Pensioners' pension mo. Rights to medical care for military pensioners: grounds, procedure for granting

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The development of social media provides fertile ground for the use of their audience as the dissemination of propaganda ideas. Currently, we are faced with the phenomenon of the viral spread of propaganda in social networks, where users perform both the functions of the addressee and the distributor.

This mechanism is fundamentally different from the traditional propaganda model, in which the main role in the distribution was played by the media controlled by political elites. In the new model, political institutions also form and disseminate propaganda ideas through traditional and social media.

However, in this case, they are only the initiators and instruments of the initial stage of its distribution, which then becomes viral (by analogy with the mechanisms for the distribution of viral advertising). In the process of viral spread, ideas formulated by political institutions and launched by the media are not preserved in their original form, but are transformed, acquiring new qualities and interpretations. They turn into constructs with a complex rational-emotional structure. We propose to call them propagandists.

Propaganda can be a plot, a set of related ideas or a system of images that goes back to a certain propaganda idea. Very often, propaganda is closely connected with some precedent text (a quote from a well-known politician's speech, a wording, a term, a slogan, an appeal, a slogan, etc.). However, propaganda is not limited to this text; its semantic field is much wider. Once in the mass consciousness, it can change its content.

An important property of propaganda is its emotional-figurative charge. Propaganda does not require rational-logical perception and does not withstand analysis. Some logical connections or their imitations are still present in the propaganda, but they only create the illusion of consistency, correctness, and contribute to the passage of the individual's internal censorship. This mechanism implies an uncritical perception of propaganda. In order to receive an emotional charge, propaganda must send the subject to the conflict, contain implicit or explicit aggression.

Actually, this emotional charge also includes a viral mechanism for the spread of propaganda. At the same time, a specific propaganda can become a material or a source for the formation of new propaganda. In the process of transformation, propagandems can take on characteristics that are unexpected and even undesirable for the institutions that launched them. In any case, they exist independently, in isolation from the institutions that gave birth to them.

Social media is becoming a favorable medium for the dissemination of propaganda due to its important communication characteristics. First of all, this is facilitated by technological tools for disseminating information on social networks: the possibility of combining users into communities, the system of reposts, likes, etc. In addition, the absence of external censorship and pressure on such communities and individual users also plays an important role: this factor just allows propaganda to be freely transformed depending on the characteristics of a particular social group.

Traditional mass media, although they remain the primary transmitters of propaganda from political institutions to the audience, nevertheless, are losing their key role in this process, which leads to a decrease in the audience's trust in them. This is due to the emerging dissonance between the agenda formed by the media and the information requests and expectations of the audience.

Traditional media may encounter propaganda once put into circulation at a new stage, when they already exist in the mass consciousness independently, in isolation from the original propaganda goal.

In this case, the media perceive these propaganda as some new phenomena and reflect them for the second time. Thus, it is important to study the following processes and their subjects: - the process of formation of propaganda, their structure, emotional-figurative and rational potentials, features of the distribution of social networks in communities, transformation and separation from the ideological goal, independent existence in the mass consciousness; - functional and communication features of communities in social networks that are influenced by propaganda, features of the communication behavior of users - members of these communities; - the role and place of traditional media in the formation and dissemination of propaganda.

Roman Vladimirovich Zholud

Propaganda is one of the "three pillars" on which journalism rests, a powerful factor in its influence on public consciousness.

Propaganda in the media, like any purposeful activity, relies on its own methodological principles, has its own subject and object, functions, goals and objectives.

The method of propaganda is determined by the specifics of its object (worldview of society), subject (dissemination and approval of ideas, judgments and views determined by class relations), functions (political education, ideological education, regulatory tasks), goals (formation of political consciousness, stimulation of social activity), general and organizational principles (scientific nature, partisanship, truthfulness, connection with life, concreteness, unity of word and deed; breadth and mass coverage of the population by a single ideological influence, purposefulness and consistency of propaganda work, an integrated approach, centralization, specialization, interaction and coordination).

The totality of the object, subject, functions, goals, basic principles is the foundation of the propaganda method. However, this category of the method of propaganda activity is not exhausted. A method is not only a methodology, but also a technique, i.e., ways of practical implementation of the social purpose of activity. The essential factors of any purposeful activity are methodological principles, means and tools for its implementation, methods and techniques for its implementation.

The principle of consistency in the coverage of reality is due to the essence of propaganda, which forms, first of all, a person's systemic ideas about the world around him.

Consistency is an integral feature of all propaganda in general. The communist ideology was a coherent system of views and ideas of the working class. Reflection of the world from the standpoint of this ideology involves the creation of a complete and objective picture of life on the basis of identifying the internal patterns of reality.

An important methodological principle of the propaganda activity of the Soviet mass media is the popularity and intelligibility of materials. Popularity means the comprehensibility of texts to the widest sections of the population. Intelligibility expresses the propagandist's ability to clearly, clearly, consistently and logically express his thought.

The degree of popularity and intelligibility varies depending on the level of education, awareness, and competence of the population.

One of the methodological principles of journalistic propaganda is a differentiated approach to various groups and strata of the population. Propaganda as a set of ideological influences appeals to the entire population as a whole. But each individual propagandist deals with a very specific audience with its own specific characteristics. If a propagandist wants to effectively influence his audience, he must take into account its features, both general and specific. It is necessary to take into account the attitudes and value orientations that have developed in each social stratum or group of the population, social, national, ethnic, educational, age, professional and other characteristics.

Any organized, purposeful activity presupposes the existence of both certain principles and certain means. Propaganda uses the most diverse "material" involved in mass communication - all types of information - both verbal and audiovisual. However, in the toolkit of journalistic propaganda, a number of basic, defining elements should be singled out. These include fact, assessment and call. The significance of these means is due to the methods of reflection inherent in propaganda.

BN Pshenichny names three ways or levels of mastering reality by propaganda: description, evaluation, prescription. Each of the three methods of propaganda influence corresponds to a certain, basic “means of production”: description - fact, evaluation - assessment, prescription - appeal.

Fact, evaluation and appeal are the three main means of propaganda influence. However, in order for the impact to be realized, it is necessary to translate it into a certain form. The fact must be stated, the assessment formulated, the appeal indicated. In other words, certain means of expression are necessary. Journalistic propaganda uses all expressive means used in mass communication: oral and written word in all its stylistic varieties, including figurative and artistic tropes (metaphor, metonymy, synecdoche, hyperbole, etc.), various non-verbal sign systems for transmitting information, visual and pictorial and acoustic means.

Any purposeful, organized activity presupposes the presence of not only defining, initial positions - principles, but also the object and subject of this activity. The object is what the activity is aimed at. The object of propaganda is the worldview of society , worldview judgments that are related to the current political and socio-economic needs of society. A newspaper, radio, television can talk about any issue (politics, economics, culture, sports, etc.), but this issue will be considered from the point of view of those urgent tasks that society is solving today.

Forming a worldview, propaganda creates an ideological foundation on which assessments of current events are built, i.e. public opinion.

The specificity of propaganda as a purposeful socio-political activity determines the presence of not only a specific object of this activity, but also its subject. In its philosophical meaning, the category "object" expresses the purpose of the activity. Propaganda has the task not so much to obtain new, previously unknown knowledge, but to influence the consciousness of society, spreading ideas, judgments and views.

But propaganda does not spread any ideas, judgments and views, but only those that are related to a certain ideology, in other words, to certain party-class interests.

At the same time, ideological influence for propaganda in general and journalistic propaganda in particular is not an end in itself. Propaganda is aimed at solving the problems facing society, in other words, it is subordinated to the needs of social management. Thus, the subject of propaganda is the dissemination and approval of ideas, judgments and views conditioned by class relations, the stimulation of the conscious activity of the masses for the purpose of social management of society.

Journalistic propaganda manifests its specificity in that it daily, in many cases with great efficiency, analyzes actual phenomena and facts from party-class positions, directly and directly participating in social management. From here we turn to the consideration of the functions of propaganda.

Propaganda is engaged not just in enlightenment, not in the dissemination of knowledge in general, but in the approval of such ideas, ideas, attitudes and value orientations that are of political significance, i.e., the knowledge necessary to solve the urgent tasks and problems facing society. For propaganda, information is important that can influence the way people think and act in accordance with class and political needs. The knowledge disseminated by propaganda is political information. Political information goes far beyond the limits of political life proper as relations between classes in the international arena and within the country. Political information is information about events and phenomena in any areas of public life that have political significance. Political information is precisely the knowledge that propaganda spreads. Therefore, the leading function of propaganda is not education in general, but political education.

The function of political education with the use of modern technical means of mass communication was taken over by journalistic propaganda. Newspapers, television and radio daily give a political assessment of the events taking place in the country and abroad, analyze phenomena of public interest in the field of economy, culture, science, art and sports. This is political enlightenment by means of journalistic propaganda.

As already noted, the main object of propaganda is the ideological aspects of consciousness. And the core of the worldview is ideology. Propaganda is aimed primarily at the ideological side of education, in other words, it performs an ideological and educational function.

Of course, in its educational work, propaganda addresses a variety of issues - ethical, aesthetic, moral, and others, but they all have an ideological orientation. Among the main functions of propaganda, organizational is also usually called. Indeed, propaganda, by its very nature, is designed to serve as a stimulus to social action. The mechanism of the organizational role of propaganda: from knowledge to beliefs, from beliefs to action. A significant mobilizing potential of propaganda lies in the fact that it affects both the rational (assertion of worldview judgments) and the emotional-volitional sphere of public consciousness (address to actual needs and interests). Because of this, in all the variety of organizational activities of journalism, propaganda primarily performs the function of social management. She actively participates in all socio-economic, political and cultural events held in the country. In other words, journalistic propaganda is one of the regulators of social development. Thus, in the structure of the organizational activity of the media, propaganda performs regulatory function: 1. Explanation of directive party-state documents and participation in their implementation. 2. Diffusion of social experience. The mass media analyze and make public the experience of advanced enterprises and labor collectives, propagandize scientific forms of labor organization that have justified themselves in practice, methods of conducting socialist emulation. 3. Indication of ways to solve problems facing society. Propaganda can stimulate social activity not only by spreading best practices, but also by finding solutions to certain problems that arise in the course of social development. In the field of view of journalistic propaganda is, say, a conflict situation in the workforce, the problem of employment of a university graduate, a complaint about poor-quality repair of a radio receiver, etc. Finding ways to solve specific situations, propaganda discovers natural connections between phenomena, gives answers to questions of concern to society. Thus, clear guidelines for social activity are indicated.

The functions of journalistic propaganda underlie its goals and objectives. The goals of propaganda are of a concrete historical nature; they are predetermined by class and social relations in society, its needs, and the peculiarities of the ideological struggle.

The most important, long-term tasks of propaganda activity, arising from the decisions of the CPSU, are connected with the practical implementation of the general line of the Party's domestic and foreign policy - the line of accelerating the country's socio-economic development and strengthening peace on Earth. For example, the Pravda newspaper dated 05/15/1986, page 3: the heading “Let's save our planet” contains notes: “Against “star wars”, “Dedicated to the Year of Peace”, in the column of the commentator the article “For and against a peaceful Europe”: “ ... however, the role of the Soviet Union, its specific proposals in the matter of liberating mankind from ... the threat is widely known to the world community. There is also a method of appealing to authority - "the general public"; "Trud" dated 10/20/1984 - the article "Memory of Belgrade" in the heading "Puls of the Planet" is dedicated to the liberation of the capital of Yugoslavia from fascist invaders, i.e. indirectly refers to the struggle for peace by the Russians.

Thus, the strategic and tactical goals and objectives of propaganda change and are modified under the influence of specific historical conditions. At the same time, propaganda has cardinal provisions that are stable and operate regardless of the socio-economic characteristics of the development of society. These tasks include:

1. Formation of the political consciousness of the masses. R. Yanovsky gives the following definition of political consciousness: “... political consciousness is a set of views and attitudes that express the attitude of a particular social group or individual to other social groups, classes, nations, the social system and the processes taking place in it, political parties, social values, traditions and norms. The foundation of the Soviet political consciousness is the proletarian ideology, the communist worldview

Expressing the fundamental interests of the working class, the working people of all countries.

The newspaper "Trud" 11/10/1984, page 1 has the heading "Last telegrams from abroad" with notes: "Terror wave", "Chad: tensions remain", "Class battles" - these notes speak of the plight of workers in capitalist countries . Nearby is the article "Increase in all indicators" - about the good economic situation of the Soviet enterprise, the success of its workers. Materials on the activities of the party are obligatory on the 1st page: “In the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU”, “In the Central Committee of the CPSU” - on resolutions, on work with workers, on decisions on citizens' appeals.

2. Stimulation and formation of conscious social activity, organization of society's activities.

The basis for the education of norms of behavior are value orientations, which are a necessary element of the formed political consciousness. By asserting ideologically conditioned ideas about "good" and "evil", about "useful" and "harmful" for the individual and society, propaganda paves the way for the cultivation of social habits and norms of behavior. Of great importance in this regard is the example, the dissemination of certain patterns of behavior by propaganda. Journalistic propaganda persistently cultivates such norms of behavior as respect for socialist property, conscientious work for the benefit of society, mutual assistance in the work collective, etc.

So, the main goal of propaganda is the formation of political consciousness and stimulation of social activity: it forms systematized views and ideas of public consciousness; affirms beliefs of an ideological nature; organizes and directs conscious public activity; fosters socially significant habits and norms of behavior.

For example, materials on 1 page: “Called to renew the earth”, “To the delight of buyers”, “There is an annual task”, “Operator A.N. Yakimenko" ("Labor") - they give an example, a guideline for the socially useful activity of society.

The functions, goals and objectives of propaganda predetermine the main content areas of its activities:

1. Production and economic propaganda in the media covers almost all aspects of the organization, planning and management of production, the functioning of all sectors of the economy (industry, agriculture, transport, communications, etc.). The main objects of propaganda efforts were the technical reconstruction of the national economy, the implementation of the USSR Food Program, the restructuring of the economic mechanism, the activation of economic growth reserves, the problems of production efficiency, labor discipline, and product quality.

Production and economic propaganda includes essays on leading workers, winners of socialist competition, correspondence and reports from the sites of new buildings, problematic articles on economic issues, etc. Production and economic propaganda materials are included in such headings as “Tribune of the Five-Year Plan Shock Worker”, “People of Labor Glory ""Today is a communist subbotnik", "Let's show examples of labor" ("Labour").

Production and economic propaganda includes coverage not only of economic practice, but also of theoretical issues.

2. Scientific and technological progress plays a decisive role in accelerating the socio-economic development of the country. In this regard, scientific and technical propaganda is of particular importance. The effectiveness of propaganda aimed at introducing new technology into production has increased, a story is being told more consistently and in more detail about the restructuring of the national economy on the basis of scientific and technological progress: new minibus model.

3. Recently, the proportion of propaganda on the problems of the social development of society has noticeably increased. Propaganda on problems of the social development of society also includes materials devoted to the improvement of social-class and national relations, the further democratization of socialist society, the activities of Soviets of People's Deputies and public organizations. Propaganda of the Soviet way of life stands out in this thematic direction - the affirmation of the spiritual values ​​of a socialist society, the norms and forms of life that correspond to the nature of socialism: the heading "Puls of the Planet", the newspaper "Trud", contains notes both on Soviet social development and other socialist countries: “Strengthen unity”, “For peace and social progress”, “Improve the political climate”. In the same place, the heading "Two Worlds - Two Ways of Life", the article "A Matter of Soul" - about the "constitutional right of a Soviet person to work, to social well-being", and in contrast to the article "For the Sake of a Piece of Bread" - about unemployment in Washington. Articles are accompanied by photographs that have an emotional impact on the reader.

4. The mass media are an effective tool for the cultural enlightenment of the people. Cultural and educational propaganda is an integral component of the work of the press, television, and radio broadcasting. Propagating literature and art, the mass media carry out a purposeful selection of works, acquainting the public with the best examples of domestic and world culture. The political approach, class assessment, taking into account the needs of social management play an important role in this.

But for us, in this case, journalistic activity in cultural and educational propaganda is of greater interest. It is an important part of political education. The task of the mass media in cultural and educational propaganda is the formation of a spiritually developed personality, a politically mature citizen of a socialist society.

We are talking about regular journalistic commenting on novelties in the field of literature and art, about finding forms of wide communication between journalists speaking on these issues with different age and professional groups of the population, about a more targeted formation of aesthetic views and tastes by journalism. Sports news and achievements, and materials about famous people are also placed here. For example, “Labor”, the heading “From a Journalist’s Notebook”, the article “Where Copernicus Lived”, the heading “Club: Weekdays and Holidays” - “The Living Word” (about the benefits of an interesting lecture), “Songs in every home” - about activities of propaganda teams during the sowing work, a photograph with comments was posted. We can say that this direction is being developed from all sides, both scientific and popular.

5. Propaganda on foreign policy and international relations is one of the permanent and responsible areas of propaganda activities of the media. In this area of ​​ideological work, one can single out, firstly, the propaganda of the peaceful foreign policy of the Communist Party and the Soviet state. Secondly, a significant place in this propaganda work is occupied by the reflection of the international situation as a whole. Journalists daily analyze the events taking place in various parts of the globe, give them a political assessment, generalize and explain the most significant phenomena of international life. In the context of a difficult international situation and a sharp ideological struggle, journalistic propaganda on foreign policy and international relations is of particular importance. Most of the materials are devoted to this topic: “Labor” - “No need for nuclear war” (letters from Americans to the US President)”, “Solidarity is growing stronger”: “... international solidarity of workers is an irresistible force ... We are sure that it will help British miners win in their struggle for the right to work, for life, for peace on earth...”, the heading “On the fronts of class battles”, “horizons of fraternal cooperation”, etc.

6. Propaganda is involved in labor education, instilling in people respect for work, a willingness to work for the benefit of society. Newspapers publish stories about various professions; television holds competitions and competitions in which labor skills are used; the radio broadcasts meetings of “labor glory clubs,” etc. By cultivating an interest in socially useful work, journalistic propaganda contributes to the professional orientation of young people, promotes the development of initiative and creativity in work, and strengthens the principles of a communist attitude to work. In order to establish the authority of honest, highly productive labor, propaganda publicly condemns the manifestations of parasitism, the receipt of unearned income, a dependent, consumerist attitude to the national property. It proclaims the absence in the Soviet Union of the exploitation of man by man, the high status of the “working man”, who feels himself an active force, which is reflected in his morality, moral, psychological appearance: “The right to work and the right to seek work”, “Demands of trade unions”, “Success of the march laborers" ("Labor"). Mandatory on 1 pages of newspapers are published records of production, Decrees on rewarding for labor feats. Pravda publishes the achievements of the five-year plan, labor news from foreign countries: “Come to the rescue”, “Electronics in the fields”, “Broilers by plane”.

7. Closely connected with the formation of a scientific worldview and labor education is such a direction of propaganda activity as the establishment of communist morality. In a socialist society based on the conscious participation of millions of people in all spheres of social activity, morality - the system of human moral principles - acquires special significance. Communist morality is a collectivist, humanistic, active and active morality. The efforts of journalistic propaganda are aimed at cultivating these qualities. The internal theme of the Soviet press extends to such aspects of life as the political leadership of the country, the labor sphere, sports life, and relations with the socialist countries.

For example, the question of the relationship between man and power is resolved as follows: in the USSR there is a deputy system, the right of voters, a comprehensive discussion at sessions and congresses of issues of state administration, while bourgeois democracy serves the interests of only the ruling class: Izvestia, article "USA: on the eve of elections” - about the empty promises of the candidates, about the interests of the candidates, most of whom are millionaires. "Pravda" - heading "From different latitudes" - facts about environmental disasters, crime, etc. in capitalist countries. "Labor", the heading "Where Capital Rules", the article "Under the Windows of the White House" - about protesters against poverty and homelessness in America. The article "Two Worlds - Two Types of Trade Unions" compares them and our life, work, rights, figures, statistics.

In general, the high morality of the Soviet person and, consequently, the immorality of the capitalist is shown.

8. The themes of patriotic and international education are reflected in many press materials. The newspaper columns "On the Fronts of the Class Battle", "Their Morals", "In Defense of Peace", "Puls of the Planet" contain materials about fraternal countries, about strikes and rallies in capitalist countries. An essential component of patriotic and international education is the promotion of feelings of friendship and brotherhood that unite the nations and peoples of the USSR, the formation in the public consciousness of intolerance towards manifestations of nationalism and chauvinism, national narrow-mindedness and national egoism. Considerable attention is also paid to military-patriotic education. Propaganda instills in young people a readiness to defend the socialist Fatherland from any encroachment on its freedom and sovereignty.

The external orientation is divided into two aspects: on the one hand, the materials are positive about the activities of the USSR, on the other hand, they are critical, about the activities of the United States. Topics such as the Cold War, the arms race, the struggle for peace, disarmament, the glorification of human rights and freedoms in the USSR, the trade union life of socialist countries, the assistance of the Soviet Union to those in need in other countries, inflation and unemployment in the West, the poverty of the population of capitalist countries, morality and mores of the two polar systems.

In the Soviet Union, the mass media and propaganda - newspapers, magazines, television, radio, news agencies - were a powerful tool of the Communist Party in the great work of forming a new Soviet man, in uniting all the progressive forces of our time. In the media, the information series imperceptibly passes to the ideological (political) series. In essence, as it is emphasized in the communist theory of propaganda, the political series in its content is inextricably linked with the informational one, because information, and even more so political information, is, as it were, the "bread" of propaganda, journalism.

Propaganda is always aimed at the concept of "way of life", because it converges all the main features and properties of a particular social formation, refracting into the life of people. It manifests all the main values ​​of the dominant ideology. And the dominant ideology determines people's views on the world around them. Therefore, the ideological struggle is a display of all aspects of the value orientation of society, including political, labor, and spiritual culture.

Articles, reports, comments about the Soviet system should be of a problematic nature, i.e. to introduce the reader to the course of the urgent tasks and problems facing Soviet society. The task of the authors is to convincingly show that the socialist system reliably protects both individual citizens and the interests of the whole society, without smoothing out sharp corners. The production sphere is called upon to serve as a background against which a story about a person is going on, where not the world of things, but the spiritual world comes to the fore. Such historical advantages of the socialist way of life as collectivism and comradeship, friendship of all nations and nationalities of the country, moral health and social optimism should be shown with particular relief. Which was successfully embodied on the pages of newspapers.

During the Cold War, the mass media of the USSR and the USA carried out active propaganda of the population, the main task of which was to show the public how terrible and merciless the opponent's power was. As a result of a powerful agitation and propaganda program, a strong society motivated to work for the good of the state was obtained in the USSR, which indicates that the work of the media of the Soviet Union was successful. Both warring sides of the Cold War carried out approximately the same propaganda program aimed at creating an imaginary image of the opponent's country. Now there is still a remnant of distrust between the two, already peaceful, countries, and people still sometimes have misconceptions about a particular country, which can be considered the remnants of the influence of the media during the Cold War.

At all times, propaganda has been one of the integral parts of state policy, especially when the state was going through hard times. Modern Russia was no exception.

Among the Russians themselves, the word “propaganda” evokes, in addition to negative emotions, the following associations: “imposition, suggestion, impact on consciousness” (12%), “lie, disinformation, idle talk” (6%), “informing”, “advertising ”, “agitation” (4% each). The least popular are associations, oddly enough, with politics, anti-Russian activities, media activities, the promotion of someone's interests and individual countries (USA, USSR).

It turns out that the population is able to recognize and see for the most part only the most primitive and obvious form of propaganda, not noticing it in the activities of the media, politics and not connecting it with the promotion of interests. However, primitive and overt forms of propaganda are gradually fading into the past, giving way to more elegant methods. Modern information technologies, which are developing at a faster pace, provide unprecedented opportunities, but the main part of propaganda is still carried out with the help of television.

The main part of television programs in which propaganda is carried out is either news or fierce talk shows with invited experts and fairly well-known people. Periodically, when the next anniversary of some important event approaches, or immediately after this event, special films are released that claim to be documentary, with interviews of top officials and participants.

ANALYTICAL NEWS PROGRAMS

All these films are built around one figure - the President, and form precisely his image. Attractiveness is created by echoing traditionally positive Russian images: in a film about Crimea, it is presented as a “gatherer of the Russian land”, which echoes the times of Ivan the Third, during whose reign, symbolically, Russia was freed from the power of the Horde. By the way, the pronounced anti-American attitude of the film, and the creation of the impression of a strong independent policy, also have some resemblance, it seems like they have freed themselves from the world hegemon. In the film "President", the main person appears as a strong and independent ruler, but what is interesting is that the Soviet period is condemned. Although supporters of the idea of ​​building the USSR-2 under the leadership of V. Putin had very high hopes on the eve of the release of the film. Apparently, the position of condemning the USSR was chosen so that unforeseen and undesirable associations would not arise. Suddenly, the results of the industrialization of Soviet times and the state of industry today will begin to be compared, and it will turn out to be some kind of completely uncomfortable picture.

"World order" is already a claim to present the President as the defender of the Russian world and the conductor of Russia's mission in the world. It was in this order that these films came out, very logical - first, "gathering the lands", then a strong hand, then a challenge to the outside world. It is not known what the effect would be if the films were released in reverse or chaotic order. And for sure, the effect would be less if the interview of the President and the script of the film were published in the text version. It's one thing when both video and audio are distracting and affect the viewer's emotions. Another is when you can take a pencil and read thoughtfully what was said. For example, about the suddenness and unplannedness of the annexation of Crimea, which is completely inconsistent with all the patriotic rhetoric about the Russian world. Or reservations about the decision to annex Crimea, which was taken solely on February 23, and not at all based on the results of a referendum.

GENERAL AND SPECIAL

Common to any manipulative techniques is, firstly, the use of the psychological characteristics of most people. For example, in Russia, an appeal to the majority has been actively used lately, ranging from introducing the concept of “Putin's majority” to such a construction of a frame when covering pro-government events or supporters that would demonstrate a large crowd of people. The purpose of this technique is to use a feature that was experimentally revealed back in the 20th century by Solomon Ash: under the pressure of the majority, almost 40% of people change their opinion to a deliberately erroneous one. In the USSR, there was also a similar experiment, where the subjects were asked to determine the color of the pyramids. The experiment was called "both white": despite the different colors of the two pyramids, the majority of both children and adults, under pressure from the dummy majority, called both pyramids white.

Secondly, the introduction of clear and precise guidelines, including in a "folded form" - i.e. in the form of bookmarks, constant filling of the information environment of a person with information similar in nature, where the target setting is contained only in parts, in separate aspects. Subsequently, when faced with a concrete and open attitude, consisting of thoughts that have become habitual for a person, a person will relatively easily assimilate it as part of his own consciousness. This is due to the peculiarities of the human psyche, which perceives a familiar and familiar environment/attitude as safe, which leads to the perception of such an environment/attitude as correct, good, natural for this person.

BUT third, the creation of a system of stable associative links and flexible associative links that can change depending on the level and order of impact on the acquired installations. Stable associative ties are associated with loyalty and a positive perception of power - regardless of corruption scandals, crises, and so on, with the simultaneous formation of a negative perception of external actors, but not specific ones. Specific external actors can change - the main thing is to preserve the very mood of the population. But for such a change, “flexible” associative connections are necessary - when a person has one or more attitudes that are activated sporadically and according to circumstances. For example, the attitude "criticism of power always leads to the overthrow of power."

Depending on the use (towards Russia or the USA), it is possible to create an opportunity to make people think “an external actor/oppositionist criticizes our government, which means he wants to overthrow it and leave Russia completely without power”, or “the American people criticize their government - the American people tired and wants to get rid of his degraded power and live in a new way.

But the most important thing behind all these methods is the desire to justify any actions, inactions, words and positions of power. The most important directive that is given to the population is that everything is going as it should, the problems in Russia are not critical, Russia is taking the most balanced position and is pursuing an extremely professional policy. An idea is given of our country as a country that, in such a state and with such a policy, is able to form the world order it needs - with a collapsed industry, agriculture dependent on imports. At the same time, it is impossible to completely hide the facts, therefore, all the blame for inherently systemic errors is placed on individual, specific people, who are most often nothing more than performers, if not having any influence on the policy being pursued. A completely logical continuation of this line is the proposal to create a "scale of patriotism" for the regions - to identify regions less prone to the influence of propaganda.

Moreover, to make the heads of educational institutions and municipalities responsible for patriotism. There is little influence of the media - it is necessary to increase propaganda in other bodies.

Since 2012, interest in news, socio-political programs and talk shows has grown. The population, surrounded by the information shell necessary for propaganda, hardly notices the influence that the media have on it, largely trusting the information transmitted on television.

There is one aphorism attributed to the American President Abraham Lincoln: “You can deceive the whole people for a short time. You can deceive a part of the people for a long time. But you can’t deceive all the people forever.” Propaganda, even in the case of half-truths, will diverge more and more from the real state of affairs. And that short period during which the population was in a state of informational intoxication, the inability to soberly assess the information, will end sooner or later. Trust in both the authorities and the media will be undermined. What has long been called “Solovyovshchina” and “Kiselyovshchina” in the vastness of the Web, in the future can turn into one of the factors that have increased the disappointment of the population in power. And revolutions and riots driven by frustration tend to be the most difficult and dangerous to control.

With the development of the media, the information war is becoming more and more evident. It continues even when "the guns are silent." New propaganda methods are emerging. We want to talk about five of them.

dehumanization

In 1994, after a military coup, representatives of the Hutus, one of the two largest ethnic groups in the country, along with the Tutsis, seized power in Rwanda. Closely related peoples lived side by side for centuries, spoke the same language, professed Christianity. However, the common history and culture could not prevent one of the most terrible catastrophes of modern times - the massacres in Rwanda, when, according to various estimates, from 500 thousand to a million Tutsis were massacred within a hundred days. The Hutu, who opposed the genocide of their compatriots, were also subjected to repression.

The reason for the unprecedented revelry of terror in many ways was the rabid propaganda of violence through the national media. For example, Rwandan radio journalists (other types of media communications were not available to residents of one of the poorest African countries) instead of the ethnonym "Tutsi" systematically used the euphemism "cockroaches", and instead of the word "kill" - the verb "process".

Thus, we have before us the worst examples of the use of dehumanization technology. It is psychologically uncomfortable for the layman to think about the physical murder of his own kind, no matter how bad the propaganda portrays it. But slamming not even a mammal, but an insect, a cockroach, is a level of violence that is quite acceptable for a person even with very strict moral principles. Thus, after repeated repetition (another propaganda mechanism), an unconscious associative link is created in the audience between two objects, in this case, processing cockroaches - and killing Tutsis.

Another recent example of dehumanization is the so-called interactive installation "Caution, Russians!", which took place on April 25, 2014 at the Kiev Center for Contemporary Art and was widely covered in the blogosphere and the media. The art composition consisted of several slovenly dressed people sitting behind a lattice fence with St. George ribbons, balalaika and vodka, throwing garbage on the floor and cursing at the “great and mighty”.

However, publicists who are fond of the dehumanization method should remember the fate of radio host Georges Ruggia, who, according to the verdict of the International Tribunal for the Genocide in Rwanda, served 8 years for calling for massacres on the air.

Substitution of a constructive agenda for an opposition one

“Are you planning to wear a St. George ribbon on Victory Day?”
Maxim Kats, co-founder of the City Projects Foundation, post in LiveJournal, May 5, 2014 (author's spelling retained).

In a certain country of the former USSR, there are many real problems - corruption, poor environmental conditions, uncomfortable megacities. A group of young and charming people appear on the political arena who have previously achieved success, for example, in business, and now have created public projects aimed at, say, protecting the Khimki forest or improving the streets of Moscow.

The use of an up-to-date agenda (because not a single person in their right mind would oppose the elimination of a landfill in a forest belt or the creation of a barrier-free urban environment) allows new leaders to quickly gain supporters and receive wide media support. For some time, the guys have been doing quite the right thing: they organize subbotniks, offer ideas for the development of public transport, attract public funding from caring citizens.

However, then, when the number of supporters exceeds a certain critical mass, a smooth correction of the proposed agenda takes place: from creative activity that brings real benefits to a narrowly focused political protest. It suddenly turns out that the most important condition for the realization of their good undertakings is a radical change in the political system, preferably due to the forcible seizure of power.

No, of course, young leaders (at least the most adequate of them) do not call for revolution directly. But, if you listen to them, all the time for some reason it turns out that the root of all troubles is the “wrong” government. Is there still no high-speed tram in Moscow? This is so only because all (?!) officials are idiots. Was the tile in the pedestrian zone laid crooked? So this is due to the fact that in the mayor's office - entirely thieves and swindlers ... The substitution of a constructive agenda for an opposition one is taking place slowly. Just think, the word "victory day" was written with a small letter. And the audience, having seen unconditional authorities in the new faces thanks to their real deeds, corrects their views after the leaders.

Illusion of majority support

“We did not carry out decommunization in Russia ... we didn’t throw Lenin off, we didn’t almost rename the streets, we didn’t change the names of the cities; we still have Ulyanovsk and the Leningrad region, which revolts any normal person.”
Professor Andrey Zubov, interview from May 28, 2014

One of the most important ideas driven into the minds of the audience during any political confrontation is that with us, allegedly, everything is good, bright and pure (in very large quantities), while against us everything is exclusively bad, ugly and disgusting (and even then - in the form of a few renegades).

How was the Ukrainian Maidan portrayed in the fall of 2013? Peaceful students came to the square, dreaming of European integration. When showing the extras of the Maidan, the techniques of “attacking with love” are actively used: look at how many beautiful girls, flowers and creative posters, as well as young people with children, are on the Maidan. In the evening, everyone lights candles and sings the national anthem together. Similar protests are shown on TV in all (!) large cities, including abroad. Authoritative figures come - leading Western politicians. The thesis is repeatedly thrown that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, came to the Maidan.

And who is opposed? All methods of demonizing the enemy, slandering and labeling are used. Dark, black, evil soldiers are against us. Old men and women in quilted jackets and with false teeth. Frightened state employees. Hooligans, bandits and homeless people who support power for money. At least, we see such a picture in the media supporting the Maidan.

Of course, the image of the enemy is being formed - "titushki", certainly - stupid provocateurs with a criminal past who beat unfortunate women and children standing at protest rallies for money (it is needless to say that really existing "titushki" in any significant numbers was not presented). It is interesting to note how, after the fall of the Yanukovych regime, this colorful word almost immediately disappeared from the Ukrainian media lexicon as it was no longer needed; with the deepening of the political crisis in the southeast of the country, a new image of the enemy appeared: “terrorists” and “colorados” (we recall the methods of dehumanization).

Appeal to prejudice

Many people, especially those who are poorly educated, unfortunately, are prone to stereotypes of thinking, the worst of which is xenophobia, the rejection of “others”.

For example, in order to win the sympathy of the electorate, the topic of combating illegal migrants was exploited by almost all opposition candidates in the 2013 Moscow Mayor elections.

In Ukraine, opponents of Euromaidan exclaimed as a counterargument: “We don’t want to go to Geyropa!” Playing on homophobic sentiments and ignoring the fact that not all residents of this part of the world are gay.

Another example is the exploitation of the thirst for justice, especially inherent in our people. Let's say the head of a state corporation finds a large country house, where, according to a number of bloggers, there is also a fur coat storage room. This phonetically repulsive word, full of hissing sounds, begins to be mentioned in every post about any official in general (the same methods of repeated repetition, slander, labeling).

It is very easy to recognize such propaganda: it is almost always built on negative, rubbish emotions (“The country is going to hell! However, of course, such an “attack with hatred” has a strong influence on an unprepared, poorly educated person.

Reliable but incomplete information

« If the Serbs committed the crime, we show it. If the crime was committed by the Albanians, we do not show it. If we don’t know who did it, we show and say that the Serbs did it.”
From a conversation with an American journalist during the war in Yugoslavia.

Thanks to the development of the Internet, today in the media space it is extremely dangerous to lie quite brazenly - commentators on your own site will always catch you by the hand and make you laugh. It is much easier to give information strictly dosed.

For example, a Western TV channel makes a story about a rally of supporters of European integration in a certain Eastern Ukrainian city. The design of the visual series, which is beneficial to one of the parties, is used: beautiful, fashionably dressed boys and girls are aired, talking in good English about the European choice. Of course, there is another side, whose opinion cannot be ignored, and then we are shown some ragamuffin who, stammering, says something indistinctly.

In fact, two rallies are taking place in the eastern Ukrainian city at once, and the number of people who came out in support of federalization is about a hundred times greater than the number of participants in the first event. However, suppressing information is not a lie; formally there is nothing to reproach journalists with.

Of course, "black" methods of propaganda are not limited to the five above. As soon as we develop immunity to one of its forms, new ones immediately appear. But the higher your level of education, and the more willing you are to study the opponent's point of view before seeing him as an enemy, the better your mind will be able to resist manipulation. However, the last phrase is also a propaganda device. Try to guess which one?

Miniature: Boris Artsybashev

We are all affected to one degree or another. This may be the opinion of our parents, the news we have watched, or our own reasoning, when we, without suspecting it, come to conclusions that unknown well-wishers diligently pushed us to. Thousands of very intelligent people work every day to influence our opinion - advertisers, political scientists, sociologists ... But the goal is always specific - to convince us of the need to buy this or that product, elect a certain candidate, make us believe that the way, by which the state goes right and our rulers are wise.

It must be said that representative democracy, namely, in such a society we live, implies, as methods of influencing its citizens, the processing of their consciousness. American sociologists P. Lazarsfeld and R. Merton, in particular, write: “Those who control the views and beliefs in our society resort less to physical violence and more to mass suggestion. Radio programs and advertisements replace intimidation and violence.” The current propaganda includes the skillful use of images, slogans and symbols, plays on our prejudices and emotions, and the aerobatics is considered to spread a point of view in such a way that the recipient of this appeal comes to "voluntarily" accepting the dictated position, as if it were was his own. Therefore, among specialists dealing with the problem of manipulation of consciousness, a passionate interest in the phenomenon of the Nazi state will never dry out, which “in just twelve years of its existence has built an amazingly effective system for managing people, deserved their endless devotion and turned these factors into real military, political and economic success." one

Object of study: political propaganda in the Russian media.

Subject of study: features of the propaganda model and technologies, its main sources.

The purpose of the study: the study of political propaganda, identifying the features of the functioning of existing methods, its types, forms, technologies.

The psychological prerequisites for propaganda existed even in primitive society, one can speak about political propaganda itself from the time of the birth of the first forms of government, and about the modern form of this phenomenon - from the emergence of mass methods of replicating information, raising the consciousness of the masses and the growth of the importance of public opinion in the political life of society. The development of this phenomenon in Russia was somewhat late, and in the 20th century it developed according to the model of totalitarian propaganda.

Chapter I. The history of the emergence of propaganda in the media and methods of its application.

The concept of "propaganda" arose and took root in connection with the activities of the Catholic Church: in 1622, the so-called Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith was organized, the purpose of which was missionary activity. However, propaganda has long been understood as any purposeful influence on the masses in order to form certain beliefs and attitudes in them.

The place of honor in the history of the formation of modern propaganda belongs to the mass media. If we trace their genealogy from the Gutenberg machine tool, then, bearing in mind the role he played in the course of the European Reformation, we can say that the entire history of the media is the history of propaganda influence. However, in the most distinct way, the media focused on the performance of propaganda tasks at the moments of the highest tension of the political system - during the war. At the same time, the military-state machine did not just use the media as a temporary tool: in the course of adjusting to the goals of military propaganda, the mass media themselves underwent serious and irreversible changes. Therefore, the history of modern military propaganda is at the same time the history of the media themselves.

The emergence of the structure of mass media presentation that we know today and which presupposes the presence of more or less independent journalists covering military events, however, dates back to a later time. The first "war in the press" arises only in the second half of the 19th century. and is directly related to Russia. We are talking about the Crimean War of 1853-1856. It was during this war that the army of the allies who fought with Russia was accompanied by English and French correspondents, who covered in detail, first of all, the siege and capture of Sevastopol. The most famous of these was William Howard Russell of the London Times, who is often referred to as the first war correspondent. Russell's critical reporting provoked violent protests from the military, accusing him, in particular, of violating military secrecy while covering the siege of Sevastopol. Describing in his reports the number and location of the besieging troops, he allegedly did a good service to Nicholas I. In this regard, a public discussion flared up in England, in which the military won. At the end of the war, on February 25, 1856, military censorship was introduced. This created a precedent case that determined the logic of relations between the media and military structures for the next century. It remains to be added that the Times newspaper increased its circulation by almost a third during the Crimean War, which demonstrated the obvious economic sense of mediatizing the military theme. This economic moment is one of the most important for understanding the entire subsequent history of the relationship between the media and the war.

A new stage in the relationship between war and media begins with the First World War. It is here that the mass media becomes a tool of mass propaganda, which has become an integral building block of both this and the next world war. During the latter, huge propaganda machines were built by all major belligerents. A very special position in relation to the topic of propaganda occupies in the 20th century. Soviet Russia. However, precisely because the media as a propaganda tool functions here in wartime with virtually no interruptions from the beginning of the First World War until the era of "glasnost", this topic deserves a separate article.

It can be said that the experience of mass wars in the XIX - the first half of the XX century. demonstrated a kind of "symbiosis of war and the media" (T. Dominikovsky). It is impossible to imagine one without the other. The mass media performed the function of mass mobilization of the population, setting for it such a degree of involvement in the events taking place at the front that it would simply be impossible to achieve otherwise. The voice of Yuri Levitan, for example, is still recognizable to a large number of citizens of the former USSR. And without the involvement created by the media, it is impossible to imagine the degree of mass character and tension with which these wars were fought. This trend reached its peak during World War II, when the main warring parties turned the media into a military mobilization mechanism, organizing powerful propaganda machines that controlled the nature of the media coverage of the war. Mass wars, for their part, each time gave a new qualitative impetus to the technical development of the media: without wars, we would now have completely different media. Those changes in the structure and forms of media representation of events, which are the result of the active participation of the media in hostilities since the 19th century, allow us to say that information in the modern world has been militarized, following industry and science in this. 2
1.1. Types of political propaganda.

Today, more than ten years after the collapse of the former totalitarian system of government, the need for propaganda has not decreased, but increased. Television is one of the most powerful propaganda tools. At one time, the theorist of psychological warfare and propaganda P. Linebarger dreamed of such a tool: "Propaganda films very rarely penetrate enemy territory ... It is possible that the task of combining the two most important qualities of this propaganda tool - fascination and transportability will be solved with the development of television." The prediction was destined to come true.

Today in Russia one can speak of at least three types of political propaganda: daily, crisis and pre-election.

Everyday propaganda is expressed in regular contacts between government officials and television. Recognizability of the image, which has become a necessary condition for successful activity and the legitimacy of power, dictates certain models of behavior to politicians. They are forced to pay a lot of attention to TV appearances, all kinds of interviews, participation in real and specially organized PR events. Depending on the actor in Russia, one can single out the political communications of the president, government, parliament, and regional authorities. However, after the 2000 elections, there was a tendency for propaganda information about the president to prevail over information about other participants in the game.

An important place on the television screen is occupied by propaganda of the activities of the government. However, this information is also often associated with the personality of the head of state, as if obscured or replaced by it. D. A. Medvedev takes an active part in the work of various ministries and departments, he himself is engaged in the popularization of government programs. Television interest in the lower house of parliament is falling. Traditional broadcasts devoted to the legislative assembly are preserved, parliamentarians are still often invited to participate in shows, round tables, etc. But the State Duma can no longer be a serious opposition to the Kremlin, either in real life or on screen. With a significant decrease in the status of the Federation Council, the share of information about governors and the upper house of parliament in television broadcasts decreases. At the same time, interest is growing in the new body of power, the State Council, in which the president is also a key figure.

Crisis communications can be controlled using the spin doctor technique, which exists as a separate area within Western public relations. Brenda Bruce identifies two of her possible strategies: preparing public opinion before an event and correcting coverage when press coverage begins to take an undesirable direction. The "spin doctor" method is designed mainly for business, but is successfully used in politics, especially in Russia, where crises are frequent. Crisis propaganda includes coverage of all government crises, as well as the passage of the budget in the lower house of parliament under Yeltsin. Information wars can also be attributed to the type of crisis political communications. Such campaigns are accompanied by the publication of a large amount of compromising information, which is not necessarily true. Various manipulation methods can be used, among the most popular being the "mud-throwing" method. 3

For presenters who specialize in negative, custom-made information about any politician, businessman, critics have come up with the unofficial nickname "telekiller". The most popular of them is S. Dorenko: he has a war with the oligarch B. Berezovsky, politicians A. Chubais, B. Nemtsov, Moscow Mayor Y. Luzhkov and ex-president of the government Y. Primakov. Today, television information wars are considered one of the most effective methods of political struggle.

Election campaigns remain the most saturated period on TV with political propaganda. All methods of symbolic struggle are intensified. The general orientation of programs is changing, many entertainment and journalistic programs are acquiring an agitational character, special pre-election blocs are appearing.

1.2. propaganda methods.
anonymous authority, a favorite method of misleading, actively used by all media. It belongs to the so-called. gray propaganda. It has long been proven that one of the most effective methods of influence is to appeal to authority. The authority addressed may be religious, it may be a powerful political figure, a scientist or other profession. The name of the authority is not given. At the same time, citing documents, expert assessments, witness reports and other materials that are necessary for greater persuasiveness can be carried out. Examples: “Scientists, based on many years of research, have established ...”, “Doctors recommend ...”, “A source from the presidential entourage who wished to remain anonymous reports ...”. What scientists? What doctors? What source? The information communicated in this way is in most cases a lie.

References to a non-existent authority give it solidity and weight in the eyes of the townsfolk. At the same time, the source has not been identified and the journalists do not bear any responsibility for the false report.

"Everyday" or "ordinary" story used, for example, to adapt a person to information of a clearly negative, negative content. In the specialized literature, this method is described calmly and in a businesslike manner. So, if you need to tame people to violence, blood, murder, atrocities of all kinds, then a good-looking TV presenter with a calm face and even voice, as if casually, informs you daily about the most serious atrocities. After a few weeks of such processing, the population stops responding to the most heinous crimes and massacres that are happening in society. (There comes the psychological effect of habituation). This technique was used, in particular, during the coup d'état in Chile (1973), when it was necessary to arouse the indifference of the population to the actions of Pinochet's special services. In the post-Soviet expanses, it is actively used to cover mass protests, actions of the political opposition, strikes, etc.

This technique allows the media to maintain the illusion of objective coverage of events, but at the same time, devalues ​​the significance of what happened, creates in the mass audience an idea of ​​​​this event as something of little importance, not worthy of special attention and, moreover, of public assessment..

The method of "chattering" used when it is necessary to reduce the relevance or cause a negative reaction to a phenomenon. Using it, you can successfully fight the enemy, constantly praising him to the point and inappropriately talking about his extraordinary abilities, constantly keeping his name on hearing, clearly exaggerating his abilities. Everyone gets bored very quickly and the name of this person alone causes irritation. It is very difficult to convict the authors of such an event of deliberate discrediting, since formally they make every effort to praise.
During elections, this technique is actively used in the form of an "information explosion" or a massive "dumping of compromising evidence". The goal is to cause fatigue and headaches in people, to discourage voters from being interested in what is behind the soul of this or that candidate.

Another method of "talking" is often used to create the so-called. “Information noise”, when some important event or main problem needs to be hidden behind a stream of secondary messages.

Feedback. People who act as participants in any action change their views to a greater extent in favor of the opinion recommended by its scenario than passive observers of ongoing events. This has been established by numerous psychological experiments. The illusion of participating in a discussion on some topical issue leads to a greater change in opinions and attitudes than a simple passive perception of information. In order to prevent the audience from feeling a one-sided impact and a complex of “indifference of the addressee”, modern media widely practice methods of so-called “feedback” in various forms: calling the studio during a live broadcast, choosing a response option to a given question, etc. Such a “make-up” is designed to create an illusion of participation in the information process among the mass audience. Pseudo-sociological polls (when viewers vote on the phone for one answer or another during the broadcast) are most often just a way of forming public opinion, and not its real reflection, that is, a kind of ordinary propaganda manipulation. Questions are formulated in such a way as to give the audience the “correct” view of a particular problem. They guide our thinking in a particular direction. A brilliant example of this kind of manipulation was carried out by a Moscow radio station in the late 1990s, which, after repeatedly repeating the report about the difficulties with gasoline in St. Petersburg, asked its listeners the question: “Is it necessary to supply fuel to Yugoslavia?” At the same time, there was no mention of the opinions of professional experts about the causes of difficulties with fuel and information about the loss of Russia's export earnings in the event of a disruption in supplies to Yugoslavia. As a result, 75% of the people who called the station gave a negative answer.

Distraction. For propaganda, like any other type of manipulation, an important task is to suppress the psychological resistance of a person to suggestion. Therefore, according to most experts, any propaganda should be a combination of entertaining, informational and persuasive components. Entertainment is understood as any means that arouses interest in the message and at the same time masks its true meaning, blocks critical perception.

In the 1960s, it was discovered that messages directed against an opinion or attitude are more effective if, at the time of their transmission, the recipient's attention is diverted from the content of the message (for example, by playing a popular musical tune). In this case, it is difficult for the recipient to comprehend the information and develop counter-arguments for him - the basis of resistance to suggestion. Research in the 60s increased the effectiveness of manipulation in the press and on television. Newspapers began to use a "kaleidoscopic" arrangement of material, diluting important messages with gossip, conflicting rumors, sensations, colorful photographs and advertising. Television began to compose the video sequence in a new way, accurately selecting distracting images. Virtually all TV news today is a kaleidoscopic array of compelling visuals and informational messages about unrelated events. This has its own logic. So, I. Kalinauskas believes that when there is too much diverse information, a person is unable to process it meaningfully. Therefore, one has to enter it into one's consciousness as a whole, i.e. take it uncritically.

Creating a threat. Another trick of a "strategic" nature that affects the emotions of a mass audience. His main task is to make us afraid in any way. Demoralized and intimidated people do or at least approve of actions that are not beneficial to these people at all. Most often, the technology is as follows. The illusory or real danger of a phenomenon (for example, terrorism) is multiplied many times and brought to the point of absurdity. The media are hysterical about the next "global threat", causing mass fear in people in order to create a favorable environment for the manipulation of mass consciousness - primarily for political purposes. The method of creating a threat is widely used in commercial advertising. Today's advertising very successfully exploits our fears and psychological complexes, which it creates itself.

Poison Sandwich. This propaganda technique actively uses the possibilities of psychological influence due to the structuring of the text. It is always preferable not to lie, but to ensure that a person does not notice the “unnecessary” truth.

The communicator gives a positive message between the negative preface and the negative conclusion. With certain abilities and experience of the communicator, a positive message seems to disappear from the attention of the audience.

A very good technique, actively used by those media that claim to "objective coverage of events" and strive to create an image for themselves in the style of "only facts, nothing but facts." With this structuring of events, objectivity is formally observed, but the effect of "unnecessary" messages is devalued. fourChapter II. Models of political propaganda on TV.

Many media experts, including Western ones (J. Ellul, E. Pratkanis, G. Laasswell, M. Pickering, F. Webster, and others), note the need for propaganda in any society. As the American researcher J. Merrill quite reasonably notes, the whole point is in the interpretation of the term: “If we define this concept as a shameless large-scale dissemination of lies and deliberate disinformation, then, most likely, the media do not participate in this process. But if we take a more realistic position and consider propaganda as the deliberate promotion of certain ideas and actions, then it turns out that the press is full of propaganda materials. 5

The 20th century is called by communicakavistists the “age of propaganda”. It is at this time that the masses get the opportunity to seriously influence the political process, and the elites enter the struggle for control over their consciousness and behavior. In addition, the emergence of new media provides them with the necessary opportunities to do so. In dictatorial-type regimes, control is constantly exercised through intensive and open propaganda, in democratic ones, the struggle for the masses escalates mainly before elections, when various political forces try to impose their candidate and their interpretation of events on the voters. Thus, despite the real existence of propaganda in any society, at least two of its models should be distinguished: pluralistic propaganda (democratic societies) and monopropaganda (dictatorial-type systems).

There are significant differences between them, due to the capabilities of the regimes in which they are formed and operate. In systems of a dictatorial type, the role of the main propagandist is performed by the state. Civil society is suppressed, the interests and desires of a private person are not taken into account. Propaganda forms a unified consciousness based on the ideology accepted in this society. Communication of influence and power regulation by the state are the two main tools for maintaining the legitimacy of power in it. On the contrary, in a democracy, civil society is sufficiently autonomous in relation to the state, so the existence of propaganda is carefully hidden. Most often, the very concept of "propaganda" is used in a negative sense. The suggestion of suggestion goes against the very idea of ​​freedom of choice, privacy, and the right to be informed. In addition, the democratic regime is somewhat more stable and less in need of massive propaganda. Ideally, a multi-party political system and free elections provide him with a system of checks and balances: any dissatisfaction of the country's citizens will be directed against the ruling party rather than the existing system as a whole.

Russian model of propaganda.

It is obvious that after 1991 mono-propaganda in Russia was replaced by a pluralistic model. This is confirmed by the following points:

Firstly, public institutions involved in propaganda are liquidated, the Main Directorate for Literature and Publishing (Glavlit) is abolished, and its propaganda department disappears along with the CPSU;

Secondly, the relationship between the authorities and the media is changing. The state is deprived of its monopoly on periodicals, and then on television and radio broadcasting;

Thirdly, in most cases it also loses direct control over the media. First, the privatization of newspapers takes place, then the more powerful "manipulators of consciousness" - radio and television;

Fourthly, the number of participants in political activities and subjects of propaganda is increasing. A multi-party system and free elections theoretically imply equal propaganda opportunities for all candidates, even those who oppose the current regime;

Fifth, the purpose of propaganda is changing. In conditions of free competition, politicians use it to strengthen their position and attract supporters;

Sixth, the methods of “soft propaganda” are mainly used, which allow propagandists to hide manipulation actions from readers and viewers.

It should be noted that the principles of building a new model were mainly borrowed from Western democracies. However, the rapidity of change prevented Russian journalists, lawyers, advertising communications specialists, and the like. take a critical look at the experience of your colleagues. Along with its positive elements, many negative ones were also copied. First of all, we should note the growing influence of private owners on media policy, i.e. the dependence of propaganda not on the state, but on big business. The American communicativist G. Schiller describes a similar situation in the United States as follows: America's media bosses "create, process, deftly operate the dissemination of information that ultimately determines our behavior." 6

A similar thing is happening in Russia. The information policy of a private television channel is beginning to be determined by its owners, who use TV in their own interests, especially during the pre-election period.

At the same time, the manipulative possibilities of propaganda are increased by the use of TV. Television moves the political struggle to the virtual space of the screen: for the final victory in the elections, it is not the real political capital that becomes more important, but the skillful use of propaganda methods. This thesis can be illustrated by the second place in the 1999 State Duma elections of Unity (the bloc was formed and gained popularity in just three months) and the victory in March 2000 of Former President V.V. Putin (he was announced in big politics in only six months before voting).

The new Russian legislation gave the media some guarantees against interference in the information policy of the state, but did not provide adequate protection from the owners. Namely, positions primarily determine the policy of publishing from the channel. In addition, Russian legislation poorly regulates the use of such a powerful tool of influence as television in the election campaign. Legally, the cost of TV advertising should be included in the amount allocated by the Central Election Commission. In this case, we are talking about explicit, paid advertising. In fact, the coverage of the activities of a particular candidate depends on the hidden financial possibilities of the politician and the position of the TV mogul.

As already mentioned, both technically (communications, television equipment) and technologically (propaganda methods), Russia practically does not lag behind Western democracies. Most of the influence communication methods were tested back in Soviet times: “false documentation”, “emotional prompting”, “throwing mud”, “myth-making”, etc. The mud-slinging technique was also well known: epithets and terminology were carefully selected for any propaganda message.

However, when analyzing the Russian model of propaganda, one should not forget about many of its national features, which for the time being may simply be in a hidden state. First of all, these are authoritarian tendencies, which, according to a number of scientists, are characteristic of the culture of our country.

Even after the loss of direct control over Nal TV, the authorities continue to exert a serious influence on its information policy and treat television as an instrument of influence. It continues to control the process of issuing broadcast licenses and can punish and thank them with them. At the same time, the state does not seek direct control over television channels only as long as the interests of the media tycoons do not conflict with its own.

Authoritarian values ​​persist in the model of the world of Russian journalists. According to sociological studies, the majority defines the future political system as a "state with elements of liberalism" (32.5% of the journalists surveyed), and 23% - as a democratic state. At the same time, an idealized idea of ​​power manifests itself in the attitude of journalists to official information: “to investigate, double-check the facts related to the statements, statements of the government” is only in 8th place for them. If we talk about readers and viewers, they also have no desire to double-check and control the elected government. The percentage of comfortable voting in Russia is rather high; voting for the leader.
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