Does the Propaganda Model Actually Theorise Propaganda?

Abstract

The Propaganda Model (PM), first published in Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media 2 and describing how corporate media serve as conduits for business and government propaganda, has weathered many criticisms over the years. Derided by some as 'simplistic' or 'conspiratorial' , shunned by the 'respectable' academy and, perhaps more often than not, simply ignored, the model has, however, stood the test of time and, at least to this writer, it seems that there is little in the way of substantial disagreement amongst many scholars with the basic claims put forward in the model. The way in which the model has been adopted by researchers has not been optimal, however, and this chapter puts forward the case for a significant expansion of the model and the way it is employed so as to provide a more thorough-going analysis of the strategies and organisations actually involved in the creation of propaganda: as such, I argue for an expansion to the model which would allow it to live up to its name. To be clear, this is not necessarily a criticism of How to cite this book chapter:

Krisis Otonomi Media Lokal: Analisis Model Propaganda Herman-Chomsky pada Harian Victory News dalam Kontestasi Pemilihan Gubernur NTT 2018

“…Sehingga tidak mengherankan bahwa media akan mengistimewakan elite yang telah memiliki akses ke media. Namun, praktik ini pada dasarnya memarjinalkan perspektif lain tentang isu-isu penting dari sumber alternatif yang tidak memiliki akses ke media (Caballero, 2018;Godler, 2018;Hearns-Branaman, 2018;Klaehn et al, 2018;Pedro-Carañana et al, 2018a;Robinson, 2018).…”

“…Dalam tinjauan komperhensif, fitur keempat bisa dilihat sebagai umpan balik negatif atau upaya lobi mengontrol isi media. Fungsinya mendorong media lebih berhati-hati saat memutuskan jenis peristiwa atau isu yang akan diliput dan ditulis (Bulut, 2020;Robinson, 2018).…”

Expanding the Field of Political Communication: Making the Case for a Fresh Perspective Through “Propaganda Studies”

“…So, whilst Herman and Chomsky (1988) propaganda model outlines the structural economic factors, ideology and reliance upon official sources as key determinants of media performance, Bennett's widely cited and adopted indexing hypothesis encourages focus instead on the official sources-media relationship and, in doing so, downplays those broader economic and ideological factors. More importantly, because of its analytical focus on mainstream media, even the work of Herman and Chomsky is limited (Robinson, 2018). Specifically, their propaganda model of media performance is focused solely on media and how structural constraints shape its output in ways conducive to political and economic power.…”

Three Duties of Epistemic Diligence

“…Since flak operates ad hominem , one would not expect it to work in an environment where such logically fallacious forms of argument are diligently avoided—for example, within academia—but it can fulfill strategic communicative purposes when used by news media. These can also reverberate into academia (Robinson ).…”