Manufacturing Consent / Propaganda Model

Brief Bio American Linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, political commentator & social justice activist. Described as father of modern linguistics. Spent entire career at MIT, where he is currently Institute Professor Emeritus. Author of more than 100 books. Voted “world’s top public intellectual” in a 2005 poll.

Propaganda Model A conceptual model in Political Economy advanced by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky. Model explains: – How propaganda and systemic biases function in mass media? – How populations are manipulated? – How consent for economic, social and political policies is “manufactured” in public mind due to this propaganda?

Propaganda Model(Contd.) The idea was first presented in their 1988 book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Propaganda model views private media as businesses interested in the sale of a product to other businesses (advertisers) rather than that of quality news to the public.

Some definitions (before we proceed) CONSENT: Acceptance or approval of what is planned or done by another. Permission, approval, or agreement; compliance. POLITICAL ECONOMY: Interplay between politics and economics. – The political, economic and cultural factors that affect the production and distribution of wealth.

Political economic factors that shape news Political and economic systems of the society in which the media operate; – Political and economic status of the country – Dominant cultural and social values – Cultural/national alignments or conflicts.

Propaganda Model explained Explains behavior of news media operating within a capitalist economy. Five political economic filters through which news passed before it was presented in the mainstream media.

Filters

Ownership The media is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a small number of private companies, owned by wealthy individuals. The pressure of stockholders, directors and bankers are also powerful forces affecting the content of these companies’ media content.

Ownership

Advertising Interest of advertisers come before reporting the news. News is “filler” to get privileged readers to see the advertisements which makes up the content. Stories conflicting with “buying mood” tend to be marginalized or excluded.

Sourcing Mass media are drawn into a symbiotic relationship with powerful forces of economic necessity and reciprocity of interest. Maintaining news reporters at all locations where news may break is not financially viable. As a result, news organizations become reliant on government PR.

Flak Negative responses to media content: phone calls, letters, petitions, law suits, speeches, bills before Parliament. From individuals or groups, politicians, government, business When produced by individuals or groups with large resources, it can be “both uncomfortable and costly”.

Anti-communism and fear An external enemy or threat. Manifesting as “anti-communism” during the Cold War period when Manufacturing Consent was originally published.