PROPAGANDA OF SUCCESS IN THE AREA OF THE STATE’S SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POLICY

Résumé

An attentive observer of the social and political life in Poland has certainly noticed changes in the way the government communicates with the public since the United Right (Zjednoczona Prawica) came to power at the end of 2015. Media messages, saturated with persuasive elements, have ceased to have an exclusively informative function. The government, with the help of the media, especially the public media, has begun to practise propaganda on a large scale. One of its manifestations is the impression created in the society that success has been achieved in the social and economic sphere. However, this is often at the expense of a breach of ethical standards in terms of content and form. The aim of this study is to examine whether and to what extent respondents critically analyse the content of media messages related to the “Family 500+” (Rodzina 500+) programme, as well as to the unemployment rate and the GDP dynamics. A survey conducted by the author shows that the government’s propaganda has not been very effective in shaping the knowledge and attitudes of the interviewees. The limited effectiveness of such messages can be linked to the sources of information used by young people participating in the survey.