“The purpose of propaganda is not to make you believe something. It is to make you believe nothing, so that you no longer think, and then power can do what it wants.”
— Attributed to George Orwell
I have developed a deep disgust for propaganda—not because I fail to appreciate the power of persuasion, but precisely because I understand how it works.
Having familiarised myself with its techniques and how they are deployed to shape public perception, I have become acutely sensitive to the moment a message crosses the line from persuasion into manipulation. Once I smell propaganda, my trust in the narrative immediately diminishes. I begin to question not just what is being said, but why the messenger feels the need to resort to such tactics in the first place.
What I find particularly disturbing is the apparent belief among some politicians, government communicators and media practitioners that the end justifies the means. If the objective is deemed important enough, they seem to think that exaggeration, selective truths, emotional manipulation or the deliberate omission of inconvenient facts are acceptable ways to sell their message.
They fail to understand that propaganda is a double-edged sword. The very instrument they use to convince others can become the reason others stop believing them.
You may manipulate a person's perception for a moment, but you cannot command their trust indefinitely. And once credibility is lost, repeating the message louder, packaging it more attractively or deploying more sophisticated propaganda techniques will not necessarily bring it back. More often than not, it merely deepens the suspicion.
Propaganda is more than telling lies
Propaganda is the systematic use of information, imagery, language and emotional appeals to influence public opinion in favour of a particular political, ideological or institutional interest.
It does not always involve outright falsehoods. Often, its most effective form consists of selective truths, misleading comparisons, missing context and the deliberate suppression of inconvenient information.
Its techniques are well established. Repetition makes claims appear familiar and, eventually, credible. Fear creates urgency and discourages rational scrutiny. Scapegoating shifts blame towards a convenient target. Name-calling discredits opponents without addressing their arguments. Bandwagon appeals manufacture the impression that everyone agrees. Selectively presented statistics can make a policy appear successful while concealing its costs or shortcomings.
The history of propaganda has produced influential practitioners. Edward Bernays pioneered modern public relations and the deliberate shaping of public opinion. Walter Lippmann examined how people's perceptions of reality are influenced by the images and narratives through which they understand the world. Joseph Goebbels demonstrated the devastating potential of propaganda when deployed in the service of Nazi totalitarianism.
Their purposes and methods were not identical, but their legacies illustrate a common truth: controlling the presentation of information can be a powerful means of influencing how people think, feel and act.
When the end no longer justifies the means
For governments, propaganda can offer tempting short-term rewards. Unpopular policies can be repackaged, failures attributed to previous administrations, achievements exaggerated and political opponents portrayed as threats rather than legitimate critics.
Yet governing is not simply about winning arguments. It requires public cooperation, particularly when difficult decisions involve taxation, subsidy rationalisation, economic reform or sacrifices that affect household livelihoods.
Citizens may accept painful measures when their necessity is explained honestly, the trade-offs are made clear and the burden is distributed fairly. But when governments gloss over hardships, manipulate favourable statistics or dismiss legitimate concerns, they risk undermining the very cooperation they need.
Once people suspect that official communications are designed to sell a narrative rather than explain reality, even credible announcements may be met with disbelief.
The damage extends beyond individual policies. Officials can become more concerned with defending the government's image than correcting its mistakes. Political leaders may begin to confuse favourable publicity with genuine public support.
Worse still, they may come to believe their own messaging and lose touch with the realities experienced by ordinary people.
The ruling party may win today's battle of narratives, only to discover that tomorrow's message carries little weight. Propaganda can manufacture temporary consent, but it cannot guarantee lasting confidence.
The media must not become part of the machinery
The media has an equally important responsibility. Its role is to scrutinise claims, verify evidence, provide context and distinguish fact from opinion. Reporting what a politician says is not the same as establishing that the statement is true.
When media organisations adopt the same manipulative techniques they ought to question, they sacrifice their independence and credibility. Sensationalism may attract attention, while partisan framing may satisfy an existing audience, but neither necessarily improves public understanding.
This is particularly dangerous when communication exploits ethnic sensitivities, economic anxieties or national security concerns. Such methods can deepen divisions, distract from substantive issues and turn public discourse into a contest of emotional reactions rather than reasoned judgment.
A healthy society needs persuasion, debate and even vigorous political contestation. What it does not need is the deliberate distortion of information by those entrusted with communicating it.
An age of openness, but not immunity
In today's information environment, propaganda is harder to monopolise.
Social media, independent commentators, digital archives and readily available counter-evidence allow citizens to challenge official narratives, compare claims and expose inconsistencies. A statement once accepted at face value can now be scrutinised and contradicted within minutes.
This does not mean propaganda has lost its power. Algorithms can reinforce existing prejudices, coordinated campaigns can manufacture apparent consensus, and falsehoods can travel faster than corrections. People may also embrace information that confirms what they already believe.
Nevertheless, governments and media organisations can no longer safely assume that they alone control the narrative.
The greater danger is that repeated exposure to manipulation breeds cynicism. When citizens become convinced that everyone is spinning the truth, they may stop distinguishing between a demonstrable falsehood, an honest mistake and a legitimate difference of opinion.
They cease to trust not only the manipulator, but potentially the institutions and information systems on which society depends.
That is a particularly destructive outcome. A society in which nobody trusts anything is not necessarily a society that thinks more critically. It may instead become one in which accountability weakens and facts lose their ability to settle disagreements.
Credibility is the real currency
Ultimately, governments and media organisations must recognise that credibility is an asset accumulated over time but easily squandered through repeated deception. Once lost, it cannot simply be restored through a better slogan, a more polished campaign or another round of carefully managed publicity.
Public communication should aim to inform, explain and persuade through evidence—not manipulate people into accepting a predetermined conclusion. Governments should have the confidence to acknowledge policy costs alongside benefits, admit failures and respond seriously to criticism. Media organisations should have the integrity to challenge claims regardless of whose interests are served.
The end does not justify the means when the means destroy the very trust upon which the end depends.
Propaganda may win an argument today, secure temporary compliance or deliver a short-term political advantage. But effective communication is not measured solely by how many people accept a message. It must also be measured by whether the messenger remains credible when the next difficult message has to be delivered.
In the long run, neither government nor media benefits from teaching the public to distrust them. Persuasion may win attention, but only honesty and credibility can sustain trust. And once people begin to distrust the messenger, even the truth may struggle to be heard.
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