Last Saturday, a special edition of Propastop.ee aired on Kuku Radio, featuring themed quiz questions prepared by our editorial team. Competing in one team were strategic communication experts Peeter Tali and Eerik-Niiles Kross, and in the other, journalists Reimo Sildvee and Dannar Leitmaa. The opponents were well matched, and the contest ended in a 3.5 to 3.5 draw.
Today on Propastop, we are publishing the second set of questions from the special episode. The first part was released the day before yesterday, and of course, the August 9 broadcast is also available for replay.
The quiz topics included: propaganda, disinformation, campaigns, PSYOP (psychological operations), and neologisms.
PSYOP, or psychological operation
The specialized dictionary Militerm defines it as: A set of planned communication activities aimed at influencing the attitudes and behavior of a designated target group.
Foto: Wikipedia
What type of psychological attack was first carried out during the Mexican Revolution in 1913 by Gustavo Salinas Camiña? Thanks to rapid technological advancement, this activity became widespread during World War I, but the Mexican Camiña is recognized as a pioneer in this field.
Answer: He conducted a psychological attack by dropping leaflets over enemy positions from his aircraft.
Of course, there are other versions of the first psychological operation carried out using an aircraft. One possible candidate is the Frenchman Jules Védrines, who in 1912 dropped leaflets over the French Parliament in Paris, demanding increased funding for the French Air Force.
2 Propaganda
Glossary of Politics and Governance: A political communication technique characterized by crude oversimplification, the creation of a monopoly on truth, and constant repetition.
Countries that suffered under communist ideology are not the only ones struggling with monuments that have acquired toxic meaning. In Italy, there has been a passionate debate over the past decade about whether to remove a memorial dedicated to the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. On the slope of Mount Giano, three giant letters spell out D-U-X, the Latin word for “Leader.” On one hand, glorifying a fascist dictator is deeply problematic; on the other, the memorial is a historical rarity.
What material was used to form the three letters DUX on the mountainside?
Answer: During Mussolini’s era, 20,000 trees were planted on the mountainside to form the three giant letters. A few years ago, this unique memorial was damaged by a forest fire, but it remains clearly legible to this day.
3. Disinformation
Militerm: Deliberately false or misleading information that serves the goals of its creator or distributor.
In 1986, American ecologist and environmental activist Jay Westerveld coined the term “greenwashing.” Using a widely known example, he demonstrated how some companies, under the guise of environmental friendliness, ask their customers to do something that doesn’t actually contribute to environmental protection but instead reduces the company’s operating costs. Westerveld made this discovery while in Fiji, where he was irritated by the slogan “Save the coral reefs!”
In what type of establishment did he see this message? (You’ve very likely encountered this particular form of greenwashing yourself.)
Answer: Westerveld was staying at a resort in Fiji where a sign in the bathroom asked guests to reuse their towels in order to “save the coral reefs.” The ecologist saw this as hypocritical, as the resort was simultaneously engaged in environmentally harmful real estate development.
4. Neologisms
According to one version, this word originated in England; another version places its origin in the United States. In the American version, President Ulysses S. Grant, who served from 1869 to 1877, had a particular habit. In the evenings after work, he enjoyed relaxing with a cigar and brandy at the Willard Hotel in Washington. Representatives of interest groups would often approach him there, trying to catch his attention—sometimes by buying him drinks.
What word was born from this?
Answer: Lobby—or lobi in Estonian—originated from the fact that President Grant enjoyed spending time in the hotel lobby. The term refers to the act of influencing legislators or other decision-makers. By buying Grant brandy and engaging him in informal conversation, lobbyists hoped to sway the president’s decisions.
The specialized dictionary Militerm defines the word as: influencing legislators or other decision-makers in the hope of securing favorable decisions for one’s interest group.
5. Campaign
According to Militerm, this refers to: one or more interrelated operations that are planned and carried out to achieve a strategic objective.
Halid Usakligil was the first author in Turkey to write novels following Western literary traditions. What is the title of his most successful work, completed in 1900?
Strangely enough, this novel gained broader recognition in Europe in 2014, when the European Commission began working to eliminate geo-blocking and launched an information campaign to gain public support.
Answer: Forbidden Love (original title Muhteşem Yüzyıl). In 2014, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip announced at a press conference that his wife could not watch her favorite Turkish soap opera, Forbidden Love, while in Brussels due to geo-blocking. Using his own family as an example, Ansip explained why the EU needed to abolish geo-blocking. A few years later, the EU did indeed remove geographic restrictions on accessing video and music content online— a major victory for consumers, especially in smaller countries.
