Thinking of propaganda some politicians' names are at once remembered, like
The history of propaganda has to tell then merely mentioning those names:
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One of the easiest tools for disinformation is to exchange the words written below a photograph. The entire meaning of the picture can be varied like this:
- The visit of a school-group at a former international camp can change into a camp, where children are imprisoned (which happened in the Russian city of Petroskoy in 1944).
- Victims of war can change nationality. The picture of the brutal German soldier in World War II that was shown in many newspapers to demonstrate the so-called typical face of a murderer, turned out to be French and a victim in other newspapers.
- In 1976 a picture of children in a day-nursery in the GDR is taken: The children, coming out of the shower, were dressed up in terry cloth suits with stripes. The same year the photograph with the happily laughing boys and girls wins the contest "a beautiful picture". Two years later a small part of the photograph can be seen in a Christian magazine in West-Germany, supposedly showing children from a concentration camp in the USSR. The smiling faces now seem to scream. (source: Stiftung Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ed.): Bilder, die lügen. Begleitbuch zur Ausstellung im Haus der Geschichte der Bundesrepublik Deutschland. Bonn 1998, p. 79)
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A certain problem today is an inflation of disinformation-messages. If the people get used to them, it gets easier for them to detect the lies. In a way disinformation is a tool of social control, holding down revolutionary emotions and thoughts; but also the contrary can be true.
Disinformation spread on purpose can not only change thoughts but it might as well be able to transform history by changing the meaning and interpretation of past events.
Therefore confidence and authority play a special role. Without a certain degree of legitimization, disinformation will not work, as people need something to refer to when they get informed. Disinformation lives on the fact that one can hardly exist without trusting other people. Thus, the source to spread a disinformation with, has to be well elected. Choosing the wrong way/media can destroy an entire campaign
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In November 1997, after the assassination of (above all Swiss) tourists in Egypt, the Swiss newspaper Blick showed a picture of the place where the attack had happened, with a tremendous pool of blood, to emphasize the cruelty of the Muslim terrorists. In other newspapers the same picture could be seen - with a pool of water, like in the original. Of course the manipulated coloured version of the Blick fit better into the mind of the shocked Swiss population. The question about death penalty arose quickly ....