Response to Herman & Chomsky

Manufacturing consent by Herman & Chomsky talks of different filters in the propaganda model, advertising is the second filter. Advertising plays a big role in the function of the mass media, especially with relation to the television. The success of advertisements relies on the type of programs it is aired with. It is interesting to note that certain networks will air specific programs to meet the advertisers needs. I was not aware that the advertisers actually bought and paid for the programs, I just thought they paid for their adds to be run. The successful ratings of television programs are really important to the amount of money that companies can bring in due to advertising, " For a television network, an audience gain or loss of one percentage point in the Nielsen ratings translates into a change in advertising revenue of from $80 to $100 million a year, with some variation depending on measures of audience quality"(16). Advertising is valuable to the mass media because it is the source of income for much of the mass media, and the mass media is a very valuable method of helping promote different types of propaganda to the public, especially through the television where a large audience can be reached at any given time.