Understanding Propaganda in the Digital Age
Responding to Jacques Ellul's Propaganda, Propaganda 2.1 applies and expands Ellul's thoughts to the twenty-first century media landscape.
As the Internet Age endures and expands, Peter K. Fallon peers into the Pandora's Box of our age. A twenty-first century update to Jacques Ellul's masterful sociological study Propaganda, Propaganda 2.1 explores how the 'digital revolution' has transformed the boundaries between individuals, institutions, and centres of power. Coupling historical analysis with a wealth of current examples, Fallon exposes the intricate and insidious ways propaganda alters our daily realities.Propaganda 2.1 is divided into three sections: propaganda 1.0, 2.0, and 2.1. Propaganda 1.0 compares the popular conception of propaganda with persuasive techniques such as rhetoric and coercion; 2.0 reveals how the development of moveable-type printing built the foundations of modern propaganda; and, finally, 2.1 inhabits the 'post-truth' world in its totality. Whilst the media landscape continually shifts, Propaganda 2.1's analysis is an opportunity to tackle this new reality.