Propaganda. What is propaganda? Not the definition; what is it really?
According to Herman and Chomsky, propaganda is used to control the masses. It is a model that follows several main 'ingredients': 1) the size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the dominant mass-media firms; 2) advertising as the primary income source of the mass media; 3) the reliance of the media on information provided by government, business, and 'experts' funded and approved by these primary sources and agents of power; 4) 'flak' as a means of disciplining media; and 5) 'anticommunism' as a national religion and control mechanism. (M 204)
These ingredients/filters all relate to the hierarchy that exists in society an how much influence wealth has on power and how much influence powerful people have on the middle class. We have propaganda thrown at us every day through various mediums: TV, print, verbally... Everything is part of this propaganda model that Herman and Chomsky are talking about.
The two theorists go on to break each ingredient or filter down into what part they play in the propaganda model. Essentially these are all tools used by the government or by other powerful institutions to control what the bourgeoise does, how they think, and what they do. It is institutionalized into us because it is an ideology and human's react to ideologies as a governing way of life. Because these ideologies are so engrained in us, especially through propaganda in media, it is a part of the culture industry surrounds us and influences us through subcultures.
From what I gathered through Herman and Chomsky, they relate Hebdige, Horkheimer, and Adorno in their explanation of the culture industry and ideology. These theorists are all interrelated because they give us a clearer view on what it is that we subconsciously subscribe to and consider to be a regular part of our every day existence.
According to Herman and Chomsky, propaganda is used to control the masses. It is a model that follows several main 'ingredients': 1) the size, concentrated ownership, owner wealth, and profit orientation of the dominant mass-media firms; 2) advertising as the primary income source of the mass media; 3) the reliance of the media on information provided by government, business, and 'experts' funded and approved by these primary sources and agents of power; 4) 'flak' as a means of disciplining media; and 5) 'anticommunism' as a national religion and control mechanism. (M 204)
The two theorists go on to break each ingredient or filter down into what part they play in the propaganda model. Essentially these are all tools used by the government or by other powerful institutions to control what the bourgeoise does, how they think, and what they do. It is institutionalized into us because it is an ideology and human's react to ideologies as a governing way of life. Because these ideologies are so engrained in us, especially through propaganda in media, it is a part of the culture industry surrounds us and influences us through subcultures.
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