Propaganda

The Daily Prophet running a smear campaign against Harry Potter

Propaganda is information, especially of a biased or misleading nature, used to promote or publicise a particular political cause or point of view. The Daily Prophet and the Ministry of Magic was notorious for using propaganda against those that held a differing opinion from their own or as a means of increasing newspaper sales. Muggle-borns, Harry Potter, and Albus Dumbledore have all been victims of propaganda.

Overview

Propaganda is information that is not objective and is used primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda, often by presenting facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is presented. Propaganda is often associated with material prepared by the magical and Muggle governments, but activist groups, companies, and the media can also produce propaganda.

In the twentieth century, the term propaganda has been associated with a manipulative approach, but propaganda historically was a neutral descriptive term. A wide range of materials and media are used for conveying propaganda messages including: posters, pamphlets, radio broadcasts, and newspaper printouts.

For example, the Daily Prophet has a somewhat negative reputation for being incredibly biased, corrupt, and deceptive. As there is strong government control of the newspaper the facts can be misleading, if not outright fabrications, and that certain means of gathering information appear to be somewhat unethical. Government control of the Ministry is shown in the way that the Daily Prophet appears to pressure the government and go around official sources, and several people in Harry Potter's circles feel that the Ministry of Magic "leans heavily" on Prophet.

History

The campaign to discredit Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter was a prime example of propaganda. Due to paranoia, Minister for Magic Fudge believed that Dumbledore was trying to usurp his position of Minister for Magic. He not only used the Daily Prophet to make it look as though Dumbledore and Potter were liars and "nutters," but also stripped Dumbledore of many of his titles and statuses.

Mudbloods and the Dangers They Pose to a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society, propaganda published by the Ministry of Magic

Harry, for supporting Dumbledore and being the one who claimed Voldemort returned, also suffered from this campaign. Fudge planted Dolores Umbridge as the Hogwarts High Inquisitor and Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor in order to further destabilise Dumbledore and Harry. Fudge also made it clear that anyone siding with Dumbledore should clear out their desks in the Ministry's office. Due to the great influence the Ministry had, the majority of the wizarding community ceased supporting Dumbledore and Harry and lost a chance to prepare themselves against Voldemort. The campaign also pressed the position that Harry was a deluded attention-seeker that could not be trusted.

The Ministry also ran a smear campaign against Sirius Black during the 1995-1996 school year. When Azkaban suffered a mass breakout Fudge blamed the incident on "notorious mass murderer Sirius Black", as Sirius had previous experience breaking out of Azkaban. Fudge also blamed other strange happenings that occured around this time on Sirius as well.

Mudbloods and the Dangers They Pose to a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society is a pamphlet that was printed and distributed enmasse by the Ministry of Magic while it was under Lord Voldemort's control during the height of the Second Wizarding War. It was written by Dolores Umbridge, head of the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, and contained propaganda against Muggle-borns, disparagingly referred to as "Mudbloods".

During the 1997–1998 school year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, whilst Hogwarts was under the control of the Death Eaters, Alecto Carrow as the Muggle Studies professor taught students vehemently anti-Muggle propaganda, and harshly punished students who challenged her hateful, bigoted teachings.

Etymology

Propaganda is a modern Latin word, the gerundive form of propagare, meaning to spread or to propagate, thus propaganda means that which is to be propagated. Originally this word derived from an administrative body of the Catholic church (congregation) created in 1622, called the Sacra Congregatio de Propaganda Fide ("Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith"), or informally simply Propaganda. Its activity was aimed at "propagating" the Catholic faith in non-Catholic countries.

Appearances

• Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (First appearance)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
• Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Mentioned only)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 (video game)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Mentioned only)
• Pottermore
• HarryPotter.com
• LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7