Propaganda & media
How propaganda campaigns selectively highlight crimes and atrocities to delegitimize political opponents and rivals.
Propaganda hinges on selective emphasis, framing, and timing to shape public opinion, exploiting emotional reactions, moral judgments, and selective memory to undermine opponents without addressing root issues or policies.
July 29, 2025 - 3 min Read
Propaganda campaigns commonly seize on isolated crimes or sensational episodes as fulcrums for broader political narratives. By spotlighting a massacre, a torturous interrogation, or a violent riot connected—whether accurately or not—to rival figures, propagandists aim to elicit moral outrage and fear. This strategic framing creates a causal story in which the opponent becomes the embodiment of chaos, criminality, and irredeemable menace. The audience, overwhelmed by visceral images and loud slogans, may overlook complexities, policy failures, or legitimate dissent. The technique relies on repetition, conspiratorial framing, and selective context, presenting ethics as a binary choice between safety and complicity, thus narrowing public discourse to emotion-driven judgments.
In many campaigns, the rhetoric hinges on assembling disparate incidents into a coherent, damning mosaic. Journalistic restraint is replaced by sensational headlines, selective quotes, and cherry-picked footage. The aim is not precise historical accuracy but persuasive impact: to persuade an audience that the rival’s ideology equates with bloodshed. By contrasting calm, orderly demonstrations with chaotic scenes attributed to opponents, propagandists amplify perceived danger and delegitimize any critique of power. Over time, this curation creates a memory bias, where supporters remember the alleged crimes but forget the context, the due process, or the potential abuses that may accompany similar tactics by the propagandists themselves.
Reframing violence as inevitable, thus excusing strategic brutality.
The mechanics of selective highlighting involve a careful dance of omissions and emphasis. Proponents spotlight allegations, dash past exculpatory evidence, and insinuate a pattern without proving causation. They leverage official-sounding terminology, pseudo-data, and carefully edited clips to imply a systemic character of wrongdoing. This creates a narrative where opponents appear not merely mistaken but inherently dangerous. Citizens are invited to view political contests through a moral lens where the stakes feel existential, prompting a protective reflex that justifies extreme measures. The risk is a hardened polarization in which compromise becomes synonymous with complicity, and moderation appears weak.
Another tactic is the ritualization of atrocity stories, turning news into repeated symbols rather than nuanced events. Recurrent visuals—bloodied streets, helicopters over checkpoints, maps with red zones—become signposts that guide interpretation. The audience may recall several ominous scenes tied to a single figure, regardless of the broader political context. When counterarguments surface, they are portrayed as attempts to obscure the truth or placate the victims of violence. The result is a self-reinforcing loop: accusations feed fear, fear sustains belief, and belief suppresses critical scrutiny. This cycle weakens democratic resilience by normalizing suspicion and eroding trust in institutions.
Personalizing the conflict to inflame loyalties and punish dissent.
Propagandists also exploit grievance narratives to justify biased actions. They frame crimes as retaliatory, preventive, or necessary for national survival, inviting audiences to overlook proportionality and accountability. By merging moral outrage with strategic rationale, they construct a pseudo-ethical calculus that legitimizes harsh tactics against opponents. The rhetoric often claims that only decisive action can halt a pathogen of crime threatening the state’s future. In this logic, democratic norms—independent courts, free press, minority protections—are depicted as impediments to swift victory. The audience is nudged toward embracing extraordinary measures as the price of security and cohesion.
The use of authoritative witnesses and "experts" compounds the effect. Analysts, veterans, or labeled insiders are cited to authenticate claims that would otherwise seem spurious. Their testimonials are selectively presented, while dissenting voices are marginalized or dismissed as propaganda tools for opponents. This tactic lends credibility through procedural veneer: statistics, commissions, and alleged corroboration. Yet the underlying fabric remains distorted, because the selected pool of voices is not representative, and contradicting evidence is buried or ignored. The aim is to create a sense that the truth is settled, leaving little room for public debate or alternative interpretations of the same events.
The strategic use of timing to maximize emotional impact.
Personalization in attacks directs attention to the character and motives of opponents. Biographical contrasts—humble origins versus alleged corruption, or patriotic sacrifice versus treachery—are crafted to evoke sympathy for one side and contempt for the other. When crimes are tied to a person rather than a system, the political debate becomes a courtroom drama where guilt appears preordained. This emotional framing bypasses policy evaluation and reduces complex governance to questions of loyalty. The technique weaponizes memory: past generosity becomes proof of trait instability, and the public ends up voting with anger more than reason.
Visual storytelling reinforces the personalizing approach. Photographs, video stills, and manipulated clips compress multifaceted realities into stark, memorable moments. A single crime scene can be reinterpreted to signal broader moral corruption, prompting audiences to generalize about an entire political faction. The peril lies in the fragility of perception: once a visual cue is associated with a political enemy, it can shape judgments across unrelated issues. This distortion endures as a cultural shorthand, affecting civic participation, trust in disputes, and willingness to engage in constructive dialogue with dissenting viewpoints.
Accountability mechanisms can be sidelined to maintain momentum.
Timing is a decisive element in propagandistic campaigns. Releasing a troubling report just before elections, major negotiations, or policy votes multiplies its influence. The immediacy of fear or moral certainty can overwhelm more deliberate analysis, pushing voters toward swift, emotionally charged conclusions. Coordinated timing—across media outlets, social platforms, and political events—creates a sense of inevitability about the narrative. Opponents appear to react defensively, lacking coherence or moral clarity. In such moments, the public is less capable of distinguishing propaganda from legitimate critique, increasing susceptibility to simplified, binary interpretations of a complex political landscape.
Doctrine and ritualization shape how audiences respond over time. Repeated exposure to the same atrocity claims builds familiarity, reducing cognitive resistance to the message. The narrative becomes ingrained in public memory through slogans, chants, and symbolic imagery. Even when new information emerges that complicates the original claim, the established frame persists in the collective mind. Campaigns may also exploit cultural touchstones—national myths, religious sentiments, or historical grievances—to deepen resonance. The enduring effect is a citizenry primed to associate political opponents with danger, while defenders of the status quo are portrayed as guardians of safety, even when actions undermine due process or human rights.
When institutions fail to scrutinize propaganda rigorously, the cycle continues unchecked. Independent media may be co-opted, legal protections weakened, or civil society marginalized. Investigative journalism, critical courts, and watchdog bodies become targets of smear campaigns that insist on loyalty before truth. In such environments, citizens learn to distrust not only opponents but also those who seek to expose manipulation. The consequence is political apathy, reduced turnout, and a chilling atmosphere where dissent is equated with disloyalty. Even as genuine crimes surface elsewhere, the public’s attention is diverted toward the contrived villains of the day, consolidating the propagandists' control.
Understanding these patterns is essential for safeguarding democratic discourse. By recognizing selective emphasis, contextual distortion, and emotional triangulation, citizens can demand fuller evidence, proportional responses, and accountability for all actors. Media literacy becomes a shield against manipulation when people question sensational claims and seek corroboration from diverse, credible sources. A resilient public sphere rewards careful analysis over impulsive judgment, encouraging policymakers to prioritize transparency, rule of law, and humane remedies for conflict. In the long run, truth-telling and rigorous debate can counteract the seductive pull of atrocity narratives and help preserve legitimate political competition.
