Psychological warfare. Methods of forming “public” opinion by the media
There are a huge number of manipulative techniques, but in most cases they are not classified. Typically, authors limit themselves to listing a few techniques, without classifying them into separate groups. Having analyzed the works of S.G. Kara-Murza (“Manipulation of Consciousness”), A. Karpova (“Manipulative PR Technologies”), I.M. Dzyaloshinsky (“Manipulative Technologies in the Mass Media”) and G. Schiller (“Manipulators of Consciousness”), the following classification can be made:
Manipulation of information flows. This is achieved primarily by selecting events for messages. One of the mechanisms used by the media to manipulate public opinion is to draw attention to certain problems. Only the problem that is covered by the media becomes public attention. The media in this case acts as the main “problematizer” of society. But the information picture of the world is not always adequate to reality.
Among the techniques for controlling information flows, first of all, one should include the method fabrication of facts (outright lies) or disinformation. Experts believe that this technique is not used only in cases where it can be detected, while politicians and figures in the modern press often say that the press does not use outright lies, because the same effect can be achieved by dosing the truth. “When disclosure is difficult or too costly, the press lies without a qualm (“in politics, the word “truth” means any statement that cannot be proven to be false).” Simple deception, being one of the important private techniques in the entire technology of manipulation, cannot in itself constitute a manipulative influence. As E.L. writes Dotsenko, “For example, someone asks us for directions to Minsk, and we falsely direct him to Pinsk - this is just a deception. Manipulation will take place if the other one was going to go to Minsk, and we made it so that he wanted to go to Pinsk.” Lies can take many forms: attributing different qualities to someone or something, distorting images of actual events, exaggeration, shuffling facts, pure fiction. According to I.M. Dzyaloshinsky, disinformation is used, as a rule, at the moment of making any important decision, and when the truth is known, the goal of disinformation will already be achieved.
One of the most important rules for manipulating consciousness is isolating the recipient from outside influence. Manipulation is incompatible with dialogue and public debate. The ideal situation is the totality of influence - the absence of alternative, uncontrolled sources of information and opinions. Now the foundation for this has already been laid - the media are for modern people practically the only source of information and reference point in the world, real interpersonal communication is gradually declining - it is being replaced by TV, computer, radio. The main thing in manipulation is to create the illusion of independence and pluralism of information channels for the recipient.
Selection of reality events for messages. The bulk of the media creates virtual reality. Opinions are dominated by the one who determines the structure of the information flow, selects facts and problems, turning them into messages, in other words, forms the agenda. It is clear that the problems covered by the media do not always worry society as much as they might seem; they may not be so important compared to other issues that are no longer covered. Thus, the media does not leave room for dialogue, does not provide diversity of opinions, i.e. ensure compliance with the basic rules for successful manipulation. G. Schiller writes: “Information monopolies limit information choice in all areas of activity. They offer only one version of reality - their own." There are many examples of facts and problems being removed from reality: there is practically no serious information about Asia in the Western media. From China, India and Japan, messages are either exotic (karate, Chinese cuisine) or excitingly political (terrorism, religious violence, public executions of drug dealers).
From all that has been said, we can conclude that those facts that are not beneficial and contradict the interests of the authorities constitute an insignificant part of the agenda. So, by suppressing information that is unfavorable for media owners, they create a “virtual” reality, or quasi-reality, instead of reflecting reality.
The principle of noise democracy. The technique is to drown the message, which cannot be avoided, in a chaotic flow of meaningless and unimportant information. G. Schiller writes: “Just as advertising interferes with concentration and deprives the weight of interrupted information, a new technology for processing information makes it possible to fill the airwaves with streams of useless information, further complicating an individual’s already hopeless search for thought.”
There is a technique that allows the media not to be held responsible for a false report. This "gray" propaganda- propaganda that does not specifically identify its source. References to “a high-ranking official from circles close to ... who wished to remain anonymous” became common.
Use of rumors. Rumors mean information transmitted in interpersonal communication concerning important events in public life and reflecting people’s desire to speculate on a situation that is unclear to them. Rumors are often based on false information; rumors can be a consequence of a lack of information. On the one hand, they explain the situation, and on the other, they help people relieve emotional stress.
Repetition. This is the main method of consolidating the necessary stereotypes in the mind. S.G. Kara-Murza quotes the words of S. Moscovici: “Repetition is the second condition of propaganda. It gives statements the weight of additional conviction and turns them into obsessions. Hearing them again and again, in different versions and for the most different reasons, in the end you begin to be imbued with them.” Manipulation specialists are well aware of a simple psychological effect: the image that a person remembers becomes “his own” for him, so the person trusts this image. It is important to remember that memory is practically not controlled by consciousness, which naturally makes it easier to manipulate.
This method influences a person’s subconscious, encouraging him to accept statements completely and unconditionally and turning them into action. A repeated thought reduces people's reasoning to a minimum and turns into evidence that does not depend on time, place and person.
Splitting up. It consists of dividing a holistic problem into separate fragments in such a way that the reader or viewer cannot connect them and comprehend the problem. There are many technical techniques used for fragmentation: breaking a newspaper article into parts and placing them on different pages, text or a television program is broken up by advertising. G. Schiller gives the following explanation: “Whatever is said, everything is completely dissolved in subsequent advertisements, comic tricks, intimate scenes and gossip.” By tearing information about an important event into pieces, it is possible to reduce its impact on the masses or even deprive it of its meaning.
A type of crushing is “constructing” a message from fragments of a statement or video sequence. At the same time, the context changes, and a completely different meaning is created from the same words. Individual “grains” of a message are not a lie, but the whole that a reporter or editor “cobbled together” from them may have nothing in common with reality.
Urgency. The method consists of immediacy of information, giving it a character of urgency and immediacy. In the United States, it is believed that an intensified sense of urgency of messages creates a feeling of extraordinary importance of the subject of information. Constant updating of information deprives it of structure and prevents a person from comprehending and understanding messages, because they are replaced by even newer ones. Since a person concentrates on the events occurring at the moment, his connection with the past is broken, and this is extremely important for removing psychological protection from manipulation.
Sensationalism. The sensational system allows you to fragment information so that the audience does not receive complete and holistic knowledge about the problem. “These are messages about events that are given such high importance and uniqueness that almost all the attention of the public is concentrated on them and held for the right time.” Using this method, you can keep silent about events that the public should not notice. An event, in order to be selected as sensational, must contain a signal of high memorability, at least on a subconscious level (anomalies, pathologies). Society, under the constant influence of sensations, especially those carrying negative information, reaches the level of “nervousness” necessary for the manipulator, a feeling of constant crisis and tension. Information presented on television in the form of a sensation is usually accompanied by live interviews and reports from the scene of the event, which creates in the viewer a feeling of the reliability of the information and the absence of an intermediary between him and reality. But, as a rule, sensational information distorts the event that took place, and the viewer’s sense of authenticity is an illusion.
Manipulation through the formation and dissemination of images. Its essence is that, depending on the goals and specific tasks, pre-constructed images or images of specific individuals, firms and organizations, ideas, programs, and goods are formed and disseminated. Such images, as a rule, inadequately reflect the real characteristics of individuals and, therefore, disorient people who have come under the corresponding information-psychological influence, causing uncritical perception or assimilation of information.
Manipulative semantics or the use of words related to the core values of society. The method consists of using emotionally charged words that are closely related to the core values, opinions of society and are convincing without additional information. The method is also used to change the meaning of words and concepts.
Tremendous work on creating a special language for press messages was carried out in the United States during the Vietnam War. The principle is to select from a range of meanings a word that is close to it in meaning. It is important to consider what impact a word has, what associations its pronunciation or reading awakens. All words that evoked negative associations were excluded from the language: war, offensive, weapons to destroy manpower. Instead, neutral words were introduced: conflict, restraint, operation, device. The positive words were: change, sincere, help, rights, reforms, choice, trust, duty, etc.
The “shining generalization” technique is a type of manipulative semantics. It consists in designating a specific thing with a generalizing concept that has a positive emotional connotation - a symbol. The goal is to encourage the audience to accept and approve of the phenomenon being presented. This technique hides the negative aspects and does not evoke unwanted emotions in the audience (for example, “free world”, “democracy”, “sovereignty”, “democracy”).
Labeling. The technique consists of exploiting the prejudices and stereotypes of the audience through “labeling” the object of counter-propaganda. The label characterizes it as something that the audience is afraid of, disgusted, finds suspicious, etc. For example, an analysis of the speeches of the Speaker of the US House of Representatives N. Ginrich showed that to describe his opponents he used a set of negative words (pity, deception, lies, spend time).
Creating an image of a collective enemy. The purpose of the reception is to divert the attention of the masses from pressing problems.
Transferring a positive image. The essence of the method is the projection of the positive qualities of a person (authority, prestige), an object or moral values (individual, group, national) onto another person or group. For example, in political advertising, the image of members of the voting bloc is “promoted” based on the popularity of a party (voting bloc) or a specific politician. To create such a stable association, joint photographs, announcements of support, visits to regions by a famous politician, etc. are used.
Manipulation through the use of authoritative groups and the desire of people to identify themselves with society. Personalities that are authoritative for any target group are used (politicians, artists, etc.), since manipulators know that the audience tends to trust authorities more than impersonal messages. The main criteria are the degree of trust in the representative of the influence group, his fame, personal merits, etc.
Use of authorities (influence groups). The method is to use authoritative people or groups known to the target audience. There are the following criteria for selecting characters for this method: trust in the representative of the influence group, his fame, high professional qualities, personal merits, high official position (past or present), his closeness to the target audience, etc. An authoritative person or celebrity confirms the dignity and importance of a person or phenomenon, as a result of which the audience’s confidence in the message increases. There is a psychological mechanism of “transfer” at work here, in which the advantages of an authoritative person are transferred to a person or phenomenon.
Just like everyone else, just like us or "game of common people." The technique is to increase the trust of the target audience by ensuring that a person or group identifies with it. Idiomatic expressions, jokes, social and cultural features characteristic of a particular audience are used. In election campaigns, the image of the candidate is of utmost importance, and it must correspond to the selected target audience. The standard technique is filming and photographing the candidate in the family, outdoors, and talking about his hobbies. More often than not, politicians act as “ordinary people.”
Additional evidence. The method is based on the assumption that if, along with a particular statement, additional evidence is also provided to support it, then the consumer is psychologically inclined to trust this statement more. Usually, to increase trust, an exact indication of the last name, first name and place of work of the person expressing this or that opinion about the advertised product is used. In this case, the person is psychologically inclined to trust this judgment to a greater extent.
The winning side. It is one of the variants of the “additional evidence” method. This method exploits people's desire to be on the “winning side.” For example, in election campaigns arguments such as "Candidate N is the number one candidate" or "Candidate N is the winning candidate" are used.
Manipulation through influence on emotions. Currently, developments from the field of psycholinguistics, neurolinguistic programming, and the psychology of perception have become widespread for the needs of influencing public opinion. These influences are designed mainly for subconscious perception.
Using scary topics and messages. Scary topics are one of the most effective means of influencing the target audience. Fear ensures the unity of group members and stimulates certain actions. The effectiveness of the method depends on the presence of the following components: 1) Threat. The most effective is a threat to life, property, safety, status. 2) How to avoid the threat. It is important to offer clear and simple instructions on how to avoid the threat or reduce the damage. 3) Confidence of the audience. She must be confident that the proposed actions will be effective and that she is able to carry them out.
“During the “Chubais-Berezovsky media war,” one of the articles used the following phrases: “How to resolve the crisis of power. By expelling Chubais from politics, the president will hammer the last nail into the coffin of legal Bolshevism.” As a method to avoid the threat, the article proposed the “removal” of A. Chubais from politics. The image of a Bolshevik, the source of the “crisis of power,” was also projected onto him.
Using the humor factor. By its nature, humor presupposes one or another non-standard situation, which, as a rule, is well remembered and does not cause rejection. It is also important that humor is associated with the emergence of positive emotions.
Truisms. A truism is the most obvious statement, i.e. a statement that is in strict accordance with reality, a banal truth. Truisms are used to elicit the desired behavioral response. For example, such truisms are possible as: “People know how to forget what they know” (forgetting truism), or: “in Russia there is always something wrong.” The credibility of questionable information increases when it is combined with undisputed facts. This is why truisms are used so often.
The following techniques can be highlighted separately:
Simplification, stereotyping. According to S.G. Kara-Murza, the media played a vital role in the process of “crowd formation” in society. The mass man was largely created by the media. Limits were placed on the complexity and originality of messages, even the length of words was limited. The simpler the message, the easier it is for a person to assimilate it; he does not have questions or desire to critically analyze the information received. A. Mol formulated the following rule: “The message must always have a level of intelligibility that corresponds to an IQ approximately 10 points below the average coefficient of the social stratum for which the message is intended.” The media standardize the phenomenon that has become the object of the message, based on stereotypes and avoiding subtlety. The main thing is that the person perceives the message effortlessly and unconditionally. Based on simplification, it was formed reductionism modern media - bringing real social problems and phenomena to the most simplified and easy-to-understand statements. People who think in stereotypes extremely easily become victims of manipulation, because almost all stereotypes are known to manipulators, because they are stable and can be identified. Thus, stereotyping can be considered as one of the most important manipulative methods.
Statement. Simplification allows you to express the main idea that you want to instill in the audience in a concise and vivid form - in the form statements. Affirmation means abandoning all discussion; it also means asking the audience to accept the idea as it is, without analyzing or thinking about it. The media has played a vital role in reinforcing this type of thinking by training people to think in stereotypes. S.G. Kara-Murza also considers them a tool for “stupidization”, because The media are gradually reducing the intellectual level of messages.
So, we have established that manipulation is a way of influencing public opinion, because its goal is to push a person to change behavior, to perform actions beneficial to the manipulator by changing the value orientations, opinions and ideas of the victim of manipulation. Being a real threat to a person’s freedom of judgment and choice, manipulation does not force one to succumb to the temptation to become its victim. Rather, it presents us with an opportunity to test our ability to resist the pressure that is put on our consciousness, to create alternatives to what manipulation offers, and the ability to not accept any messages and opinions on faith.
The media have become the main tool for manipulating public opinion. They instill in the masses common values, behavioral models, and norms, essentially programming our behavior in the way they need. Moreover, trust in the media is quite high. People perceive them as official sources, and even despite the absurdity of some information, they are not inclined to think critically about it and prefer to accept it as reliable. The media create virtual reality (quasi-reality) by selecting certain events for messages, offering models of behavior and values that are supposedly characteristic of society, and forming an agenda.
Whatever the type of manipulation, its goals and techniques remain hidden to society; a person, as an object of manipulation, is devalued. Each type of manipulation influences the audience through certain mechanisms, but one thing remains unchanged - manipulation is aimed at changing public opinion, and then behavior in a direction beneficial to the manipulator. To achieve this task, it is necessary to evoke a certain, and strong, emotion in the audience; stereotypes of society are also used, which, unfortunately, are known to manipulators.
Thus, the media themselves create public opinion and determine the direction of its development. In this case, public opinion does not reflect the values, views and assessments of the public, but represents views and assessments that are beneficial to the owners of the media, which the public must have in order to carry out manipulative actions.
Influencing public opinion is one of the leading functions of the media. Manipulation of public opinion in most cases is based on the use of stereotypes. To successfully manipulate public opinion, it is necessary to have a reliable “map of stereotypes” of different groups and segments of the population - the entire cultural context of a given society. If it is possible to push large masses of people to see some social phenomenon through the stereotype desired by the manipulator, then it becomes very difficult for those who disagree to appeal to people to common sense. The media are most often accused of manipulating public opinion. And there is every reason for that. According to M. Parenti, the media “select most of the information and disinformation that we use to assess socio-political reality. Our attitude towards problems and phenomena, even the very approach to what is considered a problem or phenomenon, is largely predetermined by those who controls the world of communications."
The media have become the main instrument for manipulating public opinion. "A. Mol writes about the media: "They actually control our entire culture, passing it through their filters, highlight individual elements from the general mass of cultural phenomena and give them special weight, increase the value of one idea, devaluing another, thus polarizing the entire field of culture . What is not included in the channels of mass communication has almost no influence on the development of society in our time.”
Therefore, many scientists believe that the media create a symbolic image of reality, in other words, quasi-reality. Day after day, a complex of stereotypical concepts is consumed by millions of television viewers “in formulaic capsules containing mass-produced information and entertainment products.” From such “capsules” - television stories, printed materials, images, communicated ideas - a special symbolic world is formed that structures life values, norms, general obligations and attitudes and forms the basis for mutual understanding and interaction between large and diverse groups of people. This world determines the way of thinking, feeling and behavior not of individuals, but of the masses as a whole.
The media offer us ready-made models of behavior (through TV series, talk shows), provide ready-made opinions and interpretations, essentially turning society into a mindless mass of information consumers who stop thinking and analyzing information, thereby simplifying the process of manipulation. The media limits the scope of information that should reach the audience. In fact, what does not appear in the media does not seem to exist; we do not attach due importance to such information. In the work "The Politics of Illusion: The Media and the Manipulation of Public Opinion" the following opinion is expressed - the masses strive to imitate the upper classes. Due to this circumstance, the elite has the opportunity to impose on the masses a certain way of life, supposedly inherent to the upper classes. This is how dominant groups influence people’s behavior and even predetermine it to some extent. The media, being subordinate to the dominant class, tries to instill in society a system of common values. For example, television mainly shows representatives of the middle and upper classes, people with prestigious professions and high incomes. People from lower strata are much less common. Women appear as the embodiment of love passions and family relationships, rather than professional qualities. The “marry rich” model for girls is actively exploited. The theme of violence occupies a significant place as “the simplest and cheapest dramatic means of demonstrating the rules of the game for power.” But this often has a detrimental effect on people: they become so accustomed to living in a virtual, symbolic world (for example, in the world of computer games) that when they come into contact with the real world, they can begin to kill people, like enemies in a game.
The media also form the internal readiness of the audience to perceive any object or episode of reality in a certain way, changing not only the consciousness of people, but also their social attitudes (the concept is associated with the significance for a person of a certain object or action, which is assessed as “good - bad”, “ useful - harmful" etc.).
Manipulation is used in political communication and public speaking. Most manipulative techniques are part of the basis of information influence and neurolinguistic programming (NLP).
In a post-industrial society, the power of information becomes decisive in the management of society, pushing into the background the influence of money and state coercion. The direct carriers and disseminators of knowledge and other politically significant information are the media. The information function is the most important function of the media. It consists of obtaining and disseminating information about the most important events for citizens and authorities. The information obtained and transmitted by the mass media includes not only impartial, photographic coverage of certain facts, but also their commentary and evaluation.
Not all information disseminated by the media (for example, weather forecasts, entertainment, sports and other similar messages) is of a political nature. Political information includes those information that is of public importance and requires the attention of government agencies or has an impact on them. Based on the information received, citizens form an opinion about the activities of the government, parliament, parties and other political institutions, about the economic, cultural and other life of society. The media influence policy, first of all, through influencing the information process, which makes it possible to shape public opinion in a certain way. The main stages of the information process are receiving, selecting, dissecting, commenting and disseminating information. Selecting the most important information and presenting it is an important task for the entire media system, which naturally opens up wide opportunities for manipulating public opinion. Thus, the awareness of citizens, including politicians, directly depends on how, for what purposes and by what criteria information is selected, how deeply it reflects the real facts after its dissection and reduction carried out by the media, as well as on the method and forms of presentation information.
The media, as a rule, use two main methods of disseminating information - consistent and fragmented. The first method is more often used by the print media, consistently and comprehensively covering a particular political issue in articles and other publications. The second method - fragmentary presentation of information - is especially common on television and has a number of features, giving rise to a number of difficulties for listeners or viewers in understanding the essence of a particular event or process.
Possibilities of manipulating public opinion by the media in modern society
2.3 The media as a tool for manipulating public opinion
Influencing public opinion is perhaps the most important function of mass communication. Over its long history of development, the media have managed to study society and develop stereotypes. From the very beginning of their development, they provided information to society that it needed, but over time we became hostages of this information. The media have not only managed to adapt to changing conditions in the world, but have also learned to use information as a means of manipulation. In the modern world, mass communications have become the main instrument of manipulation. In fact, they control the world, they can impose culture, values, ideas, ideals and much more. Many scientists believe that through this imposition, the media can create quasi-reality, distorting the real state of affairs. The media offer us ready-made stereotypes of behavior and dictate to us how and what to think. Society turns into a mindless mass, thus making it easier for the media to manipulate.
Mass communication media limits our worldview. Information that has not passed through the media does not seem to exist. "A. Mol writes about the media: "They actually control our entire culture, passing it through their filters, highlight individual elements from the general mass of cultural phenomena and give them special weight, increase the value of one idea, devaluing another, thus polarizing everything field of culture. What does not fall into the channels of mass communication in our time has almost no influence on the development of society." In a post-industrial society, the power of information becomes decisive in the management of society, pushing into the background the influence of money and state coercion. Direct carriers and disseminators of knowledge and other politically significant information is the media. The information function is the most important function of the media. The information obtained and transmitted ceases to provide only impartial, photographic coverage of certain facts and events that have occurred in the world, but also their commentary and assessment.
The media, as a rule, use two main methods of disseminating information - consistent and fragmented. The first method is more often used by print media, consistently and comprehensively covering a particular problem in articles and other publications.
The second method - fragmentary presentation of information - is especially common on television, where information is transmitted directly along with the visual image. Many scientists have been studying the problem of manipulation, including such scientists as: G. Schiller, E. L. Dotsenko, M. Parenti, A. Mol, N. Chomsky, etc. For example, Noam Chomsky compiled a list of “10 ways of manipulation” using mass media.
1.Distraction. The main element of managing society is diverting people's attention from important problems and decisions through constant saturation of the information space with unimportant messages.
2. Create problems and then suggest ways to solve them. Cause an economic crisis in order to force the violation of social rights and the curtailment of city services to be accepted as a necessary evil.
3. Method of gradual application. To achieve the adoption of any unpopular measure, it is enough to introduce it gradually, day after day, year after year.
4. Postponement of execution. Another way to push through an unpopular decision is to present it as “painful and necessary” and to obtain the consent of citizens at the moment for its implementation in the future. It is much easier to agree to make any sacrifices in the future than in the present.
5. Treat people like little children. Most propaganda speeches aimed at the general public use arguments, characters, words, and intonation as if they were talking about school-age children with developmental delays or mentally handicapped individuals.
6. Emphasize emotions much more than thoughts. Influencing emotions is a classic technique aimed at blocking people's ability to rationally analyze.
7. Keep people ignorant by cultivating ignorance. To ensure that people become incapable of understanding the techniques and methods used to control them and subjugate them to their will.
8. Encourage citizens to admire mediocrity. To instill in the population the idea that it is fashionable to be vulgar and ill-mannered.
9. Increase your feelings of guilt. Make a person believe that only he is to blame for his own misfortunes.
10. Know more about people than they know about themselves. Over the past 50 years, advances in the development of science have led to the formation of an ever-widening gap between the knowledge of ordinary people and the ruling classes.
From the above we can conclude that any audience has its own method of influence, be it teenagers or pensioners. The main feature of all these psychological methods of influence is that the individual must be emotionally unstable and susceptible to manipulation by the media. But even if an individual believes that he is not subject to manipulation, this does not mean that it does not exist. Often manipulations are hidden, and you may not even suspect its presence.
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Possibilities of manipulating public opinion by the media in modern society
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"through the media.
1. Distraction
The main element of managing society is to divert people's attention from important problems and decisions made by political and economic ruling circles, through the constant saturation of the information space with unimportant messages. The technique of distraction is very important in preventing citizens from gaining important knowledge in the fields of science, economics, psychology, neuroscience and cybernetics.
"Constantly distract the attention of citizens from real social problems, switching it to topics of no real importance. Ensure that citizens are constantly busy with something and do not have time to think; from the field to the paddock, like everyone else animals (quote from the book "Silent Weapons for Quiet Wars").
2. Create problems and then suggest ways to solve them.
This method is also called problem-reaction-solution. A problem is created, a certain “situation” designed to provoke a certain reaction among the population so that it itself demands the adoption of measures that are necessary for the ruling circles. For example, allowing a spiral of violence in cities to unfold or organizing bloody terrorist attacks so that citizens demand the adoption of laws to strengthen security measures and policies that infringe on civil liberties.
Or: cause an economic crisis in order to force people to accept the violation of social rights and the curtailment of city services as a necessary evil.
3. Method of gradual application
To achieve the adoption of any unpopular measure, it is enough to introduce it gradually, day after day, year after year. This is exactly how fundamentally new socio-economic conditions (neoliberalism) were imposed in the 80s and 90s of the last century.
Minimizing the functions of the state, privatization, uncertainty, instability, mass unemployment, wages that no longer provide a decent life. If all this happened at the same time, it would certainly lead to a revolution.
4. Postponement of execution
Another way to push through an unpopular decision is to present it as “painful and necessary” and to obtain the consent of citizens at the moment for its implementation in the future. It is much easier to agree to make any sacrifices in the future than in the present.
Firstly, because it won't happen immediately. Secondly, because the mass of the people are always inclined to cherish naive hopes that “tomorrow everything will change for the better” and that the sacrifices that are demanded of them will be avoided. This gives citizens more time to become comfortable with the idea of change and to accept it humbly when the time comes.
5. Treat people like little children
Most propaganda speeches aimed at the general public use arguments, characters, words, and intonation as if they were talking about school-age children with developmental delays or mentally handicapped individuals.
The more someone tries to mislead the listener, the more he tries to use infantile speech patterns. Why? "If someone addresses a person as if they are 12 years old or younger, then due to suggestibility, the person's response or reaction will, to a certain degree, also lack the critical judgment that is typical for children aged 12 or younger years.
6. Emphasize emotions much more than thoughts.
Influencing emotions is a classic technique aimed at blocking people’s ability to rationally analyze, and, ultimately, the ability to critically comprehend what is happening in general. On the other hand, the use of the emotional factor allows you to open the door to the subconscious in order to introduce thoughts, desires, fears, concerns, compulsions or stable patterns of behavior there...
7. Keep people ignorant by cultivating mediocrity.
To ensure that people become incapable of understanding the techniques and methods used to control them and subjugate them to their will. “The quality of education provided to the lower social classes should be as meager and mediocre as possible, so that the ignorance separating the lower social classes from the higher ones remains at a level that the lower classes cannot overcome.
8. Encourage citizens to admire mediocrity
To instill in the population the idea that it is fashionable to be stupid, vulgar and ill-mannered...
9. Increasing your feelings of guilt
To make a person believe that only he is to blame for his own misfortunes, which occur due to a lack of his mental capabilities, abilities or efforts. As a result, instead of rebelling against the economic system, a person begins to engage in self-deprecation, blaming himself for everything, which causes a depressed state, leading, among other things, to inaction. And without action there can be no talk of any revolution!
10. Know more about people than they know about themselves
Over the past 50 years, advances in scientific development have created an ever-widening gap between the knowledge of ordinary people and the information possessed and used by the ruling classes.
Thanks to biology, neurobiology and applied psychology, the “system” has at its disposal advanced knowledge about man, both in the field of physiology and psyche. The system managed to learn more about an ordinary person than he knows about himself. This means that in most cases the system has more power and controls people to a greater extent than they do themselves.
Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, social activist, author and political analyst. Professor Emeritus of Linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and one of the outstanding scientists of the 20th century. His fundamental works in the field of the theory of linguistics and cognitive science have received well-deserved recognition in the scientific and teaching community.
Manipulation of public opinion
The complexity of the structure of public opinion, the possibilities of its formation, the contradictory conditions of its action give rise to an important characteristic of this phenomenon - susceptibility to manipulation.
The basis of manipulation, i.e. influencing public opinion using certain means in order to achieve significant results is an objective characteristic of consciousness associated with its variability, instability, and the individual’s desire for positive changes. Reluctance to put up with what is happening, the need to look into the future, the activity of the subject - the ground for manipulation in the formation of public opinion. A powerful tool for such manipulation is the media.
The influence on public opinion is especially strong when the masses have confidence in the source of information. For this, the cliché “It is known from competent sources…”, “One high-ranking official reported…”, etc. is used.
Since the ruling circles are interested in disseminating certain ideas among the masses, a technique is used to introduce them through special magazines. For example, in the USA these are “Opinion Magazines”. This method of manipulating public opinion is as follows: by putting forward “necessary ideas” on their pages, “Opinion Magazines” strive for them to be noticed by more mass publications and through them to be widely disseminated among readers. It seems that the information comes neutrally, not from political elites, not from power structures or government sources, which means that these magazines are supposedly not connected with the interests of dominant groups.
An important way to influence public opinion is to limit and dose information channels. An important way to influence public opinion is to take into account the characteristics of the audience when fabricating the content of information. If the topic is complex or the audience has a low level of education, then ready-made conclusions and conclusions are drawn (for example, designations of where to laugh during the showing of American comedy television series). If the topic is simple, then the audience is given the opportunity to draw their own conclusions. For a highly intelligent audience, the material is presented with “double argumentation”: “for” and “against”. This contributes to a more effective implementation of the necessary ideas, norms, and values. Since people tend to avoid large quantities of negative information, such information is strictly dosed. At the same time, it is also taken into account that material that confirms the existing point of view of readers, listeners, and viewers is more readily perceived and has convincing power. The media reports what the audience wants to hear and see.
Effective methods of manipulating public opinion are the use of multiple repetitions of messages and the reception of continuous broadcasts of programs throughout the day. People hear without listening, remember and not only repeat what they heard, but often begin to act in accordance with what they hear. These techniques form the basis of effective social brainwashing technology. All advertising is based on this.
The manipulative function of the media makes public opinion unsafe from an ideological and political point of view. This applies to both public opinion polls and the publication of their results. Opinions can become power, and the balance of opinions can lead to double-edged power conflicts. People, especially in times of crisis, find themselves under the forceful pressure of fields of already formed opinions. These opinions are supported by certain social groups. Thus, a person’s choice of opinion often turns out to be a choice of himself or another social group [Kazhanov O.A. Sociological problems of studying public opinion: A course of lectures. – Smolensk, 2006. - 135 p.].
Russian scientists Panarin I.N., Grachev G., Melnik I. in their works describe seven basic techniques of information and psychological influence, which were formulated in a systematized form in the United States in the late 30s at the Institute for Propaganda Analysis. They are quite widely known to specialists as the “alphabet of propaganda” and are currently actively used by Russian mass media:
1. “Gluing or Labeling”- the technique consists in choosing offensive epithets, metaphors, titles, names, so-called “labels” to designate, name a person, organization, idea, which are used to discredit a person, expressed ideas and proposals, an organization, a social group or an object discussions in front of the audience.
2. “Shining generalizations” or “brilliant vagueness”- is based on the exploitation of people’s positive feelings and emotions in relation to certain concepts and words (“freedom”, “democracy”) - the name of the parties “United Russia”, “A Just Russia”, “Fatherland - All Russia”.
3. “Transfer” or “transfer”- a skillful and imperceptible extension of the authority or prestige of what is valued and respected by people to what the source of communication presents - a politician may wrap himself in the national flag during his speech, appearing in a church on the day of a major holiday.
5. “Your guys” or “the game of common people”- an attempt to establish a trusting relationship with the audience as with like-minded people (Luzhkov played football, Yeltsin rode public transport).
6. "Shuffling" or "playing the cards"- collecting and presenting only positive or only negative facts while hushing up others in order to show the attractiveness or, conversely, the unacceptability of any idea, point of view, political program, etc.
7. “Common carriage”, “common platform” or “van with an orchestra”- when using this technique, a selection of judgments, statements, phrases is carried out that require uniformity in behavior, creating the impression that everyone does this. A message, for example, may begin with the words: “All normal people understand that...” or “not a single sane person would object that...”, etc. [Grachev G.V., Melnik I.K. Personality manipulation. Organization, methods and technologies of information and psychological influence. M.: Algorithm, 2002. – 288 p. – p.118].
I.N. Panarin, in his book “Information Warfare and Diplomacy,” describes several more manipulative techniques and technologies of information wars used by warring parties during the election campaign.
"Mockery". The effect of this technique is based on the fact that when individual statements and elements of a person’s behavior are ridiculed, a humorous and frivolous attitude is initiated towards him, which can automatically extend to his other statements and views.
"The method of negative assignment groups." The technique for using this method, regardless of the content of views and ideas, is the same. In each case, it is argued that a given set of views is the only correct one.
“Repetition of slogans” or “repetition of cliched phrases.” The condition for the effectiveness of this technique is, first of all, an “appropriate slogan”, that is, a relatively short statement formulated in such a way as to attract attention and influence the imagination and feelings of the reader or listener.
"Emotional adjustment." This technique can be defined as a way of creating a mood while simultaneously conveying certain information. A mood is induced among a group of people using various means (appropriate external environment, a certain time of day, lighting, mild stimulants, various theatrical forms, music, songs, etc.). Against this background, relevant information is transmitted, but they strive to ensure that there is not too much of it.
"Promotion through mediators." This technique is based on the fact that the process of perceiving significant information and, in particular, certain values, views, ideas, and assessments is often two-stage in nature. This means that effective information influence on a person is often carried out not directly from the media, but through authoritative people who are significant to him.
Informal leaders, political figures, representatives of religious faiths, cultural figures, scientists, artists, athletes, military personnel, etc. can act as mediators or “opinion leaders” in various situations and for different social groups and strata.
The manipulative effect is enhanced by inclusion in entertainment programs, interviews, etc. direct or indirect assessments of political leaders and current events, which helps to exert the desired influence on the subconscious level of the human psyche.
"Imaginary choice." The essence of this technique is that listeners or readers are told several different points of view on a certain issue, but in such a way as to discreetly present in the most favorable light the one that they want the audience to accept.
"Initiation of an information wave." One of the effective techniques of information influence on large groups of people is the initiation of a secondary information wave. The essence is to carry out a propaganda campaign of such a nature that it forces it to be covered in a number of media. It is possible that not the content of the action itself, but its coverage in some mass media is done in such a way that it forces a significantly larger number of mass media to comment on the initial messages, thereby greatly increasing the power of the informational and psychological impact. The information message is disseminated in other media, that is, a so-called “primary” information wave is created. The main purpose of using this technique is to create a secondary information wave at the level of interpersonal communication by initiating relevant discussions, assessments, and the emergence of relevant rumors. All this allows us to achieve and enhance the effect of information and psychological influence on target audiences.
In modern practice, we are witnessing numerous forms of artificially attracting attention to specific persons or events, including through scandals as a way of creating information waves [Panarin I.N. Information war and diplomacy. - M.: OJSC “Izd. House “Gorodets”, 2004. – pp. 222-227].
