invasion' sounded bad, and would undermine the idea that the invasion is just meant to be a rescue operation

Words can have negative connotations

Connotation = an idea suggested by a word in addition to its main meaning

3) Is this propaganda? Why (not)?

Propaganda is often misleading, one-sided and is selective in which information it presents. As such, this speech could be called propaganda.

4) Is Putin a reliable source for information about the situation in Ukraine?

Probably not. He is the leader of Russia and has a direct interest in making Russia look good. Highlighting the negative consequences of Russia's actions goes against his interests. 

5 ) What source did you use?
What information did you find?

Propaganda:

ideas or statements that may be false or present only one side of an argument that are used in order to gain support for a political leader, party, cause, movement etc.

Was this speech propaganda?

Yes

No

I don't know

Why could this speech be considered propaganda?

Propaganda has a negative connotation. But is it always bad?

Are you impartial (=neutral, unbiased) when discussing something you truly care about?

Exercise 2 - Social media

1) Look up a video that could be considered propaganda on TikTok. If you don’t have TikTok or don’t like it, you can use a different source such as YouTube. Be sure to choose a video on a topic that you find interesting or important. (5 min.)

Examples: 

- video promoting a vegan lifestyle

- video addressing racial injustice

 

2) Apply Lasswell’s Communication Model to the video of your choice. (5 min.)

3) A video can also be considered a type of text. What text type does your video belong to? Why? (1 min.)

4) Look up a video / website / text that disagrees with your chosen TikTok video. Which do you think is more reliable, the TikTok video or the source that disagrees with it? Why do you think so? (5 min.)

Sit together in groups of 4. Take turns telling your fellow students about the video you chose to analyse. 

- What is this video about?

- Why did you choose this particular video?

- What do you think the intended effect of the video was?

How many questions does Laswell's Communication Model ask?

1. 3
2. 4
3. 5
4. 6

Which of the following does NOT belong to the communication model?

1. The intended effect
2. The audience/recipient
3. The lay-out
4. The channel/medium

This poster is an example of:

1. An informative text
2. An argumentative text
3. An artistic-literary text
4. A prescriptive text