Initial Posting:
Apply all 5 aspects of the Propaganda Model as presented by Chomsky and Herman, to a current issue that interests you that has recently been featured in the mainstream news, and which contains clear aspects of propaganda. Use a specific news article for your forum post. Explain your thoughts about how the model does and does not apply to this issue. Does using the propaganda model help you to see both sides of the story, and does it help you to consider what the issues might lie behind in the presentation of that issue?
Response Postings:
Reply to at least one member of your group with a respectful and constructive academic critique of their initial postings. Comment on aspects such as....
In Manufacturing Consent, Chomsky and Herman discuss a propaganda model, a theory they developed to explain how certain agendas and ideologies are permeated through the media to influence the general public. Using the example of the news media, they propose five filters through which the news is presented to the general public:
1) Ownership of the medium (who owns the news source);
2) The funding source of the medium (advertisers, private investors, etc.);
3) Sourcing (who provides the information and where is it obtained from);
4) Flak (criticism of stories/ideas presented in the media, often from organized sources trying to promote or quiet a particular agenda); and
5) Anti-communism and fear (Chomsky and Herman discuss anti-communism in particular, but consider some of the ābad guysā we see discussed in the media today, such as terrorists, that can be used to create a sense of fear in the general public).