And VOA was only “propaganda” when you consider objective information to be “propaganda”, like dumbfuck Trumpers do.
the thing is that you can deliver heavily skewed pictures with information that is objectively true. consider the following example:
it makes it appear as if AOC is pro-genocide
yet when you actually have more context, you know that AOC is actively anti-genocide, as discussed here.
so, delivering objectively true information can result in heavily skewed images, due to non-proportionality of information, i.e. some details are exaggerated, others are under-reported. and some journals have a tendency to under-report on specific things while over-reporting on others. so it’s still possible to lie with objective information, i.e. create images that are not true because they’re out of their actual proportion.
Tinidril@midwest.social 2 weeks ago
The word “propaganda” is tricky. It has connotations of being lies, but that isn’t always or even usually the case. Objectively true information can literally be propaganda. The mission of the VoA is to spread American propaganda. That’s why it’s funded. That can be truths that foreign governments want to suppress, it can be spin, or it can be lies. VoA is generally pretty truthful, especially compared to the privately run domestic versions like cable news outlets.
Government officials don’t need to dictate content. As you pointed out, content can be controlled by who is appointed to manage the content. They know the mission.
rottingleaf@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
The word “propaganda” means any intentionally spread information. It doesn’t specify whether it’s right or wrong. It’s literally “something to propagate”.