The documentary impulse, in the sense I am grappling with here, is about human experience in all its range and complexity. Documentary value lies in an honest striving to describe the world around us, without the overt intent to sell a political ideology (propaganda) or a commodity (adversiting)
FRANKLIN, Stuart. 2016, The Documentary Impuls. London-New York: Phaidon, P.21
Thinking about documentaries and news reports from Francoism certainly gets us away from the concept of fair documentation to drive us into the area of propaganda and commercial materials. This is just one of these cases in which terms such as propaganda and publicity are more important than that of documentation. Trying to deepen into these concepts, in the seminar of the 2nd March the following discussions and explanations were raised.
After the concept of propaganda come forward different notions which have as a core idea the performative social influence derived from the action of laying out an imaginary, an idea or a practice with the intention of modelling collective imaginaries so as to offer in a repetitive way a unidirectional version on assumptions and realities, which implies a previous selection of contents (ideological criteria instead of documentary criteria) that, through the determinated way it is presented always emits a single message in a direct way: goodness remains on our side and, on the other side, all the opposite. Amongst the aspects in discussion that we associate to propaganda, we can remark the verbs of broadcasting, convincing and persuading which are mobilized with the purpose of activating a predisposition to apply some social practise, organizational proposals or ideological options from the will to impose a determinate mental model which outlines the “valid” forms of conceiving, feeling and acting in the world. Between these guidelines some are targeted to mobilise, modify and others to paralyse citizens, but also convincing over the legitimacy of proposals emerging from power. It could be said that propaganda has the aim of reaching the whole of the population to set the official scheme and where lies the centre of social and political life. So, everything that lies aside in shape of opposition, which is the space in which propaganda couldn’t turn real its goal of convincing of how good the regime is, becomes then part of the second strategy of action which is repressive (police regime).
The process of propaganda takes shape from processes of forming attitudes, familiarizing, desensitizing, normalizing and modelling be it from exhibition with ‘factual evidence’ (real or not), making public and publishing a story, establishing connections between ‘possible’ or between causes and consequences or, also, stressing acquired defencelessness. These processes of forming attitudes, ffamiliarizing, desensitizing, normalizing and modelling are shaped up as devices to be set on depending on the intention -or finality- of the ideology that uses them in function of policies and ideologies, using as a means publicity , counterbalance or attention detracting.
Even though propaganda has always been present in productions throughout contemporary times, propaganda policies linked to public agencies are typical from the 20th century. The different regimes that were established (from democracies, republics or autoritary and occupation regimes) drew concrete propaganda guidelines. Notwithstanding this, different ruling powers set defined and deliberate lines over what is being transmitted and how it is broadcasted. In contexts of totalitarism (currently called populisms), this control becomes more evident and more explicit and gets usually associated to the win-convince pair or the use of words and tanks. We can see arguments over the need of exerting this control strongly. Thus would this be expressed from the roots of Francoism:
«It has been said that propaganda is so important to the State in our times as guns or permanent armies. Because propaganda does not only apply to the function of raising conscience and convincing unbelievers of a determinate political ideology. It must be better understood, that the key mission of any propaganda consists of keeping alive in the conscience of people the prevailing of some ideals (…) This means that if propaganda, using its plastic, written or auditive means, does not reap blasting success in terms of convincing, can still get the remaining outcome –priceless valuable– of keeping constantly in force the fire of ideals (…) In this sense, all propaganda ––and especially the radio– can be considered as encouraging and forming of a determinate collective psychology. It is well proven that opinion is not generated top-down but bottom-up. When men believe they think by themselves, they are actually thinking though the information the get from media and from the news they receive from the world. And as this appreciation of surrounding reality can not be grasped by men by its own means, it must necessarily wait for it to be administered. The modern State has easily imposed in this reality and that’s why it pays so much attention to propaganda instruments as forming people’s psychology».
«Radio, as promoter of a collective psychology», in Radio Nacional. Revista semanal de radiodifusión, Madrid, nº 58 (diciembre 1939), p. 1.
We can see the deliberate, planned and systemic use symbols in the first cases of No-Do programs where we can see as the Francoism flag waves or the eagle flying the globe, hovering over different European or Asian countries, etc.Moreover, the effectivity of propaganda increases when it meets an audience with difficulties to receive it with criticism. In this sense, populism can easily grow in a community with few resources to contrast new information it receives. The receiver can not but think and wish what is actually been given to him as a result of an abuse of power. In the presentation of the News Noticiario n. 1201 C, on the 10th January 1966, we are shown what should be thinkable and desirable. In it, music turns up to show tones. Science is shown from space conquest. Culture is shown from religion. Children play in the nature. Fashion is described under Paris style. International organizations are the official ones. Sports are shown as bullfighting in the street and in the ring. Finally, racing cars join sport and technology.
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