Mass Media and the Propaganda ModelIn the year 2006, nothing influences the world more than the media, the collection of instant communication: radio, television and Internet. The media reports on almost every event that takes place in our world, from wars in other countries, to global economics, to world politics. As soon as an event happens, we have instant information on it provided by the media. News stations are the eyes through which the majority of the world sees events. Most of mankind obtains their views of the world based solely on what the newscasters report.Two researchers, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, have created a model describing the control exerted over mass media. It has been called the propaganda model and proposes a set of five “filters” that act to screen the news and other material dispersed by the media. Together, these filters provide a very real net around how things are portrayed.The first filter pertains to the size and numbers of the media firms, wealth and concentration of owners, and the profit orientation. The fewer owners in a media corporation, the more individual control there will be. Most people might be surprised to learn that only five massive corporations now own most of the media industry in the United States. Only five CEO’s run these companies. AOL-Time Warner is the largest of the companies followed by Disney, Murdoch's News Corporation, Bertelsmann of Germany, and Viacom (formerly CBS). General Electric's NBC is the closest runner up taking sixth place. Together, these corporations own and operate 90% of the mass media in America. This includes newspapers, TV, radio stations, magazines, books, music, movies, wire services and photo agencies."In 1983, fifty corporations dominated most of every mass medium and the biggest media merger in history was a $340 million deal. ... n 1987, the fifty companies had shrunk to twenty-nine. ... n 1990, the twenty-nine had shrunk to twenty three. ... n 1997, the biggest firms numbered ten and involved the $19 billion Disney-ABC deal, at the time the biggest media merger ever. ... [In 2000] AOL Time Warner's $350 billion merged corporation [was] more than 1,000 times larger [than the biggest deal of 1983]. "(Bagdikian xx-xxi)The wealthier the owners, the more power they will have.Finally, the larger the corporation, the more influence it will have over the citizens. Nowadays the Internet plays a big part in providing news to the world. In an article by alternet.org, Timothy Karr, the director of Free Press said, “Not only are Americans being offered limited choices at higher costs than other countries, the cable and telecom companies that control access to the "pipes" now want to control the content and services that are delivered to customers.” This is a reference to the fact that only about three to five providers now control most of the Internet’s physical backbone, or basically the Internet. After all, the Internet is only a bunch of wire and routers connecting PCs all over the world. Many Internet rights’ groups and consumer advocates are especially concerned about AT&T, the largest telecom company in the U.S. AT&T’s chief executive Edward Whitacre has expressed blunt opposition to the principle of "network neutrality.” Defines Network neutrality as, “A standard that ensures all users can access the content, or run the applications and devices of their choice without discrimination from Internet service providers.” "We will soon have three to five providers for all [of] our connectivity needs," says Sanjay Subhedar, a telecom veteran and general partner with Storm Ventures. He is referring to the three largest telecom companies AT&T, Verizon, and Qwest who have been pushing for control of what users can access and how they access content for a while now.As we have seen, this first filter relates to the wealth and number of the firms, making it arguably the strongest of the news filters by reason of control through money, and the absence of competition.The government, businesses, and experts on the subject put up the second filter. Wikipedia the world’s largest online encyclopedia states “…The mass media's need for a continuous flow of information to fill their demand for daily news. In an industrialized economy where consumers demand information on numerous global events unfolding simultaneously, they argue that this task can only be filled by major business and government sectors that have the necessary material resources.” Wikipedia states that media corporations have no other way to acquire some of the information than to go to our government and companies and trust what information they provide. There have been cases where these entities have already edited the news that reached the media corporations. We have all witnessed incorrect, or altered information being given to the media by our government, or companies to protect secret dealings. Some corporate examples include Enron and Martha, Inc. libertytothecaptives.net cites three common U.S. government cover-ups which include The Prisoners-of-War and Missing-in-Action (POW/MIA) cover-up, The Agent Orange cover-up from the Vietnam War- Of which my Grandfather is dieing from, and The Gulf War Illness cover-up (from Gulf War I). The RSF organization states that “The U.S. firm Cisco Systems has sold several thousand routers - costing more than 16,000 euros each - to enable the [Chinese] regime to build an online spying system and the firm’s engineers have helped set it to spot "subversive" key-words in messages. The system also enables police to know who has looked at banned sites or sent "dangerous" e-mails.” Also being restricted on MSN are journal entries that refer to "human rights" and "Taiwan independence". Reporters Without Borders released the following statistic; “A total of 61 [Known] Internet users are currently in prison in China for posting online criticism of their government.” In addition, businesses have asked, threatened, and lied to the News in an attempt to protect themselves. It is this lack of truth, for whatever reason, that acts as a natural filter for news events.The third block in the accuracy of the media comes from advertising being the primary income for media corporations. Anup Shah states, “…there is what some call “Market Censorship” - that is, mainstream media do not want to run stories that will offend their advertisers and owners. In this way, the media end up censoring themselves and not reporting on many important issues, including corporate practices.” Michael Eisner, CEO of Walt Disney Co. said in an internal memo, “We have no obligation to make history. We have no obligation to make art. We have no obligation to make a statement. To make money is our only objective.” The C.E.O. of Westinghouse said "We are here to serve advertisers. That is our raison d'etre [Reason to be]." Therefore, the propoganda model states that the media firms desire for continuous monitary imcome puts up the third filter as companys are careful of what they say regarding there supporters.The fourth filter is “flank,” which is the negative response given from parties which oppose what was said by the news. The media takes care of how each topic is presented, as different organizations can cause problems for the news firms. Ben H. Bagdikian states, “Corporations have multimillion-dollar budgets to dissect and attack news reports they dislike. But with each passing year they have yet another power: They are not only hostile to independent journalists. They are their employers”. From protests to lawsuits, companies and individuals have a lot of power to keep the media from presenting certain topics.Finally, the last filter is formed from a combination of different parties including our government. It is what the population determines is a threat to it. In our day and age, it is “anti-terrorism,” but twenty years ago it was “anti-communism,” and before that it was, “anti-hierarchy” showing our stance against the rule of England. For the Muslims it is Jews and for Jews it is Muslims. Each generation and country has this fifth filter of “anti-ideologies” against whatever imposes a threat to their country or values and beliefs.Together these five filters affect what we as viewers see every time we turn on the TV or read an article on online. Most citizens get their views and understandings of the world around them from the mainstream media. In each country there is the vast majority of the population that will not only never move to a different country but also never leave the country on a trip. Their entire view of the world comes from what they see and hear on the television and through news stations. It is over these people that the media has the most power. BUT EVERYONE THAT IS EXPOSED TO MEDIA IS AFFECTED.If you liked this article let me know and I will try to find time to write about some of the other things I have found.
Here are (some of) the sources I used:Bagdikian, Ben H. The Media Monopoly. 6th ed. Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 2000.Bilson, Rob. The Media's Influence in the United States. 29 November 2005.Capitol Hill Home page. "How Does Wealth Influence The Mass Media?" January 2005. 26November 2005.Eisner, Michael. CEO, The Walt Disney Co., (Internal Memo). Quoted from MickeyMouse Monopoly-Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power.Rhoads, Kelton. Media Framing. 25 November.Free Press. “What’s at Stake?” April 4 2006.Wikipedia. "Propaganda model" April 2006. 4 April 2006.Eberhart, Darryl. "Tackling the Tough Topics #20" March 2003. 4 April 2006.Reporters Without Borders. "Google - Yahoo market battle threatens freedom of expression"July 2004. 4 April 2006.Shah, Anup. Global Issues. "Media in the United States" September 20054 April 2006.Chomsky/HermanPropagandaModel.>Herman, Edward S. Chomsky, Noam. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of theMass Media. Pantheon, 2002.Subhedar, Sanjay. CNN Money. " Ma Bell -- reborn" March 2006.4 April 2006. I'm sorry but the links were lost when I tried to post it.God Bless!
Here are (some of) the sources I used:Bagdikian, Ben H. The Media Monopoly. 6th ed. Massachusetts: Beacon Press, 2000.Bilson, Rob. The Media's Influence in the United States. 29 November 2005.Capitol Hill Home page. "How Does Wealth Influence The Mass Media?" January 2005. 26November 2005.Eisner, Michael. CEO, The Walt Disney Co., (Internal Memo). Quoted from MickeyMouse Monopoly-Disney, Childhood & Corporate Power.Rhoads, Kelton. Media Framing. 25 November.Free Press. “What’s at Stake?” April 4 2006.Wikipedia. "Propaganda model" April 2006. 4 April 2006.Eberhart, Darryl. "Tackling the Tough Topics #20" March 2003. 4 April 2006.Reporters Without Borders. "Google - Yahoo market battle threatens freedom of expression"July 2004. 4 April 2006.Shah, Anup. Global Issues. "Media in the United States" September 20054 April 2006.Chomsky/HermanPropagandaModel.>Herman, Edward S. Chomsky, Noam. Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of theMass Media. Pantheon, 2002.Subhedar, Sanjay. CNN Money. " Ma Bell -- reborn" March 2006.4 April 2006. I'm sorry but the links were lost when I tried to post it.God Bless!
