Herman and Noam Chomsky to explain how propaganda and systemic biases function in corporate mass media. The model seeks to explain how populations are manipulated and how consent for economic, social, and political policies, both foreign and domestic, is “manufactured” in the public mind due to this propaganda.
The five filters
1.Structures of ownership
Most media companies are concentration of ownership through vertical and horizontal integration, most media is owned by mass media conglomerates. “Critical journalism takes second place”
2.The role of advertising
To produce money to cover the cost of production and distribution of media through advertising and sponsors. Companies need to sell to advertisers as it needs to cover extra costs. Advertisers then gain a larger audience.
3.Links with ‘The Establishment’
Media representors or distributers are in debt and work with the people in power, those who go against them are punished and pushed to the margins and not seen as much
4.Diversionary tactics – ‘flack’
People and other media sources who aren’t helping the people in power are divided away by flack. Other sources discredit their views and divert the story onto something else to make the opposing media seem unreliable.
5.Uniting against a ‘common enemy’
Your enemy’s enemy is your friend, uniting against something we don’t like, media exploiting and stereotyping something that is commonly disliked in the area to attract attention and exhibition.