[Professor]
The Cold war which was a term coined by Walter Lippman lasted from 1947 to 1991. After the World War II, the world was divided into two: the ‘liberated’ West and the socialist East. The two world powers headed by the United States of America and the USSR used media, literature, and entertainment to antagonize each other. It was a psychological warfare that aimed at winning the hearts and minds of people. Lippman coined the term cold war because of the lack of direct military war between the two powers. In the propaganda warfare, it distorted information gathered in the war in Vietnam using the press.
In the article entitled “Wartime Covert Intel,” it explained that the Central Intelligence Unit (CIA) played a crucial role in the psychological warfare. America has allotted huge amount of money for the CIA to launch anti-communism propaganda in the neutral countries including the Philippines, Guatemala, Thailand, Angola, and Indonesia.
In one of America’s campaign material entitled “Fight the Red Menace,” its target audience are the children because it was a series of propaganda in bubble gum cards. It contained graphics and pictures with explanations for example, the picture of Mao Zedong was captioned, “The War Maker.” In that specific picture, it stated that Mao attacked the United Nations forces in Korea and war makers like him should not be allowed to facilitate bloodshed in the free world. The bubble gum “anti-commie” cards campaign was called “Children’s Crusade against Communism.” It reflects that even at a very young age, America shaped the mind-set of its people to go against every idea of ‘red’.
Moreover, Hollywood films were not spared by the red scare. A film entitled, “Conspirator” in 1949 portrayed a wife who was shocked when she learned that her husband is a communist spy. Also, the movie “My Son John” in 1952 tells a story of a broken family because of the members was brainwashed by what they call “commies.” There was also a poster in 1941 which depicted a woman married to a communist as a “nameless and shameless woman.” The aforementioned movies and poster instilled in the minds of American citizens that any acts in favour of communism are acts of treason.
Television’s significant impact to people is the paranoia of a bomb attack by the Soviet Union. During the late 1940s to the 1960s, televisions run infomercials paid by the National Defence department on how all children to the elderly should prepare for the atomic bomb attack. One of their famous infomercial is the “Dock and Cover” which instructed the people that wherever they are, they should be ready to dock and cover anytime that there is an attack.
The psychological warfare’s effects did not only last during the Cold war but up until today. Social movements that are critical to the status quo are equated to communism to scare people from joining the said movements. Even in the basic education systems, demonising the Soviet Union is still rampant today specially in fundamentalist schools. The Cold war’s long term effect is the marginalization of communism because of the preconceived understanding relayed by posters, print, radio and television advertisements which are misleading. It marginalized the dissent of people for genuine democracy and socialized social services. The anti-commie campaigns of America mainstreamed their meanings of democracy and liberty.
Works Cited
Schumacher, Frank & Hixon, Walter. “Parting the Curtain: Propaganda, Culture and the Cold War, 1945-61.” Humanities and Social Sciences Online, (April 1998). Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
Stafford, Alexander. “The Role of the Media During the Cold War.” E-International Relations Students, (26 Oct. 2013). Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
Encyclopaedia of the New American Nation. “Wartime Covert Intel.” Encyclopaedia of the New American Nation: Propaganda-Cold War, (2014). Web. 28 Nov. 2014.
“The Cold War.” The History of Media Use for Propaganda Purposes, (2014). Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
The Paley. “Red Scare: The Cold War and Television.” The Paley Center for Media, (1995). Web. 30 Nov. 2014.
