Disinformation Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

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Disinformation is the deliberate propagation of misleading or false information. The term developed within the world of intelligence and international politics, and the Russian KGB first used the word dezinformatsiya, which is likely the origination of the English word. A government engages in disinformation to affect public opinion or another nation’s leadership. For example, during World War II (1939–1945), the Nazi party was notorious for disinformative anti-Semitic speeches and writing.

Because it is intentional, disinformation should not be understood as merely false information. In C. S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, one devil writes to another:

The fact that “devils” are predominantly comic figures in the modern imagination will help you. If any faint suspicion of your existence begins to arise in his mind, suggest to him a picture of something [fantastical], and persuade him that since he cannot believe in that he therefore cannot believe in you. (2001, 3)

Similar to Lewis’s devils, a government can spread fantastical rumors that are easily dismissed, which causes people to disregard accurate reports of the government’s real motives or actions as equally unbelievable. Disinformation often succeeds, because it makes a realistic appraisal of one’s enemies hard to achieve.

Bibliography:

Baran, Stanley J., and Dennis K. Davis. Mass Communication Theory: Foundations, Ferment, and Future, 4th ed. Belmont, Ca.:Thomson Wadsworth, 2006.
Gifford, Clive. Espionage and Disinformation. Chicago, Ill.: Heinemann, 2006.
Jackson, Brooks, and Kathleen Hall Jamieson. UnSpun: Finding Facts in a World of Disinformation. New York: Random House, 2007.
Kick, Russell. Everything You Know Is Wrong:The Disinformation Guide to Secrets and Lies. New York: Disinformation Company, 2002.
McGonagle, John J., Jr., and Carolyn M.Vella. A New Archetype for Competitive Intelligence. Westport, Conn.: Quorum Books, 1996.
Miniter, Richard. Disinformation: 22 Media Myths that Undermine the War on Terror. Washington, D.C.: Regnery, 2005.