Journalism and Propaganda in the Netherlands during the Second World War

Description

War and propaganda are inextricably linked as each side aims to
use all kinds of communicative means to undermine the enemy and
shore up public opinion on the 'home front‘. Exaggeration of successes,
downplaying of setbacks, censorship and logistical problems pose a
challenge for journalists who want to establish the facts but do not have
access to the full story and as such consciously or unconsciously
become part of the propaganda mix. Much of the propagandistic
rhetoric we see in current conflicts in the world is similar to that seen in
the Second World War. While much has been written about the
propaganda techniques used by the Nazis and the Allies during World
War Two, there has been little research into how the pro-Nazi and anti-
Nazi side reported on events in the occupied territory of the
Netherlands, nor into whether the two parties reacted to each other‘s
reporting. During the war there were Nazi and national-socialist
publications and a mainstream Dutch press that operated under strict
regulations from the occupying authorities. On the other side, there was
'resistance radio‘ that was broadcast from London and illegal
(resistance) publications whose number increased substantially as the
war progressed. Using digitized newspaper and audiovisual materials
available in the Clariah Media Suite*, this paper reports on two case
studies: the bombing of some Dutch cities and the infamous Battle of
Arnhem in September 1944 to investigate which common tropes were
used on both sides in their reports from the battlefields and in their
commentaries about the enemy.

*A Dutch Research Council funded common infrastructure for the humanities and social sciences that has tools for researchers to search for, annotate and analyze data.

Period	8 May 2023 → 11 May 2023
Event title	21st Annual International Conference on Communication and Mass Media, Athens, Greece
Event type	Conference
Location	Athens, GreeceShow on map
Degree of Recognition	International