Democracy and Propaganda

Abstract

Although democratic theorists recognize an independent media as central to the proper functioning of democratic institutions, democratic governments often exploit their citizens' faith in that independence to generate popular support or at least acquiescence for government policies. This article uses the examples of Operation Horseshoe and the fighting at Račak and Rugovo during the Kosovo conflict of 1998 and 1999 to illustrate how democratic governments in the US and Germany attempted to manipulate public perceptions of the Kosovo conflict to justify the 1999 war. The study reviews over 100 newspaper articles, found in the Lexis-Nexis database, and numerous scholarly articles to trace the development of these specific narratives. The article shows the construction of two illusions: the illusion of multiple sources and the illusion of independent confirmation. In the end, these `truths' and frameworks filter into scholarship, as many scholars begin to base their interpretations on these `facts'.

The Kosovo war and the Washington Post: Bombings and alignments

“…By exploring the alignments on the war in the Washington Post, I have shed some light on how the manipulation was conducted. Wolfgram (2008a) illustrates how governments in the US and Germany attempted to manipulate public perceptions of the Kosovo conflict of 1998 and 1999 to justify the 1999 war. 'In addition to journalists, scholars have also begun to incorporate government propaganda into their writing' (p. 165).…”

“…The ceasefire crumbled at the beginning of December 1998 (Loquai, 2003: 81). The KLA increased its attacks that month, ‘hoping to further escalate the situation and to draw NATO into the conflict’ (Wolfgram, 2008a: 156). In the months leading up to the bombing, the KLA ‘systematically exposed ethnic Albanian villagers to reprisals by conspicuously turning villages into bases for attack on Serbian police.…”