Objectivity versus ‘toxic propaganda’: The case of transborder broadcasts to Portugal during World War II

This article describes the role of foreign radio propaganda in Portugal in the years that preceded and the years during World War II. It demonstrates how the BBC became the most effective weapon to counterattack the German propaganda in the country and comments on the strategies used by the British in order to reach the Portuguese public. Among those strategies the most important was the promotion of the objectivity of the broadcasts from London, as opposed to the German transmissions that were known for airing mainly ‘toxic propaganda’. Evidence is also presented according to which news bulletins and talks broadcast by the BBC were perceived by the receivers as independent from political interference while the Axis transmissions were mostly considered as airing ‘toxic information’, demonstrating how during the war British white propaganda became very effective in regards to its impact on the Portuguese public