Media Advertising

The article "Manufacturing Consent" was based on an in-depth propaganda model that broke down how propaganda is spread through out the mass media. The people in the forefront of the media may not even be aware of the propaganda because it is coming from a higher power. A lot of what is seen on television is controlled by wealthy people and businesses. In the reading, there were five filters or parts of how propaganda travels through the mass media.

"The essential ingredients of our propaganda model, or set of news "filters," fall under the following headings: 1 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 the media; and 5 "anticommunism" as a national religion and control mechanism."

The filter that I found to be the most interesting was "advertising as the primary income source of mass media." It really made the most sense to me because businesses pay a lot of money to advertise on television and magazines, therefore it gives them lots of power to decide where they want there product advertised. The advertisers are able to dictate what is shown before or after their ad and if they feel that the t.v. show before their ad is shown is too depressing, they may not want to pay for an advertising spot then. The stations often cater to what advertisers want.