Propaganda refers to information, ideas, or messages deliberately spread to influence public opinion or behavior in favor of a particular cause, ideology, or agenda. It entails misleading content and is typically used by corporations (which just rebrand it as marketing), as well as governments, organizations, or movements to shape perceptions, manipulate emotions, or promote specific political, social, or cultural objectives. Key characteristics of propaganda are that it's biased - often presenting information in a one-sided or distorted way to persuade audiences, slants or alters history - giving half truths about past occurrences at best if not full on rewrites at worst, has emotional appeal - frequently enacting pathos emotions like fear, patriotism, or hatred to elicit a desired response, has ideological goals - usually aimed at advancing a political cause, government agenda, or belief system, often has mass dissemination - typically spread through media channels such as newspapers, radio, television, and anti-social media to reach a wide audience, and finally and almost most of all entails manipulation - with the goal being to adjust, change, and degrade how people think, feel, or act, often by tricks such as simplifying complex issues or promoting stereotypes.
Agitprop is a blend of the words "agitation" and "propaganda", and it refers to propaganda, especially that used in literature, theater, music, and other forms of more artistic mass communication, with the goal of promoting specific agendas. Propaganda and agitprop are related concepts, but they differ in scope, methods, and emphasis. Propaganda is a broad term for persuasive messaging used to negatively influence opinions on a wide range of topics, while agitprop is a specific form of propaganda that combines agitation and propaganda, aiming to incite political activism, often through the arts. The term originated in Soviet Russia during the early 20th century. Agitprop is primarily aimed at spreading political ideas, often promoting revolutionary, more extreme socialist, or even communist ideologies. For example the Department for Agitation and Propaganda (Agitprop) was part of the Communist Party's strategy to educate the masses in bad news Marxist-Leninist ideology of that time.
While extreme right leaning elements typically favor voice and text propaganda because they are more cutthroat in business, extreme left leaning elements typically favor agitprop because it's more artistic or visual and liberals dominate the arts. So for example, aspects of AM radio, specifically hate radio, which many truckers across the United States mainline all day, would be an example of right-wing propaganda while some aspects of Hollywood could be an example of mind control through the arts and left-wing propaganda. While one could argue that just like the word "conspiracy" could be thought of as not always negative, but more neutral, we would argue propaganda is always malevolent because it seeks to hide truth. While agitprop can be full spectrum - Either monovalent anti truth, neutral, and sometimes almost even openly truthful anti-propaganda. Examples of which would be the art of Shepard Ferry or Banksy which seek to engage emotions, have cultural influence, give historical context, and mobilize people into political action while at the same time overtly stylizing themselves in traditional agitprop aesthetics. Thus art can degrade or art can lift and transcend. So in more modern usage today, the term can be used more broadly to describe any overtly political art or communication that pushes a particular ideology. We would say it only carries a negative and propagandistic connotation if it's degrading or lying. That's the key. But if art is lifting up, while being truthful, while also engaging emotions, having cultural influence, and mobilizing people into political action then that's more benevolent. Meaning a good thing and very much what we try to do through all our work.
What is true is that the more free the country, the less propaganda is spread or even allowed. In the modern world today, through speakers and billboards and worst of all screens, legacy media and even various forms of new media, are absolutely awash in it. And as we continue to talk about the problems with the media, we're not going to sugar coat this issue, or symmetrically both sides this issue, but highlight where the vast asymmetrical majority of the propaganda comes from throught our county and other parts of the world.