As early as a week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, the Internet became a primary venue for political expression and humorous satirical attempts regarding the war on terror.
President Bush played bongo drums while Secretary of State Colin Powell sang, “Come Mr. Taliban, turn over Bin Laden” to the tune of Harry Belafonte’s “Banana Boat Song.”
Bush stood in the Oval Office, making a cellular phone call to Saddam Hussein in a completely destroyed Baghdad, “Can you hear me now?”
University of Wisconsin assistant professor of political science Katharine Cramer Walsh said the way the Internet was being used to spread propaganda was a shift from the past, when a government might shower enemy cities with leaflets or commission political cartoonists to sketch posters. While the U.S. military still engages in these practices, now individuals with a basic knowledge of computer programs like Photoshop or Flash animation can make their own wartime propaganda.
“It’s pretty fascinating the way it’s being done now,” Cramer Walsh said. “Before the Internet, there wasn’t as much public dissemination of these materials. There were a lot more songs and things of that nature.”
Jeremi Suri, an assistant professor of history at the UW, said he saw satirical information as serving three distinct purposes.
“First of all it’s used as a coping mechanism. There are very scary, unusual things happening and it makes things more normal when we can joke about them. Another way it is used is as a criticism,” Suri said. “When people make jokes about what is going on they’re saying they’re uncomfortable. Thirdly, it is a way to put down or humanize enemies.”
Cramer Walsh said the Internet propaganda was an example of how Americans use humor to digest information and news and form ideas about their reality.
“It’s very interesting how we can talk about politics through humor in a way we can’t usually, almost to the point that the jokes get more attention and respect,” Cramer Walsh said. “If Leno or Letterman make a joke, people might pay more attention to that than if an official came out and just said some information.”
Suri said that while some of the most memorable examples of satirical propaganda appeared during the years of World War II, it had been involved in every major conflict in the history of the United States.
“Satire has become almost inherent to the process of international politics,” Suri said.
Suri said that when a subject can be joked about, it detracts from the seriousness of a situation. Suri gave the example of the satirical journalism of The Onion weekly, which waited until a year after the shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., to publish any story making fun of the event.
The Onion did not put out an issue the week following Sept. 11, but returned to publication the following week with mock news stories about the tragedy
