Chomsky's Model 11-18-2011

Chomsky’s Propaganda Model

Media Studies 11-20-2011

Mr. Foltz 4^th Hour

Alan David

Have you ever watched the news or read an article you thought was biased? Looking at Chomsky’s five filters you can easily see that your thought is probably correct. We are influenced everyday by big business and politics. Whether it is through the use of fear or flak or the reporters getting information that is biased to big corporations, we are surrounded by these five filters everyday. We may think, that we aren’t easily influenced by the media, but we really never know if the information we are getting is accurate. Media is controlled by money and power.

The first filter identified by Chomsky’s propaganda model is ownership. This does not mean taking ownership of the quality of news or the responsibility for its content. It literally means when large corporations or conglomerates own media outlets, like television and cable networks or large newspapers, the news will be filtered by the interests of the corporation that owns it. Any news that may damage corporate profits is in dangers of either being slanted by bias or just left our completely.

The second filter is identified by Chomsky’s propaganda model is funding. In order for newspapers or any media to pay for production or maintenance, it will need advertisers to purchase space in the media outlet. The theory to this filter is that educated people who have money will purchase the paper, and advertisers who wish to target the people with money to spend, will bias the news to please these targeted readers. So advertisers that pay for the newspapers production have control over the content, and can always take their money to another media outlet.

The third filter identified in Chomsky’s propaganda model is sourcing.  Sourcing is related to the relationships that must be maintained for reporters or media to be allowed access to important news. There are simply never enough reporters to cover everything, so you place reporters where the news is most likely to happen. Then you count on corporations and organizations to provide other information or stories. This can be bias or incorrect information, but papers and reporters have to be careful not to offend these sources by questioning the information or printing news that may be damaging to the corporation or organization.

The fourth filter identified in Chomsky’s propaganda model is flak. Flak for purpose of this model is the negative response of the public, to something printed or reported in the news or even advertising. Flak can come in many sources like, boycotting, picketing, lawsuits, phone calls, petitions, and letters to the media source. A large corporation that feels that the a story reported by news is damaging to its business, may raise “flak” about it, to discredit a true story and influence the way people view it.

The fifth filter identified in Chomsky’s propaganda model is anti-communism and fear. Communism during the cold war were sensationalized by the news media to bring fear to those who read it. This form of filter has the main purpose to sway the public into believing that their freedoms or way of life may be adversely affected. This fear may be real, exaggerated or imagined but it does bias the public and spread hate and fear by design.

Everything we hear or see in the media, is carefully orchestrated to influence a specific target. Large corporations may have part or full ownership in a media format. They will use this media and possibly all five filters to control public opinion or target a specific goal.  For instance, it is likely that a corporation with interest is some form of media will use it to advertise its product and be able to write this off as a business expense for the corporation, while contributing to the funding of the media company. These two filters are used often hand in hand. Because many large corporations have political ties, lobbyist and public relations groups to help report or release information into the media, they are creating biased. They use these same avenues to cause or quiet public fear and confusion, when some other type of media releases information that could damage the corporation. You can see why the public has come to believe that media is controlling and biased, and how it has grown media mistrust.