Video Propaganda Video technology has the possiblity of being a powerful propaganda tool. Television, which broadcasts videotaped news and entertainment, is often under government control. All networks in Asia and Africa are run by the government, except for in the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. At least one network is government run in every European and Latin country and "in the Soviet Union and its satellites, TV has become the latest propaganda instrument of autocratic regimes" (Green). Governments use video to appeal to the people of other countries as well as their own people. A series of videotaped discussions called the "kitchen debates" took place in 1959 between Richard Nixon and Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev. The videotaped political debates were then televised in both the United States and Russia. Video provided more of a cultural exchange, as well as Cold War challenge, than an attack on another country. Video propaganda is also produced in a less polite manner. In 1991, video technology was used by the United States government in an attempt to disrupt Saddam Hussein's power in Iraq. The CIA hired John Rendon, a public-relations specialist, to try to lessen Saddam Hussein's popularity. He did this by producing videos, photo exhibits, comic books and radio commercials that ridiculed Saddam, all intended for Iraqi audiences. Rendon's firm also came up with the name of the government formed in opposiition of Saddam - the Iraqi National Congress (abcnews.com). |
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