Propaganda Model

A controversial framework developed by Chomsky and Herman in their book Manufacturing Consent (1988), explaining why some stories and not others are reported by the media. The model describes how three elite institutions— mainstream media, government, and corporations— interact under a capitalist, market-driven system to the detriment of diverse press coverage.

According to Chomsky and Herman, information must successfully evade capture by any of the five “filters” if it is to appear as news. These filters are (1) ownership, (2) advertising, (3) sourcing, (4) flak, and (5) anticommunist ideology.

Dominant mainstream media are businesses, and as such, they seek to maximize their profits. To do so, they rely on advertising, from other businesses. Journalists rely heavily on inexpensive official sources for their information, including government spokespersons and public relations specialists. “Flak” may come in the form of libel suits or threats to withdraw advertising. Before and during the Cold War, anticommunist ideology biased or discouraged coverage of certain types of foreign news stories.

The model is used to explain why certain news stories appear and others do not. The stories that do not appear disappear into the filters, resulting in an effective, though unlegislated, censorship. Thus, workers striking against a communist government may be considered worthy victims suitable for news coverage; but strikers in a capitalist country may not. Or atrocities by the communist side in a civil war may be reported to a greater extent than those committed by the U.S.-supported side. Chomsky cites Federalist John Jay's words, “Those who own the country ought to govern it,” and his propaganda model illustrates how in a market-driven democracy this might come about.

Criticisms of the model are many. Critics protest the implication that mainstream media frame news and debate only in the interests of the powerful and the wealthy, that the model is a conspiracy theory, and that it has no regard for journalistic professionalism and objectivity. For more information, see Herman (1996), Herman and Chomsky (1988), and Klaehn (2003).