Talk:Congo Free State propaganda war

Article name

I changed the article name to Campaign against Belgian presence in the Congo Free State, in accordance with my interpretation of article-naming policy.

Nicholas Alexander disagreed and changed it back to "The Congo Free State Propaganda War", which is disfavored for a number of reasons, including the introductory "The" and the superfluous capitalization - plus, "Propaganda War" seems a bit too POV-ish to me.

I could move it back, of course, but I'd rather not get into a me-vs-Nicholas-Alexander war. Any thoughts? DS (talk) 13:22, 9 April 2011 (UTC)

Yeah. Find the WP:COMMONNAME for it at Google Books and/or Scholar. Go with that. There's nothing wrong with the current title's capitalization, but you don't want WP:OR. — LlywelynII 13:57, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

I dislike "propaganda" as well but don't know enough about the topic to know what to call it. I am just here... well, you see what I am doing. I'd appreciate it if someone would read behind me and make sure I have not introduced errors of fact while toning down the point of view. Elinruby (talk) 02:03, 3 December 2011 (UTC)

Tone

Probably from the same editor as above, there are huge chunks of the text that need to be adjusted to reduce its POViness. Actual change followed the British consul's report; the current lede makes Morel sound like a 19th century cross between a Roman Catholic saint, Woodward, Burnstein, and Erin Brokovich. Certainly, he was on the side of the angels, but he wasn't actually one himself. — LlywelynII 13:57, 10 October 2011 (UTC)

I agree. I'll take a stab at toning it down by removing some adjectives. I stumbled across the topic and don't know much about it. But we need facts dammit not adjectives ;) Elinruby (talk) 08:06, 2 December 2011 (UTC)

I am taking the template off as I think the article is much improved as far as *language* goes. If someone disagrees and wants to put it back up, that's fine too. To my eye though, while the article is still something of a hagiography, what it needs right now is more *fact* about what *other* people did about this at the period -- Twain and DuBois for instance. Many articles on the French-language wikipedia look a lot like this one did yesterday (and it might be fun to compare the corresponding articles, come to think of it) so I don't think the POV was malicious, just the result of strong beliefs about an admittedly shocking bit of history. But we need to show the shocking, not berate the reader with "let me count the ways that this was shocking and Morel was clever/brave/plucky to help change it."

A couple of notes in case I get hit by a bus or something and never come back. There are many sources listed but the specific pieces of information in the article are not tagged. I have mostly accepted the facts as accurate -- except for the King of Belgium controlling ALL the media everywhere in the world, come on -- but the citation police would have fun in here and someone that knows the material and cares about the article would do well to address this. I'll probably put a template up for "inline references would improve the article" but I have to go and don't know the syntax off the top of my head. Also the article should use the lang template for better browser support of accents, which are completely missing. The e in Leopold should have one, for one thing. This is not a trivial matter. A French speaker would consider these misspellings. I'd also appreciate it if the people who have been working on the page would make sure I didn't delete actual facts -- well, I did, but usually because they'd already been mentioned -- or make erroneous assumptions. I tried to be careful tho. Bye ;)

spoke kinda fast -- lotta fluff here

But is there anything useful in

• is one particular event during the African colonization which involved King Leopold II of Belgium and his tyrannical rule over the Congo Free State. What makes this event so worthy of discussion is not just the horrors that occurred, but rather the

• le Comité d’Études du Haut Congo, a branch of the IAA, commissioned to be the sole

• With the southern vote, Leopold’s agents effectively lobbied the rest of Congress. Leopold used the economic growth of the United States to his advantage.

• Le Comité became another façade for Leopold’s Public Relations (PR) campaign to justify his colonization of the Congo. By creating an expedition that followed the IAA’s goals, Leopold would avoid questioning from anti-imperialists. But, by heading it with Stanley, Leopold assured himself that his true intentions of building his kingdom would be carried out.

• A pamphlet is an unbound booklet that is without a hard cover or binding. It may consist of a single sheet of paper that is printed on both sides and folded in half, in thirds, or in fourths (called a leaflet), or it may consist of a few pages that are folded in half and stapled at the crease to make a simple book. In contrast to newspapers, the simple production allowed pamphlets to be cheaper to purchase, thus allowing for a greater marketability to a more general audience.

• The campaign, however, did not die. It would take one man to fully revitalize the missionaries’ work, and in the process use the media with a better effect.

• Williams: and his humanitarian work became a failure. -- mbiguous, unsourced, normative

• The interest of European Imperialism in newspapers became so great that stories of it could be found front page. Morel used this interest to his advantage, as he presented his case in his own newspaper.

• unsourced, unattributed, probably irrelevant: worried about foreigners entering the Congo because he feared they might steal from him; however he

• By using these types of descriptive words Morel could keep the reader’s attention due to an overall public fascination with death and violence. Morel simply capitalized on this nature by publishing the most horrific pictures and grotesque stories. This consequently caused people to focus on the Congo.

• was successful with public relations as king.

• seems dubious: had control over much of the European Press Corps.

• where, though: Williams pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church

• Joining and being involved in an organization at this time was a social norm. An organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, which controls its own performance, and which has a boundary separating it from its environment. During the early 20th century there was a desire for belonging, and joining an organization gave that sense of belonging. Organizations also provided a forum for those who with strong feelings about an issue; for example, the Congo. A structured organization allowed a group of people to effectively communicate their goals and ideas to a larger mass of people. An organization became the perfect way for Morel to take the Congo abuses international because if offered that forum and use of word of mouth.

• Joining and being involved in an organization at this time was a social norm. An organization is a social arrangement which pursues collective goals, which controls its own performance, and which has a boundary separating it from its environment. During the early 20th century there was a desire for belonging, and joining an organization gave that sense of belonging. Organizations also provided a forum for those who with strong feelings about an issue; for example, the Congo. A structured organization allowed a group of people to effectively communicate their goals and ideas to a larger mass of people. An organization became the perfect way for Morel to take the Congo abuses international because if offered that forum and use of word of mouth.

• Trying to achieve an international awareness also brought a greater difficulty to the task for which Morel set for himself. Morel knew the public would be swayed by hard evidence. Missionaries, high officials, and photos cannot be refuted due trustworthiness by the public. A religious cleric will generally not lie, especially about something so horrific; nor would a high governmental official. And photos are most undeniable proof that Morel used. That is why in February 1903, he published Roger Casement’s report on the Congo Free State. Morel used his connections in the press and had it published in major newspapers throughout Europe. He had it published in magazines and his own West African Mail. The constant use of undeniable evidence, such as missionary testimony, became the media catalyst that caused people to question Leopold’s constant denying of the situation.

questionable, unsourced: Morel and others faced an able monarch, a man of great intellectual power, skilled in diplomacy, able to influence thousands of social, political, religious and economic channels, and the most influential being his propaganda machine that had influence over the Press.

Elinruby (talk) 08:33, 2 December 2011 (UTC)