Propaganda Research Articles

‘We are citizens, not fans’: frictions and negotiations in idolizing the nation in state propaganda

ABSTRACT State-dominated ‘ideotainment’ has become a global trend to enhance political persuasion. Broadening the geopolitical and ideological contexts of research could further enrich this field. This study analyzes the failed case of state-sponsored virtual idols ‘Jiangshanjiao’ (JSJ) and ‘Hongqiman’ (HQM) with attention to Chinese netizens’ critical responses, and further uncovers the erratic, diverse, and controversial aspects of Chinese fandom nationalism. In China, the Communist Party of China has tamed fandom culture to promote pro-governmental nationalist activism. However, this soft propaganda is sometimes counterproductive and has been underexamined. This study uses textual and critical discourse analyses to examine netizens’ posts, comments, and answers regarding the JSJ and HQM. The findings reveal the conflict between emerging civic spirit and notorious commercialism; the conflict between functional attachment embedded in constructive patriotism and affective attachment embedded in the hierarchy; and the complex negotiation between participatory nationalists, cautious patriots, and rational citizens about the boundaries of politics and entertainment.

Sense or Sensibility? Netizens’ Choice of Social Media Comments in an Authoritarian Regime

Abstract While the Internet in China is subjected to heavy state regulations, Chinese netizens can still access online comments that deviate from official discourse on many issues. To prevent online discussions from getting out of hand, the Chinese government uses soft propaganda such as online comments to channel public opinions. Which type of online comments appeal to Chinese netizens? Using a survey experimental design, we examine the appeal of 4 distinct types of online comments on certain policies. We find that our survey respondents spend significantly more time in consuming emotional comments that deviate from official discourse. When it comes to the effect on attitude, however, we find that deviating-emotional comments are no more persuasive than deviating-informational comments. Our results call into question the effectiveness of China’s state propaganda in channeling online public opinions while highlighting the importance of alternative information in shaping public opinions in an authoritarian context.

Following in the Trail of Islamic State: The Rise of Media Platforms in the Jihadist Ecosystem

This article examines the role of media platforms in the jihadist propaganda ecosystem. It presents a case study of the Muntasir Media platform which achieved extensive media impact in Spain during the period 2018–19. A descriptive analysis is provided of the emergence, evolution and demise of the platform, which can be viewed as an archetypal illustration of the effect sought by Islamic State propaganda in extolling the work of media jihadists. The article argues that platforms have not only been essential for maintaining the visibility of the jihadist narrative but have also offered an attractive form of surrogate activism for radicalised individuals cut off from formal organisations.

Does Russian Propaganda Lead or Follow? Topic Coverage, User Engagement, and RT and Sputnik’s Agenda Influence on US Media

Russian state propaganda outlets Russia Today (RT) and Sputnik are an important part of Russian foreign policy and key global sources of disinformation. Previous work has argued that they focus on exploiting social divisions among foreign audiences and worried that Russian propaganda may influence the broader media agenda. To date, though, there has been no comprehensive study of what RT and Sputnik actually cover, or any quantitative analysis of their influence on other coverage. We analyze 4.7 million English-language news articles from RT, Sputnik, and sixty-seven other news outlets linked to on Facebook from 2017 to 2021, articles that collectively generate 22.6 billion user interactions. Contrary to assumptions in previous studies, RT and Sputnik gave modest attention to US domestic politics, focusing instead on a set of geopolitical issues including the Middle East, armed conflicts, and international statecraft. Using a VAR model, we show that RT and Sputnik Granger-cause coverage on its high-priority issues across all categories of US media: center, left-wing, right-wing, and far-right. On domestic issues, RT and Sputnik follow center and far-right outlets instead of leading. Our study is an important corrective to earlier scholarship, which has overstated RT and Sputnik’s engagement with US domestic issues and blurred the specialized roles different Russian organizations play in malign influence operations.

Crafting Public Opinion

In the context of a diverse media landscape grappling with an increasingly stringent political climate, this study asks whether the Chinese government’s media-control policies shape public opinion. Drawing on online survey data collected between 2014 and 2018 and using regression models and inverse probability weighting, I find that in 2017, as Xi Jinping began his second term as general secretary, there was a noticeable conservative shift in the political attitudes of the Chinese public. While foreign media might have reduced support for the Chinese Communist Party’s stance and ideology among those with less exposure to the party-state media, state propaganda did shift public attitudes, offsetting the impact of foreign media. These findings underscore the Party’s effectiveness in using media censorship and propaganda to consolidate its legitimacy in the ideological sphere.

Blocking the information war? Testing the effectiveness of the EU’s censorship of Russian state propaganda among the fringe communities of Western Europe

Blocking the information war? Testing the effectiveness of the EU’s censorship of Russian state propaganda among the fringe communities of Western Europe

Mediating effect of depression and acute stress between exposure to Israel-Gaza war media coverage and insomnia: a multinational study from five arab countries

BackgroundIn the context of persistent wars and conflicts worldwide, the impact of acute, excessive and constant exposure to media coverage of such events on mental health outcomes becomes a serious problem for public health, and requires therefore urgent investigation to inform an effective prevention and management response. The objective of the present study was to test the hypothesis that war-related media exposure is directly and indirectly associated with insomnia through depression and perceived stress among adults from the general population of different Arab countries.MethodsA cross-sectional study was carried-out two weeks after the beginning of Israel-Gaza war on the 7th of October 2023. An anonymous online survey and a snowball sampling method were adopted to collect data. A sample of 2635 general population adults (mean age of 23.98 ± 7.55 years, 73.1% females) took part of this study.ResultsThe results of the mediation analysis showed that, after adjusting over potential confounders, depression and perceived stress fully mediated the association between war media exposure and insomnia; higher war media exposure was significantly associated with higher depression (Beta = 0.13; p < .001) and perceived stress (Beta = 0.07; p < .001), whereas higher depression (Beta = 0.43; p < .001) and perceived stress (Beta = 0.31; p < .001) were significantly associated with higher insomnia. It is of note that war media exposure was not significantly and directly associated with insomnia (Beta = − 0.01; p = .178 and Beta = 0.02; p = .098 respectively).ConclusionThe present study is the first to provide evidence that more time spent viewing the horrors of war is significantly associated with insomnia. In addition, symptoms of stress and depression were present as early as two weeks following the beginning of the war, and played a significant role in mediating the association between war media coverage and insomnia. These findings suggest that timely screening for, and management of depression and stress symptoms in clinical and preventive programs might be beneficial for community adults who have been heavily and indirectly exposed to war through media, and present with insomnia.

Political Parties and the Matrix of Social Media War in Nigeria

Political Parties and the Matrix of Social Media War in Nigeria

Propaganda Mission Command: a comparative social media analysis between the Badri Force 313 and the PMC Wagner

Between 2021 and 2023 we have witnessed two major military operations, both relating to the field of hybrid conflict: the Taliban conquest of Afghanistan and the Russo-Ukrainian War. Two military units stood out, respectively, the Badri Force 313 and the PMC Wagner. Both units proved the existence of a strong propaganda component combined with operations conducted on the ground. This paper aims to highlight through two comparative case studies, the existence of a new parameter that joins the operational capacity, that is, Propaganda Mission Command. This tool has been observed within the respective digital ecosystems and has had serious tactical-strategic repercussions within the combat theatres. The online communication of the two military apparatuses influenced recruitment, funding, and even the public’s knowledge of the conflict. Finally, the use of propaganda in both these units contributed to the development of a new concept of Auftragstaktik that involves the communicative sphere. The existence of such a phenomenon should stimulate public and academic debates regarding the new nature of conflicts. Conflicts in which, as we observed, the propaganda/communication component is now indivisible from the military one and can result in remarkable operational and/or strategic advantages. The analysis of this hybrid tool is also meant to underline its difference from classic state propaganda. The two case studies show a different kind of “Propaganda Mission Command” that is framed within a military context, is related to “branded” units, and can shift the balance of conflicts towards one specific side through influence and psyops.

Exploring political topics that connect to antisemitism on Twitter: U.S. midterm Pennsylvania gubernatorial race 2022

Online antisemitism rears its head during times of political instability, especially during contentious elections. This paper uses the 2022 Pennsylvania Gubernational governor race as a case study to examine what political topics spur antisemitic expression on Twitter. Both rich political and antisemitism discourses are offered by this election that featured a Jewish Democrat candidate Josh Shapiro and far-right Republican candidate Doug Mastriano. Over 800 tweets were qualitatively analyzed through critical discourse analysis to understand both Shapiro’s political tweets and the antisemitic reply tweets. This study addresses the gap of what online political contexts leads to instances of antisemitism on Twitter during political elections. Grounded in antisemitism and political propaganda literature, this study shows that particularly controversial topics of abortion rights and extremism in politics led to the highest amount of antisemitic expression. Dominantly, Jewish political control conspiracies were used as simple explanations for particularly turbulent political topics.

Introduction: propagandas, cultural production, and negotiating ideology in Iran

ABSTRACT This special issue focuses on the vast field of propagandas in Iran resulting from the dynamic between state-sponsored cultural production and its audiences. Propagandas emerge when motifs of classical regime propaganda diffuse into the arts, film, and literature to develop an independent existence detached from the strategies of regime messaging, thereby shaping ideological negotiations and contestations across society. Since its founding in 1979, the Islamic Republic has relied on propaganda to (semi-) systematically advance and establish a political and ideological agenda in order to build a coherent grand narrative of what the ‘essence’ of life in Iran should be. However, the constant urge to maintain ideological uniformity in the face of domestic and international crises, as well as evolving technology, such as smartphones and social media, has required regime actors to rethink, redeploy, and rearrange the content and methods of their propaganda. This rebirthing and upgrading of state propaganda into new forms and meanings has been met with resistance, subversion, and assimilation. The articles in this special issue highlight how state propaganda–and its afterlives–is a key venue for the struggle over identity and ideology between state and society in Iran.

Negotiating gender during times of crisis in the Islamic Republic of Iran: visual propaganda from the Iran–Iraq War to COVID-19

ABSTRACT This article addresses the representation and negotiation of gender norms in visual iconography in the Islamic Republic of Iran against the backdrop of the master narrative of the Iran–Iraq War (1980–88), which serves as a prefigurative image repertoire for propaganda and regime messaging in the post-war period. Drawing on images from the war itself and after, the article presents a historical perspective on the dynamics of representing prototypical gender roles, not only in relation to war but labour and industry as well. The article also highlights how gender roles were renegotiated in state propaganda during the COVID-19 pandemic, which includes the depiction of female martyrs defending the nation. However, despite the capability of state propaganda to renegotiate gender norms, this process remains circumscribed by the mechanisms of masculine myth-making and the male archetype of the martyr. In effect, such processes do not connote gender equality but rather unmask discourses on female martyrdom as double-edged: While agency in history is ascribed to women, the logic of the gender hierarchy is reified at the same time. Such observations regarding state-sponsored visual iconography in contemporary Iran contribute to the study of propaganda techniques used by authoritarian regimes.

A Basque Media War: Who is Ireland’s Friend, Who is Ireland’s Enemy? The Easter Rising’s Influence, Context and Development in the Basque Country

This paper examines the inner debate in Basque nationalism resulting from the Easter Rising between 1916 and 1918. Basque nationalists firmly believed that the Irish Revolution would affect the British war effort, the outcome of the Great War and hence Basque political vindication itself. The official nationalist leadership and its organ, Euzkadi, supported Great Britain, arguing a British military triumph in Ireland and in the Great War would bring a worldwide era of autonomy for national minorities. Pro-independence militants, however, not only expressed solidarity and outspoken support towards the rebels, but also associated their victory with a post-war scenario favourable to independence movements. This study focuses on the two competing Basque nationalist interpretations as presented in the media. Simultaneously, traditionalist parties (i.e. Carlists and Integrists) exacerbated nationalists’ differences in order to weaken a direct political rival.

Television documentaries of the People's Republic of China (using the example of CCTV)

Television documentaries in China, especially on the largest national television channel China Central Television (CCTV), is a unique object of research reflecting a wide range of socio-cultural, political and technological aspects of the development of Chinese society. CCTV is not only an important information and entertainment source, but also a powerful tool for influencing public opinion, forming national identity and promoting public policy. The analysis of the history of the development of television documentaries in China reflects the influence of political events and socio-cultural changes on its evolution. Starting from the early stages of the development of Chinese television, when it served as a tool of state propaganda, and up to the present, when new topics and genres appeared, the study will help to understand how television documentaries have become an important element of cultural heritage and a means of public communication. The organizational structure of CCTV, as a key player in the Chinese media space, plays a significant role in shaping content and influencing public opinion. The method or methodology of the study. The methodology of this study is devoted to a comprehensive analysis of television documentaries in China with an in-depth examination of the example of China Central Television (CCTV). This methodology is based on a comprehensive study of historical, cultural, political and technological aspects of the development of television documentaries in China. The study of television documentaries in China, with a focus on the example of China Central Television (CCTV), provides a significant contribution to understanding the diverse aspects of the formation and impact of this media format in the context of Chinese culture and society. The scientific novelty of this study is manifested in several key aspects. Firstly, an extensive historical analysis reveals the evolution of television documentaries in China over various periods, emphasizing the influence of political changes and socio-cultural factors on its development. Secondly, the structural analysis of CCTV reveals the organizational mechanisms that form documentary projects. Considering the interaction between the structure of the channel and the content of programs makes it possible to understand what factors influence the formation and implementation of documentary initiatives, as well as how these factors are related to public policy. The third important achievement is the thematic analysis, which highlights the main themes and directions of documentary on CCTV.

Types of Argumentation in Editorials

This article explores argumentation in the genre of editorials. The objective was to determine the frequency of different types of argumentation used in this genre, which can shed light on the balance between objective and subjective elements. It was found that editorials exhibit a balance between strong and weak argumentation, with 41% and 55.6% respectively (3.4% accounted for insufficient argumentation). The dominance of weak argumentation can be attributed to the specific nature of editorials, which aim to present the editorial board’s opinion and influence readers. The genre under study is a powerful tool in media warfare and shaping societal beliefs and values. The minimal percentage of insufficient argumentation indicates a desire to refrain from overt manipulation. The relatively high percentage of strong argumentation in a genre categorized as ‘opinion’ is also explained by the functional aspect of editorials: since the genre transmits institutional opinions with the intention of influencing public views, it is necessary to maintain authority and a high level of credibility in the information provided. Strong arguments in this genre include references to facts, data from authoritative sources including statistics, experimental results, references to public opinion, and common sense. Weak arguments include personal opinions, speculations, predictions, intuition, references to sources that are not definitive authorities in the field, conclusions based on incomplete statistical data and facts with no obvious connection.

Leandro Mbomio, the “Black Picasso”: Spanish state propaganda, Blackness, and neocolonialism in Equatorial Guinea

ABSTRACT In 1968, Equatorial Guinea’s emergence as an independent nation signaled a pivotal chapter in Spain’s national identity, deeply grounded on an imperial narrative. Around this juncture, Leandro Mbomio was etching his mark on Spain's cultural milieu as a sculptor. His success and persona reflected the image, voice, and thought the Francoist state sought in its former African subjects. Amid Spain’s stringent media censorship, the official narrative that emerges from Mbomio’s career is captivating. He was celebrated as “the black Picasso” and deemed emblematic of Black culture in Spain. This paper seeks to answer the following questions: How did the portrayal and reception of Mbomio reflect Spain’s shifting views on Equatorial Guinea, “Black Africa”, and the broader understanding of “Blackness” at the time?

From Plastic Surgery to National Identity.

British surgical photographer Percy Hennell (1911-1987) worked alongside the ‘world famous … father of modern plastic surgery’[1] Harold Delf Gilles (1882-1960) to capture pioneering reconstruction facial surgery in 1941-42. The two toured America and Canada during this time helping to bolster ‘the status of Britain at war at a time when, initially, America was still teetering between neutrality and entering the conflict.’[2]&#x0D; The works shown here further dissect Hennell’s photographs by juxtaposing a number of his subjects into new painted images. This piecing together of images in paint hints at the now common use of plastic surgery in modern society. It marks the shift away from reconstruction and reassimilation towards vanity and the meddling in our ‘own physical attributes in a desire to sculpt a vision of perfect beauty.’[3]&#x0D; Manipulation through image connects painting to surgical operations, these works also draw on ideas of image, beauty, state propaganda and war. A direct reference to Eisenstein’s film “Battleship Potemkin” can be found in the glasses of one particular subject.&#x0D; &#x0D; [1] Christine Slobogin, “Full Article: ‘Something Useful in a National Sense’: Percy Hennell’s Surgical and Nationalist Colour Photography, 1940-1948,” Taylor and Francis online, November 8, 2022, https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14714787.2022.2094458.&#x0D; [2]Slobogin, 2022.&#x0D; [3] Madder139 Gallery. “Philip Gurrey.” Madder139 press release, May 15, 2008. www.madder139.com.

«Люди в черном»: семантизация понятий сектант и баптист в антирелигиозной кампании 1958—1964 годов

In the post-revolutionary era, the population's adoption of a new political vocabulary demanded the Soviet authorities to play the role of the interpretant. They engaged in the pro­cess of assigning meanings to new concepts through mass media and fiction. Simultaneously, established concepts had to undergo reshaping to align with the new worldview of the 'Soviet citizen’. The transformation of the semantic structure of religious vocabulary, ideologically marked, reflected the shift in the fundamental values of Soviet society. This article, employing component and contextual analyses, explores the target semantization process of key concepts during Khrushchev's 1958—1964 anti-religious campaign, specifically focusing on 'sektant' and 'baptist'. Through mass media and propaganda literature, a set of semantic features for these terms was imposed on the children's audience in ideological contexts. The analysis of linguistic material from numerous sources such as the newspaper Pionerskaya Pravda, Pioner and Koster children's magazines, and selected works of children's literature reveals that the target audience — school children — led to the emergence of semantic primitives. This in­vol­ved significantly narrowing the semantics of the words 'sektant' and 'baptist.' Linguistic tools such as new lexical pairs ('sectarian-Baptist,' 'fanatics and bigots,' 'subversives and villains') and linguistic markers related to colour, sound, appearance, age, and location were employed. These tools helped develop a negative image of a Protestant believer and ultimately transformed the concepts of ‘sectant’ and ‘baptist’ into political labels.

Making Gender Crises: State Newspapers and the Regulation of Gender Nonconformity in China

Abstract Media coverage about transgender and gender nonconforming people both maintains and influences normative ideas about sex, gender, and sexuality. However, how state propaganda apparatus reifies these ideas through media and contributes to gender regulations remains underexplored, especially for state-dominated media systems. To bridge this gap, this article examines the media framing of gender nonconformity in China through a content analysis of 154 state-run newspaper articles from 1980 to 2021. Our analysis reveals that state newspapers introduce gender nonconformity into the purview of governance through two processes: 1) By pushing medicalized and socialization explanations for gender nonconformity, state newspapers consolidated two categories of gender nonconformity—intersex/transgender people and gender nonconforming youth. 2) State newspapers have developed two “gender crisis” frames that positioned the management of gender nonconformity at the heart of state governance and national development. Through this, gender nonconformity becomes legible for state institutions in criminal justice, medicine, marriage, education, and media. The findings contribute to the literature on media maintenance of the sex/gender/sexuality system by demonstrating the productive power of state-run media in shaping knowledge, discourse, and the regulation of gender nonconformity.

Metahistoricism in Vera Bogdanova’s novel “The Season of Poisoned Fruits”

The purpose of the article is to trace the narrativization of historical events in Vera Bogdanova's novel The Season of Poisoned Fruit (2022), which focuses on the story of "forbidden" love between cousins. The relevance of the article stems from the fact that the novel has already become a significant phenomenon in contemporary Russian literature, but has not yet found its researchers. The novel's themes include the sickness of Russian society, militarization, extreme xenophobia, propaganda, domestic violence, and social rejection of otherness; through these problems, anti-military and liberal pathos emerges, so the novel should be considered part of a culture that is in opposition to the modern Russian regime. The range of problems in the novel revolves around different strategies for dealing with different personal and historical traumas; however, critics suggest that the generation of "thirtysomethings" does not share the historical trauma of childhood, as, for example, the older generation, which saw the collapse of the USSR as children. The article demonstrates how the novel's text perceives the traumatic events of Russian and world history (the events in Moscow in 1993, the terrorist attacks in Moscow and London, the forest fires of 2010, etc.) through the prism of the perception of several representatives of the millennial generation ("the generation of thirty-somethings"). The article shows how state propaganda and hierarchized narrative of the story replace the protagonists' personal memories of events, which, in turn, become taboo. The intervention of a discourse that narrates the story in the spirit of Russian propaganda is made possible by the constant presence and unrelenting intensity of television intrusions into the protagonists' personal lives. It is assumed that the novel has several strategies for organizing the interaction between general and personal history, including (1) aggression and the search for those responsible for historical tragedies; (2) ignoring, (3) mystical metahistorical linking of historical and personal events.