Articles on Government propaganda

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Autocrats today tend to govern by manipulation of the public, among other tactics, rather than solely using violence. Nanzeeba Ibnat/iStock/Getty Images Plus

Autocrats don’t act like Hitler or Stalin anymore − instead of governing with violence, they use manipulation

Daniel Treisman, University of California, Los Angeles

Autocrats today are polished, appear mainstream and use the media, not overt repression or violence, to gain public support and consolidate power. They govern through a ‘spin dictatorship.’
This spread reproduces images that appeared in the first issue of the llustrierter Beobachter, a Nazi publication, in July 1926, including one cropped image that falsely gives the impression that a Nazi event was well attended. Public domain

A Nazi magazine regularly published manipulated photos and misinformation, long before the age of AI

Daniel H. Magilow, University of Tennessee

The Nazis routinely shared altered photos in their official publication, the Illustrierter Beobachter, causing readers to question what was real or fake.

Related Topics

  1. Disinformation
  2. Donald Trump
  3. Free press
  4. Germany
  5. Information warfare
  6. Media
  7. Misinformation
  8. Radio Free Europe
  9. Vladimir Putin

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