T2K Propaganda

[Rainbow Six]

I think there's a number of forms that propaganda could take in the T2K Year 2000.

I'd imagine that the vast majority of survivors (both military and civilian) are unlikely to have much idea of what's happening outside the immediate area that they live in. I think in a lot of cantonments / communities, there might be some effort at producing some sort of news sheet for local distribution, perhaps something that can be produced on a relatively simple printing press. Obviously what goes in to these news sheets would be entirely at the discretion of the faction controlling the cantonment / community, so can be controlled / manipulated to suit.

The news sheet thus becomes a powerful tool for leaders. There are a host of different ways that one community could cause trouble for another. For example, the leaders of community A may wish to attack community B, so use their local newssheet to falsely blame community B for instigating insurgent like activity. The citizens of community A are outraged by this, so give popular support to an attack on Community B.

As an aside to this, an interesting NPC can be the T2K version of the political spin doctor, who could be either military or civilian.

The same printing presses could also be used to produce propaganda posters, etc.

Additionally, communities who wish to grow, either peacefully or otherwise, would perhaps wish to start spreading the news (or at least their version of it!) more widely, which might give rise to the sort of AM radio broadcasts mentioned in canon (the Kidnapped module??). These broadcasts could also be used for psychological warfare effect...for example community A starts broadcasts aimed at unsettling community B by encouraging B's soldiers to desert / defect (particularly effective if B is defended by a mercenary force), perhaps by offering some sort of incentive.

It wouldn't even need a radio...one guy well concealed within earshot and equipped with a loudspeaker could easily call out something like "Why risk your life for (insert Community B name here)....join us and we'll give you three meals a day and all the beer and women that you can handle...".

Just a few thoughts....