About

Copaganda is a term used to describe media, from entertainment to news, that portrays the police force in a positive light . The term has developed a bit of resurgence in the midst of the George Floyd protests.

History

While the origin of the term is unknown, there have been many studies regarding the police and how they are portrayed in the media.^[1]

On November 5, 2015, the subreddit /r/Copaganda/ was created.^[2] Part of its stated purpose is to "talk about and explain to people why the police are not your friends and why letting them get away with constant positive free press is not okay."^[3]

The Citations Needed podcast released an episode titled "Kitten Rescues, Lip-Syncing & Christmas Traffic Stops: Your Guide to Clickbait Copaganda", on December 12, 2018. The episode would discuss "the increasingly viral nature of pro-police agitprop, dissect how organic these stories actually are, and identify the five main types of clickbait copaganda".

Citations Needed Podcast · Ep 60 – Kitten Rescues, Lip-Syncing & Christmas Traffic Stops: Your Guide to Clickbait Copaganda

In the wake of the George Floyd protests, TV shows and other media such as Cops, PAW Patrol, and Brooklyn Nine Nine have been re-examined for supposed glorification of police and propaganda that downplays the negatives of police forces. In June 2020, Paramount Network pulled the show "Cops" from its schedule, and later announced its cancellation.^[4]

"Copaganda" can also be used to describe lies told by police forces, such as when a New York City police union claimed officers had their Shake Shack milkshakes poisoned by employees.^[5] The claim was later shown to be false, with an investigation showing that the employees had not tampered with the drinks in any way. However, the story had already spread, with many outlets covering it, and it contributed to a sentiment of cops being fed poison which was the basis of officer Stacy Talbert's video about being scared to eat at McDonald's.