User:Ecpat838/sandbox

== THAYER - 21st Century Propaganda: The Age of Twitter == I propose six new characteristics of Twitter propaganda that create a model to determining if a message includes propagandist material. These characteristics include: (1) a call to action, (2) questioning a proposed or accepted argument, (3) questioning a person’s authority or an authoritative power, (4) evidence given or a proposed argument, (5) a call to a person, and (6) placement of blame. pg 2

Twitter has especially become a place where messages are propagated as they can be crafted quickly and sent to a wide audience with anonymity and few repercussions for the sender. This is much different from traditional propaganda that would come from a single source, such as an organization or institution, and use specific techniques. pg 3

Seven techniques that are often used with propaganda include name-calling, transfer, testimonial, plain folks, bandwagon, card-stacking, and glittering generalities. pg 14

The social network helps to disperse the propagandist message through those people with influence in the community, and therefore the public is more trusting of them as opposed to the media and the institution. pg 17

As the model of propaganda flow goes in a very structured and calculated way from the institution to the public, the Twitter model goes directly from person to followers or organization to followers. This allows the message to bypass many of the significant factors of spreading a propaganda message and represents how there is no longer a structured flow. pg 17

As this is an online medium, people are also more predisposed to use negative or derogatory language as there are less perceived consequences. pg 23

I therefore propose six new characteristics of Twitter propaganda that can be used as a model for identifying propaganda of this medium. These characteristics include (1) a call to action, (2) questioning a proposed or accepted argument, (3) questioning a person’s authority or an authoritative power, (4) evidence given or a proposed argument, (5) a call to a person, and (6) placement of blame. pg 33

These findings indicated that propaganda does have a place and a form on Twitter. Appeals are both rational and emotional, as many tweets included the logical elements of evidence, media and links, and existing arguments, yet also included emotional elements such as calls to actions and placement of blame. pg 34

This would indicate an evolution of the traditional tactics of propaganda into new forms to match the digital market pg 35

== PEDRO - The Propaganda Model in the Early 21st Century == The original version of the model focuses on the propaganda dimension of information by identifying five filters (ownership, advertising, information sourcing, flak, and anti-communism) through which information must pass before seeing the light. pg 1

Drawing on these reflections, it becomes clear that, while there are many different actors and elements mutually affecting each other, conditioning, and co-constituting the media, emphasis should be placed on the asymmetry of power relations—i.e., on the dominance and dependency derived from the structural inequalities in the relations that take place between the different institutions and actors in the mass media. pg 8

According to the agenda-setting theory (McCombs, 2004), the news agenda of the media is mainly set by three factors: “major sources who provide information for news stories, other news organizations, and journalism’s norms and traditions” (ibid., p. 117). These are thus considered central gatekeeping factors which filter and shape reality. Moreover, the theory holds that there is a transfer of salience from the news agenda to the public agenda, both in the political and the corporate realm (Carroll & McCombs, 2003). The news agenda is the way by which the media influence the public’s perception of what the important topics are, what topics are not important, and which attributes are to be emphasized. pg 19

Because of the way in which the media operate, the presence of propaganda and public relations material is not an isolated phenomenon. It occurs within a general context of dependence on official sources, resulting in a natural or unplanned influence pg 20

This involves all elements that, by their nature, contribute to social control, making it more difficult for individuals to comprehend the reality of the world around them, and has its reflection, for example, in the social values, moral principles, stereotypes, and identities that the media select and represent in particular ways. pg 25