Throughout time, governments and institutions have use propaganda techniques to twist information in order to persuade readers. In every situation, there are simple, yet effective ways to make the aggressor look like the victim, and the terrorized seem malicious. Although subtle, these techniques make a world of difference. Racial and ethnic minorities can easily be marginalized and discriminated against without justice being served. With the growing trend of newspaper and media bias, this issue is becoming increasingly relevant today. Until we succeed in accurately presenting historical events, we will repeat our past mistakes and continue to live in an unjust world of bias and hate.
During World War II, Germany was the center of propaganda. They had recently suffered huge financial losses in the aftermath of World War I, and Adolf Hitler took over, a persuasive character with an unmatched greed for power. He appointed Josef Goebbels as the Minister of Propaganda, and the government proceeded to brainwash their citizens with glamorous ideas of patriotism and nationalism. All books, newspapers and films were heavily censored by the government. Through these methods, they were able to put their evils on a pedestal and make it seem like they were doing nothing wrong, when in reality they were committing a mass genocide of European Jews.
Such explicit propaganda is not the only way groups have misrepresented history in the past. Sometimes, the omission of key information when presenting a story can change the story so drastically and flip the roles of those involved. For example, during the Memphis Massacre in the late 1800s, newspapers flipped the narrative, making the black men and women seem like beastly monsters while portraying the white citizens as innocent victims of unfortunate circumstances. This was far from the case. In reality, the whites were terrorizing the blacks, dehumanizing them in every way possible by murdering many and putting the rest at fear. However, nothing was done about the situation because many were convinced that nothing problematic was going on in Memphis because of the inaccurate portrayal of the events through the media.
A final example, on a bit closer to my heart, is that of the current situation in the Middle East. Most American media providers, being liberal as they are, twist the headlines and portray events far differently from the way they occur. They always make Israel seem like the bully, simply because it has more resources. For example, on Sunday October 11th, the Los Angeles Times had the headline, “6 Palestinian Teens Die Amid Mideast Unrest.” This was the truth, not the whole truth, and everything but the truth. In reality, those teenagers stabbed three Jews before being shot out of self-defense. If you look at the facts, they were clearly the instigators in this case. However, when the event goes through the news filter, the whole story is changed.
Overall, news outlets have to improve at objective reporting instead of biased headlines. This way, our world will be a world of historical truth, where people will be able to judge events by looking at articles instead of having to look at several newspapers in order to get the full picture of one event. The twisting of history in the past has led to nothing besides evil; because if you are doing good things, why would you have a problem with those events being publicized? The only reason for twisting history is to hide evil. If we can get history right, our world will be better place.
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