Media manipulation

Techniques in which partisans create an image that favours their interests

For other uses, see Manipulation.

Examples of televised manipulation can be found in news programs that can reach mass audiences. Pictured is the Polish newscast program Dziennik, infamous for having attempted to slander capitalism in then-communist Poland using emotive and loaded language.

Media manipulation refers to orchestrated campaigns in which actors exploit the distinctive features of broadcasting mass communications or digital media platforms to mislead, misinform, or create a narrative that advances their interests and agendas.[1][2][3]

In practice, media manipulation tactics may include the use of rhetorical strategies including logical fallacies, deceptive content like disinformation, and propaganda techniques, and often involve the suppression of information or points of view by crowding them out, by inducing other people or groups of people to stop listening to certain arguments, or by simply diverting attention elsewhere. In Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes, Jacques Ellul writes that public opinion can only express itself through channels which are provided by the mass media of communication – without which there could be no propaganda.[4]

## Contexts

[edit]

### Activism

[edit]

Main article: Activism

Activism is the practice or doctrine that has an emphasis on direct vigorous action especially supporting or opposing one side of a controversial matter.[5] It is quite simply starting a movement to affect or change social views. It is frequently started by influential individuals but is done collectively through social movements with large masses. These social movements can be done through public rallies, strikes, street marches, and social media.[6]

### Advertising

[edit]

"Daisy", a TV commercial for the re-election of U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. It aired only once, in September 1964, and is considered both one of the most controversial and one of the most effective political ads in American history.

Main article: Advertising

Advertising is a form of promotion that seeks to persuade a specific audience to purchase a good or service. One of the first types of marketing, it aims to influence its target market to either buy, sell, or carry out a particular action.[7]

These advertisements are not only done by businesses but can also be done by other groups. Non-commercial advertisers are those who spend money on advertising in the hope of raising awareness for a cause or promoting specific ideas.[8]

### Hoaxing

[edit]

Main article: Hoax

A hoax is something intended to deceive or defraud. Misleading public stunts, scientific frauds, false bomb threats and business scams are examples of hoaxes.[9]

### Propagandizing

[edit]

Main article: Propaganda

Propagandizing is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position by presenting only one side of an argument. Propaganda is commonly created by governments, but some forms of mass communication created by other influential organizations can be considered propaganda. As opposed to impartially providing information, propaganda, in its most basic sense, presents information primarily to influence an audience. Propaganda is usually repeated and dispersed over a wide variety of media in order to create the desired result in audience attitudes. While the term propaganda has justifiably acquired a strongly negative connotation by association with its most manipulative and jingoistic examples (e.g. Nazi propaganda used to justify the Holocaust), propaganda in its original sense was neutral, and could refer to uses that were generally benign or innocuous, such as public health recommendations, signs encouraging citizens to participate in a census or election, or messages encouraging persons to report crimes to the police, among others.[10]

Propaganda uses societal norms and myths that people hear and believe. Because people respond to, understand and remember more simple ideas this is what is used to influence people's beliefs, attitudes and values.[11]

### Psychological warfare

[edit]

Main article: Psychological warfare

Psychological warfare is a term used to denote actions taken by governments with the aim evoking a planned psychological reaction in other people.[12]

This tactic has been used in multiple wars throughout history. During World War II, the western Allies, expected that the Soviet Union would drop leaflets on the US and England. During the conflict with Iraq, American and English forces dropped leaflets, with many of the leaflets telling the people how to surrender. In the Korean War both sides would use loud speakers from the front lines.[13] In 2009 people in Israel in the Gaza war received text messages on their cell phones threatening them with rocket attacks. The Palestinian people were getting phone calls and leaflets warning them that they were going to drop rockets on them. These phone calls and leaflets were not always accurate.[14]

### Public relations

[edit]

Main article: Public relations

Public relations (PR) is the management of the flow of information between an individual or an organization and the public.[15]

## Techniques

[edit]

Means of influence include, but are not limited to, the methods outlined in Influence: Science and Practice, which include appealing to authority, and making the person aware of the scarcity of an offer.[16]

### Internet manipulation

[edit]

Main article: Internet manipulation

#### Astroturfing

[edit]

Main article: Astroturfing

Astroturfing is when there is an intent and attempt to create the illusion of support for a particular cause, person, or stance. While this is mainly connected to and seen on the internet, it has also happened in newspapers during times of political elections.[17] Corporations and political parties try to imitate grassroots movements in order to sway the public to believing something that is not true.[18]

Examples of typical Clickbait with headlines containing exaggerated or sensationalized information.

#### Clickbait

[edit]

Main article: Clickbait

Clickbait refers to headlines of online news articles that are sensationalized or sometimes wholly fake. It uses people's natural curiosity to get people to click. In some cases clickbait is used to generate income; more clicks mean more money is made with advertisers.[19] But these headlines and articles can also be used to influence a group of people on social media. In some cases, they are constructed to appeal to the interest group's pre-existing biases and thus to be shared within filter bubbles.[20]

#### Information laundering

[edit]

Main article: Information laundering

Information laundering is a method of using a less trusted or less popular platform to publish a story of dubious origin or veracity for the purposes of reporting on that report rather than the story itself. This technique serves to insulate the secondary, more established media from having to issue a retraction if the report is false. Generally, secondary reports will report that the original report is reporting without verifying or making the report themselves.[21]

#### Search engine marketing

[edit]

Main article: Search engine marketing

In search engine marketing, websites use market research from past searches and other sources to increase their visibility in search engine results pages. This allows them to guide search results along the lines they desire, thereby influencing searchers.[22]

Businesses have many tactics to entice customers to their websites to generate revenue, such as banner ads, search engine optimization and pay-per-click marketing tools. They all serve a different purposes and use different tools that appeal to multiple types of users. Banner ads appear on sites in an attempt to attract visitors to a linked website. Search engine optimization is a technique in which a website is optimized to received a higher ranking from the search engine, causing it to be returned more often in searches.[23][24]

### Distraction

[edit]

#### Distraction by major events

[edit]

Commonly known as "smoke screen", this technique consists of making the public focus its attention on a topic that is more convenient for the propagandist. This particular type of media manipulation has been referenced in popular culture. For example, the movie Wag the Dog (1997) illustrates how the public can be deceitfully distracted from an important topic by presenting another whose only quality is that of being more attractive.

Politicians might distract the public from domestic issues by diverting attention to global issues in order to reduce pressure domestically.[25]

#### Distracting the public

[edit]

This is a variation of the traditional arguments known, in logic as ad hominem and ad populum but applied to countries instead of individuals. This technique consists of refuting arguments by appealing to nationalism or by inspiring fear and hate toward a foreign country or all foreigners. It has the potential to be important since it gives the propagandists the power to discredit any information coming from other countries.[26]

#### Straw man fallacy

[edit]

Main article: Straw man

An informal fallacy. The "straw man" consists of appearing to refute the opponent's argument while attacking another topic. For it to work correctly the topic that was refuted and the one that should have been refuted need to be similar.

### Voice replication

[edit]

Main article: Audio deepfake

Voice replication is an artificially generated audio created by artificial intelligence (AI) to create a realistic-replication of someone's voice. AI uses machine learning models and can replicate the specific characteristics of a target voice, such as pitch, tone, and cadence. It is commonly used to deceive and cause disruption.[27]

### Photo manipulation

[edit]

Main article: Photo manipulation

Visual media can be transformed through photo manipulation, commonly called "photoshopping." This can make a product, person, or idea seem more appealing. Specific product features are highlighted to attract and persuade the public, and specific editing tools are used to enhance the photo. Some techniques include cropping, resizing, airbrushing, color-enhancing, and removing or adding subjects from the original image. The motivation for photo manipulation may be for pure artistic creativity or more nefarious reasons to deceive. Photo manipulation is used extensively in the advertising and fashion industry and has been the subject of controversy for its part in false advertising and promoting unrealistic images of beauty.[28]

### Video manipulation

[edit]

Main article: video manipulation

Video manipulation is a variant of media manipulation that targets digital video using a combination of traditional video processing and video editing techniques and auxiliary methods from artificial intelligence like face recognition. In typical video manipulation, the facial structure, body movements, and voice of the subject are replicated in order to create a fabricated recording of the subject. The applications of these methods range from educational videos to videos aimed at (mass) manipulation and propaganda, a straightforward extension of the long-standing possibilities of photo manipulation. This form of computer-generated misinformation has contributed to fake news, and there have been instances when this technology was used during political campaigns in an attempt to influence the outcome.[29]

## See also

[edit]

* Media portal

* Audio deepfake
* Black propaganda
* Concentration of media ownership
* Crowd manipulation
* Deepfake
* Disinformation
* Sensationalism
* Spin (public relations)

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Diaz Ruiz, Carlos (2023-10-30). "Disinformation on digital media platforms: A market-shaping approach". New Media & Society. doi:10.1177/14614448231207644. ISSN 1461-4448.
2. ^ Marwick, A. E., & Lewis, R. (2017). Media manipulation and disinformation online. Data & Society Research Institute
3. ^ Coxall, Malcolm (2 Mar 2013). Caswell, Guy (ed.). Human Manipulation - A Handbook. Cornelio Books. ISBN 978-8-4940-8532-1.
4. ^ Ellul, Jacques (1973). Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes, Ch. 2.Trans. Konrad Kellen & Jean Lerner. Vintage Books, New York. ISBN 978-0-394-71874-3.
5. ^ "Definition of Activism". Merriam-Webster. 2015.
6. ^ Greijdanus, Hedy; A de Matos Fernandes, Carlos; Turner-Zwinkels, Felicity; Honari, Ali; Roos, Carla A.; Rosenbusch, Hannes; Postmes, Tom (2020). "The psychology of online activism and social movements: relations between online and offline collective action". Current Opinion in Psychology. 35: 49–54\. doi:10.1016/j.copsyc.2020.03.003. PMID 32330859.
7. ^ Young, Megan. "Marketing vs. Advertising". American Marketing Association. Retrieved 2022-10-05.
8. ^ "Non-commercial Advertising". Business Dictionary. 2015. Archived from the original on 2018-06-12. Retrieved 2016-04-01.
9. ^ Broersma, Marcel (2013). A refractured paradigm: Journalism, hoaxes and the challenge of trust. Routledge. pp. 28–44\. ISBN 9780203102688.
10. ^ Woolley, Samuel. "Digital Propaganda: The Power of Influencers". Journal of Democracy. JOD. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
11. ^ "Media's Use of Propaganda to Persuade People's Attitude, Beliefs and Behaviors". web.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
12. ^ Schmid, A. (2005). Terrorism as psychological warfare. Democracy and Security, 1(2), 137-146.
13. ^ "psychological warfare". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
14. ^ Jerusalem, Hazem Balousha Toni O'Loughlin in (2009-01-03). "Text messages and phone calls add psychological aspect to warfare in Gaza". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
15. ^ Botan, Carl H., and Maureen Taylor. "Public relations: State of the field." Journal of communication 54.4 (2004): 645-661.
16. ^ Cialdini, Robert B. (2000). Influence: Science and Practice. New Jersey: Allyn & Bacon. ISBN 0-321-18895-0.
17. ^ Bienkov, Adam (2012-02-08). "Astroturfing: what is it and why does it matter? | Adam Bienkov". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
18. ^ "10 Fake Grassroots Movements Started By Corporations To Sway Your Opinion". Business Insider. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
19. ^ Frampton, Ben (2015-09-14). "Is clickbait changing journalism?". BBC News. Retrieved 2017-12-03.
20. ^ Ohlheiser, Abby (2016-11-18). "Analysis | This is how Facebook's fake-news writers make money". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2016-11-19. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
21. ^ Meleshevich, Kirill; Schafer, Bret (2018-01-09). "Online information laundering: The role of social media" (PDF). Alliance for Securing Democracy.
22. ^ Ratliff, James; Rubinfeld, Daniel (May 2014). "Is There a Market for Organic Search Engine Results and Can Their Manipulation Give Rise to Antitrust Liability?". Journal of Competition Law and Economics: 1–25.
23. ^ Kritzinger, W.; Weideman, M. (2017). "Parallel search engine optimisation and pay-per-click campaigns: A comparison of cost per acquisition". SA Journal of Information Management. 19: 1. doi:10.4102/SAJIM.V19I1.820.
24. ^ Almukhtar, Firas; Nawzad, Mahmoodd; Kareem, Shahab (2021). "Search engine optimization: a review" (PDF). Applied Computer Science. 17 (1): 70–80\. doi:10.35784/acs-2021-07.
25. ^ Barberá, Pablo; et al. (January 2024). "Distract and divert: How world leaders use social media during contentious politics". The International Journal of Press/Politics. 29 (1): 47–73\. doi:10.1177/19401612221102030.
26. ^ Yap, A (2013). "Ad Hominem Fallacies, Bias, and Testimony". Argumentation. 27 (2): 97–109\. doi:10.1007/s10503-011-9260-5.
27. ^ Almutairi, Z.; Elgibreen, H. (2022). "A Review of Modern Audio Deepfake Detection Methods: Challenges and Future Directions". Algorithms. 15 (5): 155. doi:10.3390/a15050155.
28. ^ Brown, A (2015). "Picture [Im]Perfect: Photoshop Redefining Beauty in Cosmetic Advertisements, Giving False Advertising a Run for the Money". Texas Review of Entertainment & Sports Law. 16 (2): 87–105.
29. ^ Chawki, Mohamed (2024-02-24). "Navigating legal challenges of deepfakes in the American context: a call to action". Cogent Engineering. 11 (1): 6. doi:10.1080/23311916.2024.2320971.

## Further reading

[edit]

Overviews

* Chomsky, Noam; Herman, Edward S., Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media, New York: Pantheon Books, 1988.
* Cialdini, Robert B., Influence: Science and Practice, 4th Edition New Jersey: Allyn & Bacon, 2000.
* Ewen, Stuart, Captains of Consciousness: Advertising and the Social Roots of the Consumer Culture, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1976.
* Ewen, Stuart, PR! A Social History of Spin, New York: Basic Books, 1996.
* Ewen, Stuart; Ewen, Elizabeth, Channels of Desire: Mass Images and the Shaping of American Consciousness, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1982.
* Ellul, Jacques. Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. Trans. Konrad Kellen & Jean Lerner. New York: Knopf, 1965. New York: Random House/ Vintage 1973
* Jamieson, H. K, Dirty Politics: Deception, Distraction and Democracy Oxford University Press, 1992.
* Jowett, Garth S.; O'Donnell, Victoria, Propaganda and Persuasion, Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 1999. ISBN 0-7619-1147-2.
* Parenti, M., Monopoly Media Manipulation, Mediterranean Quarterly, Spring 2002.
* Lutz, William D., Doublespeak, New York, NY: HarperPerennial, 1990. ISBN 0-06-016134-5.
* Rushkoff, Douglas, "They Say", in Coercion: Why We Listen to What "They" Say, New York: Riverhead Books, 1999.

Case studies

* Beeston, R., Bin Laden Heads List of Suspects, Terror in America Times, 12 September 2001.
* Bohannon, J., I Fooled Millions of People into Thinking Chocolate Helps Weight Loss, Here's How IO9, Gizmodo, Debunkery, 27 May 2015.
* Braddock J., Historian says US backed "efficious terror" in 1965 Indonesian Massacre, World Socialist Website, 7 July 2009.
* Cashmore, E.; McLaughlin, E., Out of Order: Policing Black People, Routledge, 1991.
* Hodges, D., West Africans Are Streaming Across the U.S. Southern Border Carrying the Ebola Virus, The Common Sense Show, 3 August 2014.
* Howard, Philip N.; Ganesh, Bharath; Liotsiou, Dimitra; Kelly, John; François, Camille, The IRA, Social Media and Political Polarization in the United States, 2012-2018. Computational Propaganda Research Project, 17 December 2018.
* Kellner, D., 9/11, Spectacles of terror, and media manipulation, Miscellany, 15 August 2006.
* Ostrow, J., Politics in Russia: A Reader, Sage Publications, 26 June 2012.
* Sniffen, Michael J., Libby case witness details art of media manipulation, Boston Globe, 28 January 2007.
* Turner-Sadler, J., African American History: An Introduction, Peter Lang Publishing, 2009.

## External links

[edit]

* "The Persuaders" Frontline
* "Understanding Jargon: A Short Bibliography" by Philip E. Agre

* v
* t
* e

Media manipulation

Context|

* Bias
* Crowd psychology
* Deception
* Dumbing down
* False balance
* Half-truths
* Media
* Obfuscation
* Persuasion
* Manipulation (psychology)

Activism|

* Advocacy
* group
* Alternative media
* Boycott
* Call-out culture
* Cancel culture
* Civil disobedience
* Culture jamming
* Demonstrations
* Deplatforming
* Grassroots
* Guerrilla communication
* Hacktivism
* Internet
* Media
* Occupations
* Petitions
* Protests
* Youth

Advertising|

* Advertorial/Native advertising
* Billboards
* False
* Infomercials
* Mobiles
* Modeling
* Radio
* Sex
* Slogans
* Testimonials
* TV
* Criticism of advertising
* Annoyance factor

Censorship and
Media regulation|

* Books
* Broadcast law
* Burying of scholars
* Catch and kill
* Corporate
* Cover-ups
* Euphemism
* Films
* Historical negationism
* Internet
* Political
* Religious
* Self

Hoaxing|

* Alternative facts
* April Fools'
* Deepfake
* audio
* Fake news
* websites
* Fakelore
* Fictitious entries
* Firehose of falsehood
* Forgery
* Gaslighting
* List
* Literary
* Lying press
* Photograph manipulation
* Racial
* Urban legend
* Virus
* Video manipulation

Marketing|

* Branding
* Loyalty
* Product
* Product placement
* Publicity
* Research
* Word of mouth

News media|

* Agenda-setting
* Broadcasting
* Circus
* Cycle
* Emotive conjugation
* False balance
* Infotainment
* Managing
* Narcotizing dysfunction
* Newspeak
* Pseudo-event
* Scrum
* Sensationalism
* Tabloid journalism

Political campaigning|

* Advertising
* Astroturfing
* Attack ad
* Canvassing
* Character assassination
* Dog whistle
* Election promises
* Lawn signs
* Party platforms (or manifestos)
* Name recognition
* Negative
* Push polling
* Smear campaign
* Wedge issue

Propaganda|

* Bandwagon
* Big lie
* Crowd manipulation
* Disinformation
* Fearmongering
* Framing
* Indoctrination
* Loaded language
* National mythology
* Rally 'round the flag effect
* Techniques

Psychological warfare|

* Airborne leaflets
* False flag
* Fifth column
* Information (IT)
* Lawfare
* Political
* Public diplomacy
* Sedition
* Subversion

Public relations|

* Cult of personality
* Doublespeak
* Non-apology apology
* Reputation management
* Slogans
* Sound bites
* Spin
* Transfer
* Understatement
* Weasel words
* Corporate propaganda

Sales|

* Cold calling
* Door-to-door
* Pricing
* Product demonstrations
* Promotion
* Spaving
* Promotional merchandise
* Telemarketing

Related|

* Influence-for-hire
* Media bias
* United States
* Media concentration
* Media democracy
* Media ecology
* Media ethics
* Media franchise
* Media influence
* Media proprietor

* v
* t
* e

Disinformation and misinformation

Core content

* Disinformation
* Misinformation
* Malinformation
* Propaganda
* Disinformation attack
* Disinformation research
* Publications about disinformation

Mechanisms

| Psychological|

* Cognitive bias
* List
* Denialism
* Manipulation
* Misinformation effect
* Political polarization
* Psychology of climate change denial

|

Computational|

* Algorithmic radicalization
* Content moderation
* Community notes
* Internet manipulation
* Social bot
* Social networking service
* List
* User-generated content

Economic|

* Fake news websites
* Surveillance capitalism
* Programmatic advertising

Media and Politics|

* Audience fragmentation
* Echo chamber (media)
* Fake news
* Media bias
* Media culture
* Media manipulation

Tactics

* Astroturfing
* Big Lie
* Circular reporting
* Clickbait
* Conspiracy theory
* List
* Culture war
* Deception
* Deepfake
* Disinformation playbook
* Dog whistle (politics)
* Doublespeak
* Doxxing
* Fake news
* Fake news website
* List of fake news websites
* List of satirical fake news websites
* False accusation
* False attribution
* False balance
* Fear, uncertainty, and doubt
* Firehose of falsehood
* Forgery as covert operation
* Gaslighting
* Greenwashing
* Historical negationism
* Information warfare
* Logic and reasoning
* Cherry picking
* False dilemma
* Gish gallop
* Half-truth
* Fallacy
* Formal fallacy
* Informal fallacy
* List of fallacies
* Quote mining
* Red herring
* Whataboutism
* Memetic warfare
* Pink-slime journalism
* Psychological warfare
* Propaganda
* Black propaganda
* Counterpropaganda
* State-sponsored Internet propaganda
* Perception management
* Rumors
* Spin (propaganda)
* Smear campaign
* Scientific fabrication
* Strategy of tension
* Yellow journalism

Related terms

* Alternative facts
* Factoid
* Hoax
* Infodemic
* Malinformation
* Post-truth politics
* Potemkin village
* Pseudoscience
* Tabloid journalism
* Truthiness

Targets and campaigns

| International Politics|

* Disinformation in the Russian invasion of Ukraine
* Misinformation in the Gaza war
* New World Order conspiracy theory
* Russian disinformation
* Genocide denial

|

Politics by country|

* List of disinformation attacks by country
* List of political disinformation website campaigns

Antisemitism|

* Holocaust denial
* International Jewish conspiracy

Environmental science|

* Climate change denial
* Fossil fuel industry
* ExxonMobil climate change denial
* Fossil fuels lobby
* Leaded gasoline
* Ethyl Corporation
* Robert A. Kehoe
* Clair Cameron Patterson
* Pesticide industry
* Rachel Carson
* Silent Spring
* Red mercury

Medicine and Public health|

* 5G misinformation
* Anti-vaccine activism
* Lancet MMR autism fraud
* Vaccines and autism
* Vaccine misinformation
* COVID-19 misinformation
* COVID-19 misinformation by governments
* COVID-19 vaccine misinformation and hesitancy
* Birth control misinformation
* Ebola misinformation
* GMO conspiracy theories
* HIV/AIDS denialism
* Mental illness denial
* Misinformation related to abortion
* Tobacco industry playbook
* Transgender health care misinformation
* Opposition to water fluoridation

Journalism and journalists|

* Safety of journalists
* Maria Ressa
* Daily Maverick
* Rappler
* The Quint

Countering disinformation

* Academic research
* Critical thinking
* Digital literacy
* Health literacy
* Information literacy
* Media literacy
* Science communication
* Scientific consensus
* Scientific literacy
* List of climate change video games
* Scientific skepticism
* Skepticism
* Truth sandwich
* Verificado 2018
* Watchdog journalism

Fact-checking and research

| Fact-checking|

* Websites
* List of fact-checking websites

* Non-profits and charities
* Africa Check
* FactCheck.org
* Full Fact
* PolitiFact
* USAFacts

* Private companies
* Logically (company)
* NewsGuard
* StopFake

* Other
* Bellingcat
* International Fact-Checking Network
* Media Bias/Fact Check
* Snopes
* Quackwatch
* Projeto Comprova

|

Research|

* Canada
* Citizen Lab

* EU
* East StratCom Task Force

* Finland
* Faktabaari

* New Zealand
* The Disinformation Project

* UK
* Counter disinformation unit

* Ukraine
* Center for Countering Disinformation

* USA
* Active Measures Working Group
* Counter Misinformation Team
* Disinformation Governance Board
* Countering Foreign Propaganda and Disinformation Act
* United States Information Agency

WikiProjects

* WikiCred
* Climate change
* COVID-19
* Medicine
* Skepticism
* Vaccine safety

* v
* t
* e

Propaganda techniques

* Accusation in a mirror
* Ad hominem
* Appeal to fear
* Appeal to emotion
* Atrocity propaganda
* Bandwagon effect
* Big lie
* Black propaganda
* Blood libel
* Buzzword
* Cartographic propaganda
* Computational propaganda
* Censorship
* Cherry picking
* Cult of personality
* Demonizing the enemy
* Disinformation
* Dog whistle
* Doublespeak
* Emotive conjugation
* Exaggeration
* False accusation
* False balance
* False dilemma
* Fake news
* Fear, uncertainty, and doubt
* Firehose of falsehood
* Flag-waving
* Framing
* Gish gallop
* Glittering generality
* Half-truth
* Historical negationism
* Ideograph
* Indoctrination
* Lawfare
* Loaded language
* Newspeak
* Managing the news
* Minimisation
* Monumental propaganda
* Moralistic fallacy
* New generation warfare
* Obscurantism
* Overcomplication
* Oversimplification
* Plain folks
* Psychological warfare
* Propaganda of the deed
* Public relations
* Rally 'round the flag effect
* Scapegoating
* Senbu
* Shooting and crying
* Slogan
* Spin
* Weasel word
* Whataboutism
* White propaganda

* v
* t
* e

Media culture

Media|

* 24-hour news cycle
* Alternative media
* Digital media
* Electronic media
* Independent media
* Lost media
* Mass media
* Mainstream media
* Media economics
* Mobile media
* New media
* News broadcasting
* News media
* Old media
* Physical media
* Social media
* Influencers
* State media
* Streaming media

Principles|

* Media development
* Media policy
* Media independence
* Freedom of information
* Freedom of speech
* Media pluralism
* Media transparency
* Marketplace of ideas

Ideology|

* Advanced capitalism
* American Dream
* Bipartisanship
* Consumerism
* Pensée unique

Deception|

| Forms|

* Advertising
* Propaganda
* Fake news
* Public relations
* Spin
* Tabloid journalism

|

Techniques|

* Cult of personality
* Dumbing down
* Framing
* Media circus
* Media event
* Narcotizing dysfunction
* Recuperation
* Sensationalism
* Viral phenomenon

Others|

* Catch and kill
* Crowd manipulation
* Managing the news
* Media manipulation

Philosophers|

* Theodor W. Adorno
* Jean Baudrillard
* Edward Bernays
* Noam Chomsky
* Guy Debord
* Walter Lippmann
* Marshall McLuhan
* Jacques Rancière

Counterculture|

* Boycott
* Call-out culture
* Cancel culture
* Civil disobedience
* Culture jamming
* Demonstration
* Graffiti
* Occupation
* Political satire
* Protest
* Punk
* Review bomb
* Strike action

In academia|

* Influence of mass media
* Media studies
* Mediatization
* Semiotic democracy
* The Lonely Crowd

Issues|

* Agenda-setting theory
* Anonymity
* Concentration of media ownership
* Exploitation of women
* Freedom of speech
* Media bias
* Privacy
* Social influence
* Transparency
* Violence

Synonyms|

* Advanced capitalism
* Culture industry
* Mass society
* Media franchise
* Post-Fordism
* Society of the Spectacle

* v
* t
* e

Media and human factors

* Cognitive psychology
* Externality
* Evolutionary psychology
* Behavioral modernity
* Cognition
* Mismatch
* Media psychology
* Media studies
* Social psychology

Media practices|

* Betteridge's law of headlines
* Gatekeeping
* Infotainment
* Human-interest story
* Junk food news
* Least objectionable program
* Soft media
* Journalistic scandal
* Media bias
* Media manipulation
* Pink-slime journalism
* Political endorsement
* Propaganda
* Public relations
* Missing white woman syndrome
* News values
* Sensationalism
* Hot take
* Spiking
* Tabloid television
* Yellow journalism

Attention|

* Attention economy
* Attention inequality
* Attention management
* Attention span
* Chumbox
* Clickbait
* Cognitive miser
* Low information voter
* Digital zombie
* Phubbing
* Doomscrolling
* Human multitasking
* Media multitasking
* Mobile phones and driving safety
* Smartphones and pedestrian safety
* Texting while driving
* Influence-for-hire
* Infodemic
* Information explosion
* Information overload
* Information pollution
* Information–action ratio
* Rage farming
* Screen time
* Binge-watching
* Television consumption
* Sticky content

Cognitive bias/
Conformity|

* Availability cascade
* Availability heuristic
* Bandwagon effect
* Confirmation bias
* Crowd psychology
* Mobbing
* Moral panic
* Mean world syndrome
* Negativity bias
* Peer pressure
* Social-desirability bias
* Social influence bias
* Spiral of silence

Digital divide/
Political polarization|

* Algorithmic radicalization
* Youth
* Echo chamber
* Fake news website
* Post-truth politics
* United States
* Filter bubble
* Knowledge divide
* Knowledge gap hypothesis
* Political polarization in the United States
* Social media use in politics
* United States
* 2016 U.S. presidential election
* 2020 U.S. presidential election

Related topics|

* Computer rage
* Criticism of Facebook
* 2021 Facebook company files leak
* Facebook–Cambridge Analytica data scandal
* Criticism of Netflix
* Cultural impact of TikTok
* Digital media use and mental health
* Effects of violence in mass media
* Fascination with death
* Griefer
* Mass shooting contagion
* Psychological effects of Internet use
* Sealioning
* Social aspects of television
* Social bot
* Social impact of YouTube
* Technophilia
* Neophile
* Technophobia
* Violence and video games

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