Propaganda model

In the "Propaganda Model", Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky focus on the inequalities of wealth and power and its effects on the media at different levels. It allows the government and dominant private corporations and holdings to influence the public through a set of five filters, which make up the propaganda model.

I.         The first filter: Size, Ownership, and Profit Orientation of the Mass Media Ownership of national media by a small number of very wealthy individuals and corporations with similar mindsets, presuppositions, and political ideologies leads to a narrowing of debate, with greater positive emphasis on positions favored by media owners.

II.         The second filter: The Advertising License to Do Business                         Advertising allows production of media at below production cost. Therefore, the advertisers' choice of media (being at a lower price) will sell better and prosper over those media the advertisers do not favor. This favors media with pro-corporate ideologies, as corporations are the entities with the greatest advertising resources.

Large totalitarian governments have greater resources, and when they do this sort of thing, we quite correctly refer to it as propaganda III.         The third filter: Sourcing Mass-Media News         Time and monetary concerns force media to rely on official/State sources for information. Persons in official capacities are thought by the general public to provide objective news, while it is instead in their best interests to give information with a pro-establishment spin.

IV.         The fourth filter: Flak and the Enforcers "Flak" (negative responses to a media statement or program) serves to narrow coverage and debate. Powerful interests (corporations, governments) can produce powerful and influential flak-this causes their concerns to be disproportion ally regarded. The possibility of flak from the general public can also cause media to avoid controversy (such as serious criticism of corporate or government institutions).

V.         The fifth filter:...