If the events plotted out on “Maps” were the Cold War fronts’ favorite medium, they were ineffective without other media to transmit what they decided, who attended, and so forth. It was thus up to writers, photographers, graphic designers, and above all editors to convey messages on paper and film that would persuade a target audience without squandering their credibility. Some propagandists make no secret of their service to a government, as is true of the three film clips in the gallery below. But the fronts behaved differently. Their denial of political affiliation and prodigious publishing operations present us with a unique opportunity to test our wits. Russian Facebook posts like the one below are a reminder of why practice matters.
