During the first years of the Cold War propaganda became the quintessential tool with which the US government implemented on a national level to sway the public into accepting the nuclear arms race...Show moreDuring the first years of the Cold War propaganda became the quintessential tool with which the US government implemented on a national level to sway the public into accepting the nuclear arms race. Through the use of the fifth anti-communism fifth news filter of the propaganda model which was developed by Edward S. Herman’s and Noam Chomsky one can come to understand the winning recipe behind the US domestic propaganda wide-reaching influences between 1945 and 1968. By spreading anti-communism, soothing language, and disinformation the American people were reminded of the price of failure in the nuclear arms race. This parallel to a war on ideas virtually obliging the populace to favor a spending shift from education and other civil services to defense spending and nuclear production. By imprinting the ideological and cultural superiority of American values and the tyrannical intentions of the Soviet Union, domestic propaganda warned Americans against communist indoctrination and restricted artistic freedom. Additionally, through the print media, education, television, and film the Cold War was presented as an epic, but losing struggle between American freedom and Soviet tyranny. Movie producers, magazines, news broadcasters, and artists were financed by governmental organizations to propagate strong messages of American ideologies such as freedom and create a nationwide anti-communist sentiment aimed to justify the increased nuclear spending that was diverted from public resources. Those who objected to the US government’s actions were diagnosed as extremists or pro-Soviets and were targeted by the state and society alike.Show less
