Kuloco, Herman & Chomsky

“If the articles are written in an assured and convincing style, are subject to no criticisms or alternative interpretations in the mass media, and command support by authority figures, the propaganda themes quickly become established as true even without real evidence.” (282)
The article by Herman and Chomsky outlines a model through which mass media is “filtered,” or propagandized. The five filters the article describes are: (1) size, concentrated ownership and profit orientation; (2) advertising as a primary source of income; (3) reliance on information from government, business and experts; (4) flak and the enforcers; and finally, (5) “anticommunism” as a control mechanism and national religion. Like most readings for this class, this model was hard for me to comprehend at first. So I decided that for my blog, I would break it down and relate it to my past knowledge on the topics of mass media, advertising and propaganda.
I went in order, starting with the first filter: size, concentrated ownership and profit orientation. Since the onset of the Critical Media and Cultural Studies major, we have been programmed to question the actions of large corporations. In CMC 100, we focused largely on television and news stations. We know that the mass media is largely controlled by huge corporations. These corporations are influenced by their own elite economic standing—causing them to relay their lifestyle to the average consumers. The “news” that reaches the masses has been refined to display the interests of the corporations that control the media. An example of this that we have spent a lot of time discussing is Rupert Murdoch and the Fox News channel. When I used to watch Fox News at breakfast with my parents, I never noticed the bias that was presented; however, now, it is difficult to watch a Fox News program without having to switch the channel due the “propaganda” that is being shown. This reaction is not limited to only Fox News; I have a hard time watching any news channel or even reading magazines without feeling that I am being personally affected by the ideals of the large corporations.
The second filter deals with advertising. As previously mentioned, I have a hard time reading magazines that I used to read religiously. I blame this completely on our final paper for CMC 100. This critical view extends to almost every aspect of my life. I have been “brainwashed” to notice advertising… everywhere I go. This article, however, presented advertising in a different light, albeit not a positive one. It is defined as “a powerful mechanism weakening the working-class press” (266). Advertising, along with telling uninformed consumers what they “need” to have to be viewed positively in society, performs on a social level. Advertisers have the ability to determine what is shown on television and what is printed in magazines and newspapers.
The third filter discusses the media’s reliance on information provided by government officials, businesses and “experts.” What is often disregarded is how these “expert” opinions we have believed to be the truth is driven by the payroll of the large media corporations. While reading this article, I felt like I was being bombarded with underground knowledge about the media systems. The “routine” news sources we see on the news have been thoroughly refined by those who present the information. It has been put in laymen terms, which subsequently mocks the intelligence of the general public without doing anything to fix it. This leads commonly held opinions to prevail.
The fourth filter explains “flak,” or negative responses to media statements or programs. I witness this flak everyday, whether it is in discussion about something that had just been viewed, in class discussion in CMC courses or even viewing the radical examples of group protests. What I don’t see is how it affects the news corporations. Again, these large companies are just that—businesses. They seek a profit to be able to stay in business. This flak affects what programs are shown, what news is released, what advertisers support, etc.
The last filter that was discussed was anticommunism and its use as a control mechanism. Communism, as pointed out in the reading, is “the ultimate evil [that] has always been the specter haunting property owners, as it threatens the very root of their class position and superior status” (278). Even though I have not lived in a time where Communism has controlled the world, I have studied Marxist theory in CMC classes. Just by having knowledge of the history and ideals of communism in general, one is able to see how it would affect big media corporations. Using something like communism to rally the general public seems to be a smart business tactic; however, it can also have negative aspects. Anticommunism can cause a whirlwind of ideas and, even though they are the ones who sparked the though, governments and large businesses can experience loss of support during this time.
Like any other things we have studied in this class, after I gained a more comprehensive understanding of the article, I was able to relate it to other theorists and ideas. For this article, I went back to the beginning of the semester and the study of semiotics. I related Herman and Chomsky’s ideas about propaganda to de Saussure’s theory about language. The quote that stuck out at me was about community and how it is necessary in the formation of language and, later, ideas. It comes from our surroundings, which is made up in today’s society by the media. The mass media and large corporations have formed and relayed a set of political and social rules, dictated by the government, economics and the opinions of the elite. Another relation I found was to Walter Benjamin and his idea of cult value. The propaganda exists in mass media to spread a message that benefits their own interests. Another idea of Benjamin that I saw a parallel deals with the camera and how “it lies instantly.” This is proven true in the Herman and Chomsky article by the description of the filtering of news stories by the media. This filtering only shows the mass media’s perspective of truth, rather than “reality.” Therefore, the general public remains in the dark about a lot of issues that are occurring all over the world, and even in their own neighborhood.