With conspiracies and misinformation on the rise, many believe that we should dispense with propaganda and emotion in favour of a rational, fact-based approach to persuasion. But this is not necessarily effective and in some cases counterproductive argues Anna Hennessey. Propaganda should not be a dirty word and whether it be in matters of public health or political security, we mustn’t be scared to embrace it.

When asked recently on National Public Radio about how to awaken people to important matters such as nuclear winter and climate change, esteemed American climatologist Alan Robock explained that “intellectually is not the way to do it, you need to touch people’s feelings.” Publishing more academic journal articles, will not transform ideology, he suggested. More emotionally charged forms of communication, such as popular publications and film, have a higher impact on how people establish their understandings of the world.