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PROPAGANDA MODEL The Propaganda Model is Alive and Well in New Jersey By Richard A. Lee Hall Institute of Public Policy New Jersey Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

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The Propaganda Model Is Alive and Well in New Jersey

ABSTRACT

This paper examines A Propaganda Model, a 1988 essay authored by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky in which they identified five filters through which news passes before it reaches the public. Their essay described each filter, explained its historical origins, and provided examples to illustrate how they work together to effect a propaganda system. In this paper, I will summarize the Propaganda Model and examine the filters as they apply to the news entities operating in the State of New Jersey in order to provide a current, specific example of widespread practices that impact the content and quality of the news the public receives today. The paper will conclude with a media reform plan designed to counter the impact of the five filters in New Jersey.

Propaganda Model 3 Summary of the Five Filters in A Propaganda Model In their 1988 essay A Propaganda Model, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky described a system in which money and power are able to filter out the news to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and private interests to get their messages across to the public (p. 2). Such systems, they wrote, are obvious in totalitarian nations, but less evident in democracies. They identified five filters through which news passes before it reaches the public. Their essay described each filter, explained its historical origins, and provided examples to illustrate how they work together to effect a propaganda system. Since the initial publication of A Propaganda Model, Herman and Chomsky have continued to demonstrate that the filters play a powerful role in the news delivery process. In The Propaganda Model Revisited (1998), Herman contended that the filters still provide an accurate explanation of media behavior and performance and that they had become even more important (p. 191). Similar opinions have been expressed frequently by political economists such as Ben H. Bagdikian and Robert McChesney. In this paper, I will summarize the Propaganda Model and examine the five filters as they apply to the news entities operating in the State of New Jersey in order to provide current, specific examples of widespread practices that impact the content and quality of the news the public receives today. I will concentrate on the first three of the filters, which involve ownership, advertising and news sources. A proper examination of the fourth filter (flak) would require more extensive research that would warrant its own paper. As for the fifth filter (AntiCommunism), on its surface, it is outdated, although the thought process underlying its premise has some validity today. The paper will conclude with a media reform plan designed to counter the impact of the Propaganda Model in New Jersey.

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Summary of the Five Filters in A Propaganda Model

1. Size, Ownership, and Profit Orientation Filters of the Mass Media Because the cost of owning and operating a newspaper, television station or any other media outlet places ownership beyond the reach of all but the very wealthy, media ownership is becoming concentrated among fewer and fewer large corporations. Since newspapers and radio and television stations are owned by corporations, their priority is to turn as great a profit as possible, not to report the news in a fair and comprehensive manner. In sum, the dominant media are quite large businesses; they are controlled by very wealthy people or by managers who are subject to sharp constraints by owners and other market-profit-oriented forces; and they are closely interlocked, and have important common interests with other major corporations, banks and government, wrote Herman and Chomsky. (p. 14).

2. The Advertising License to Do Business Advertising impacts the news on several levels. Media outlets cannot survive without support from advertisers, so the media designs its news coverage to attract audiences that will patronize its advertisers. In short, the mass media are interested in attracting audiences with buying power, not audiences per se; it is affluent audiences that spark advertiser interest, Herman and Chomsky wrote (p. 16). As a result, not only do the media produce stories that appeal to affluent audiences, they also avoid controversial topics for fear of offending advertisers and losing the economic support that sustains their businesses.

Propaganda Model 5 3. Sourcing the Mass Media News In their continuing effort to produce a product as inexpensively as possible, the media have entered into a symbiotic relationship with powerful sources of information such as government and large corporations (p. 18). They use their limited resources in locations where it is economical and convenient to obtain news. They establish news bureaus in and around government centers; they regularly cover government meetings, and they routinely turn to government officials as sources. And government has seized upon the opportunity to use the news media to further its ideology by creating huge public relations operations that churn out press releases, stage press conferences and offer quotes to make the job of the journalists easier and more cost-effective. Conversely, small groups and organizations with divergent opinions have a lesser opportunity to use the news media because they lack the resources of government and large corporations.

4. Flak and the Enforcers Criticism of the media, whether organized or unorganized, impacts news coverage. Not only does it create an uncomfortable situation for the media outlet receiving the criticism, it also brings with it the economic costs involved in defending its practices in court, before government, and before the public at large. Therefore, flak or merely the fear of it and the resultant cost becomes a determining factor in the production of news.

5. Anti-Communism as a Control Mechanism Because communism was viewed as the ultimate evil at the time Herman and Chomsky authored A Propaganda Model, public figures and organizations steadfastly avoided anything

Propaganda Model 6 that would remotely hint of support, or even sympathy, for Communist nations, leaders or ideals. For the media, fear of Communism frames the news in black and white terms, and legitimizes news practices that support anti-Communism.

The Propaganda Model and the New Jersey News Media An examination of the media system operating in New Jersey demonstrates that the five filters Herman and Chomsky identified in 1988 are still in place today.

1. Size, Ownership, and Profit Orientation Filters of the Mass Media In terms of ownership, the state had 33 daily newspapers in 1970, most of them independently owned (http://www.revolutionarywebdesign.com/njmediawatch/papers.html). Today, there are 19, and 14 of them are owned by two of the nations largest chains -- the Gannett Company and Advance Publications (http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/). The five other daily newspapers are owned by smaller chains. Television and radio have followed the same pattern, although it is more difficult to develop statistics. Because of New Jerseys location between two major media markets, residents tend to obtain their broadcast news from organizations based outside of the state. With television, every major network has an affiliate in the New York and Philadelphia markets, and the networks all are owned by transnational corporations (http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/). Only a handful of television stations are based in New Jersey, and each has similar corporate ties. As with television, radio stations based outside of New Jersey in the New York and Philadelphia markets have large audiences in the Garden State and tend to dominate the market.

Propaganda Model 7 Tracking web pages in New Jersey (or any other geographic location) is even more difficult, due largely to the nature of the Internet. Almost every New Jersey newspaper, television and radio station, as well as hundreds of hundreds of New Jersey businesses and organizations, has a web page. But the choices available to Internet users are not limited by factors such as the strength of broadcast signals or newspaper circulation areas. New Jerseyans can access the Washington Post or Los Angeles Times web pages just as easily as the Star Ledger or Asbury Park Press. However, the proliferation of web pages tied to existing media entities (whether they are based in New Jersey or any other part of the country) supports the Propaganda Models argument that the pressure to turn a profit forces media companies to diversify into other media fields that are considered growth areas. "If managers fail to pursue actions that favor shareholder returns, institutional investors will be inclined to sell the stock (depressing its price), or listen sympathetically to outsiders contemplating takeovers, Herman and Chomsky wrote in their 1988 essay (p. 10). At the time, they were referring primarily to newspaper-based companies venturing into television. But a similar pattern can be observed today in terms of the way print and broadcast companies have taken to the Internet. The web sites that New Jersey newspapers and radio and television stations have launched demonstrate how the media consolidation that has taken place within the state helps news companies promote their products. nj.com is run by Advance Internet and features links to all of Advances daily newspapers in New Jersey (as well as to the corporations Express Times in Pennsylvania (http://www.nj.com). Similarly, injersey.com is run by Gannett and includes links to all of its New Jersey papers (http://www.injersey.com). Both web pages are used to promote other

Propaganda Model 8 ventures of their parent corporations. nj.com features links to classified ads in Advances New Jersey publications. injersey has links to USA Today and CareerBuilder, Gannetts online job recruitment company. These same links also appear on the each of the Gannett papers' individual web pages. Some of the Gannett papers have their own online stores which feature such items as books by staff writers, videos and DVDs of local high school sporting events, and coffee mugs bearing the names of the publication. The Advertising Sections of some Gannett web sites also link to Profit Direct (http://njw.injersey.com/profitdirect/), the direct marketing division of the Asbury Park Press which offers advertisers a variety of methods to sell their products, ranging from the plastic bags used to wrap the papers for home delivery to Post-It notes that can be pasted on the front page of the paper. Similarly, NJ101.5's site (http://www.nj1015.com/store.html) includes an online store with shirts, caps and cooler bags featuring the station's call letters. And smaller chains like Greater Media use their web pages to promote their radio stations as well as their weekly newspapers (http://www.greater-media.com/). Whether the delivery system is the Internet, radio, television or newspapers, the quality of news content suffers from media consolidation and concentration. On the one hand, media fare is ever more closely linked to the needs and concerns of a handful of enormous and powerful corporations, with annual revenues approaching the GDP of a small nation, McChesney wrote in Rich Media, Poor Democracy. These firms are run by wealthy managers and billionaires with clear stakes in the outcome of the most fundamental political issues, and their interests are often distinct from those of the vast majority of humanity.

Propaganda Model 9 2. The Advertising License to Do Business The manner in which New Jersey media outlets promote themselves to potential advertisers leaves little doubt that they are structured to appeal to affluent audiences, not to the interests of the vast majority of humanity that McChesney identified. The North Jersey Media Group, which owns the Bergen Record, the Herald and News and a large group of weekly newspapers, describes its market as an area of unprecedented wealth and retail sales (http://www.njmg.com/market.php). The Journal Register Company, owners of the Trentonian, boast that its newspapers provide unmatched coverage of suburban, affluent communities with high quality news and products (http://www.journalregister.com/advertising.html). Mercury Capital Partners, one of the equity firms that funded the Millennium Radio Group, promises advertisers that the group (which includes the popular NJ101.5) makes it possible to reach all of America's largest, wealthiest suburbs through a single media buy (http://www.mercurycapitalpartners.com/). To obtain high-income readers, viewers and listeners, the media uses the content of its coverage. Addressing themselves strictly to a homogenous, affluent audience, they have found they can deliver readers to advertisers with generic lifestyle stories and a minimum of local involvement, New Jersey MediaWatch wrote in a 1998 report titled Where Have All the Papers Gone? This has been observed with the Advance/Newhouse chain. Somehow in the Newhouse equation, the quality of information seems to depends on how 'demographically desirable' you are." The demographics of the journalists covering the Garden State reflect the medias preference for affluent audiences and its shortchanging of the lower class and its issues. Following national trends, the percentage of minority journalists in New Jersey (14.4 percent) in

Propaganda Model 10 a 2003 survey conducted by the American Society of Newspapers Editors (http://www.asne.org/index.cfm?id=4447#NewJersey) is well below the minority percentage of the statewide population of 27.4 reported by the U.S. Census Bureau (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/34000.html). Of the 43 journalists listed as members of the New Jersey State House Press Corp in the 2004 edition of Fitzergeralds New Jersey Legislative Manual (pp.846-847), only one is a minority and she was reassigned after the manual was published and replaced by a non-minority journalist. Such demographics are part of what Todd Gitlin calls the social control that the ruling elite exerts on news operations. The editors and reporters they hire are generally upper middle class in origin and although their personal values may be liberal by the conventional nomenclature of American politics, they tend to share the core hegemonic assumptions of their managers as well as their major sources. (p. 20) With advertising, there also exists a transparent relationship. For example, in April 2004, Gannetts Courier News used one of its leading reporters to write an advance story about an event PNC Bank was conducting to increase awareness of the banks presence in Central Jersey in conjunction with the banks purchase of United Trust Bank in Bridgewater, the municipality in which the newspapers headquarters are located (Higgs). Two photos of the event, which involved giving away money at local train stations, appeared on the first page of the papers local section the next day. PNC Bank placed large paid ads in the paper to promote the event and has become a steady and heavy advertiser.

Propaganda Model 11 3. Sourcing the Mass Media News Herman and Chomskys symbiotic relationship between media and government is exemplified by the New Jersey State House Press Corp, the group of reporters who work in news bureaus in Trenton to cover state government. Their offices are situated inside the New Jersey State House directly across from the Governors Communication Department. They need only walk down a flight of stairs to attend a press conference in the Governors Office or take a few steps across the hall to talk to a spokesperson. News releases are hand delivered to their offices, emailed directly to their computers and posted on the State of New Jersey web page (along with photos) for easy downloading. The result is that those most likely to get their stories covered are government agencies and large corporations with the staff and resources to quickly write and issue press releases, organize press conferences, and make officials and experts available for comment. To consolidate their preeminent position as sources, government and business news promoters go to great pains to make things easy for news organizations, Herman and Chomsky wrote. They provide the media organizations with facilities in which to gather, they give journalists advance copies of speeches and forthcoming reports, they schedule press conferences at hours well geared to deadlines, they write press releases in usable language and they carefully organize their press conferences and photo opportunity sessions (pp. 21-22). As a result, journalists have become overly dependent on government as a source for the news they report. The mass media are drawn into a symbiotic relationship with powerful sources of information by economic necessity and reciprocity of interests, the two authors said. The media need a steady, reliable flow of the raw material of news. They have daily news demands and imperative news schedules that they must meet. They cannot afford to have

Propaganda Model 12 reporters and cameras at all places where important stories may break. Economics dictates that they concentrate their resources where significant news often occurs, where important leaks and rumors abound, and where regular press conferences are held (p. 18). In New Jersey, the "symbiotic relationship" between government and the media also exists on other levels. Ads for newspapers, radio and television stations and their web sites can be found on NJTransit buses and trains, and governments at all levels advertise in the media to promote programs, services and special events. The New Jersey Division of Pensions has invested millions of dollars in transnational media corporations such as AOL Time Warner, Cablevision, Clear Channel Communications, Disney, Gannett and Viacom. (http://www.state.nj.us/treasury/pensions/epbam/exhibits/ann-rpts/dcrpt2002.pdf).

4. Flak and the Enforcers Flak by its nature is difficult to discern, but it does manifest itself in cases such as one former New Jersey newspapers unwritten policy to rely on the Associated Press for coverage of pro-life and pro-choice rallies instead of staff reporters. This enabled the papers editors to deflect criticism of the reporting to the wire service (personal communication). Similarly, the Star-Ledger once instructed an editor to omit calendar listings and bus information for such rallies (personal communication) to avoid controversy.

5. Anti-Communism as a Control Mechanism Lastly, while the threat of Communism has subsided, the arguments set forth by Herman and Chomsky in 1988 could easily apply to todays fear of terrorism and its ability to legitimize news practices. For example, when New Jersey Governor James E. McGreevey announced he

Propaganda Model 13 was gay and was resigning from office in August 2004, the media fueled public anger by reporting that he had placed an individual with whom he had a homosexual affair in charge of homeland security for the state. Fear of terrorism enabled the media to frame the story in this manner, even though the identity of the individual was never confirmed by an on-the-record source, and his actual responsibilities for homeland security were far less than those reported and/or implied in media reports (Greenberg, 2004).

Conclusion: A Plan for Media Reform in New Jersey McChesney concludes Rich Media, Poor Democracy by suggesting that the only hope for significant media reform lies with the emergence of a strong political left movement that puts media reform on the political agenda (p. 282). He lays out a four-point plan that involves building nonprofit and noncommercial media sectors, establishing and maintaining a noncommercial, non profit public radio and television system, increasing regulation of commercial broadcasting, and taking antitrust action to break up large conglomerates and establish more competitive markets. The aim is to produce a media system that is fair and accurate, that scrupulously examines the activities of the powerful including the left and the labor movement and that provides a legitimate accounting of the diverse views and interest of society. (p. 314). While McChesneys suggestions clearly would help produce needed media reform in New Jersey, the unique nature of the state and its media markets requires a unique set of actions. Herewith are several suggestions for implementing a media reform program in New Jersey:

Propaganda Model 14 1. Turn a weakness into a strength by taking advantage of the lack of television stations in New Jersey. To the extent possible, use the limited existing programming New Jersey Network, News12 New Jersey and the Cable Television Network of New Jersey to demonstrate the need for media reform. Take advantage of the public access stations that cable systems are mandated to provide. Historically, the programming on these channels has been amateurish. However, a quality production distributed to all public access channels and properly publicized throughout the state could gain a steady audience. Focusing on television makes sense in New Jersey for two reasons: a) Virtually all of the print media in New Jersey are owned by large corporations that benefit from the status quo and have no interest in media reform. b) More people get their news (and presumably form their opinions) from television than newspapers.

2. Use the Internet. The trend that began with people turning from print to broadcast media for news is now continuing with a trend toward using the Internet for news. McChesney correctly observes that, despite suggestions that the Internet will level the playing field, it will likely be dominated by the usual corporate suspects (p. 183). However, subject specific web sites, such as politicsnj have proven that they can attract loyal audiences and become a preferred source for news. A web site promoting media reform, targeted to the proper audience, could do the same by uniting and organizing people and groups with an interest and a desire for significant change.

Propaganda Model 15 3. Make full use of radio, the forgotten media. Radio ownership in New Jersey is not dominated by large national corporations. Develop a 30-minute program that touts media reform (even in a subtle, less obvious manner) and market it to all of the states small privately-owned radio stations and chains. Do the same with PSAs. According to a New Jersey Executive Order, drivers in the Garden State lose 261 million hours a year to congestion an average of 45 hours per driver. They spend a lot of that time listening to the radio, and radio can make a difference. NJ101.5 was instrumental in a tax revolt that followed state governments decision to raise $2.8 billion in taxes in 1990. After the rape and murder of seven-year old Megan Kanka in 1994, the station played a major role in the enactment of Megans Law to protect children from sexual predators.

4. Use existing networks to unite people and make the case for media reform. The academic community can lead the way. Professors at New Jersey colleges and universities understand the issue and can stress the need for reform in the classroom, in Op-Ed articles, at press conferences and in seminars. Students at the states colleges and universities have a vested interest in the media system and the democracy they will inherit. They too should be united and organized to promote media reform. A similar campaign could be conducted through the states religious community churches, synagogues and congregations which all have a stake in a better media system. Veterans, seniors and other constituency groups all are potential vehicles for delivering the message. Efforts could be targeted to have the greatest impact for instance, summer months at the Jersey Shore, where thousands of New Jerseyans vacation (and have more time for reading than they do throughout the year). This new coalition could work to oppose license renewal for television and radio stations headquartered in and/or

Propaganda Model 16 covering New Jersey on the grounds that their coverage shortchanges citizens of the Garden State. While the possibility of convincing the FCC to deny a license renewal would be slim, a campaign opposing license renewal if properly publicized and orchestrated would increase public awareness of the need for media reform.

5. Follow the lesson of the Trojan Horse. Get involved with large and powerful groups (the New Jersey Education Association, the New Jersey State AFL-CIO, etc.) and use their vast networks to get the message of media reform to their members. Do it in the same hegemonic manner that keeps individual journalists from realizing that they are just tools of the ruling elite.

6. Dont Let History Repeat Itself. Finally, and this is not unique to New Jersey, learn from the mistakes of the past. In Rich Media, Poor Democracy, McChesney chronicles the early decisions that shaped the nature of radio in the United States. Had the groups advocating education over commercialism been able to put aside their differences and unite over their common agenda, the nations radio system (and possibly its television system) would be much different today.

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As McChesney concludes, media reform is a difficult task, but there is hope. That glow of hope can become a little brighter if media reform is attempted and succeeds in just one state such as New Jersey.

Propaganda Model 17 References Fitzgeralds Legislative Manual. (2004) Newark: Skinder-Strauss Associates. Gitlin, T. (1980). The whole world is watching. Berkeley: University of California Press. Greenberg, E. (2004, August 20). Aide's security post disputed. Forward. Retrieved October 4, 2004, from http://www.forward.com/main/article.php?ref=greenberg20040819119. Herman, S. & Chomsky, N. (1988). A Propaganda Model. In Manufacturing Consent. pp. 1-35, Pantheon Books, New York. Herman, S. (1998). A propaganda model revisited. In Capitalism and the Information Age. pp. 191205, Monthly Review Press, New York. Higgs, L. (2004, April 1). PNC Bank hands out cash during morning commute. The Courier News. p B1. Jerseyans hope for the best with PNC Banks Free Money (April 2, 2004). The Courier News. p F1. Journal Register Company. Retrieved October 4, 2004, from http://www.journalregister.com/advertising.html. Mercury Capital Partners. Retrieved October 4, 2004, from http://www.mercurycapitalpartners.com. North Jersey Media Group Market. Retrieved October 4, 2004, from http://www.njmg.com/market.php. Office of the Governor. (2003). Executive Order #43. Retrieved February 15, 2005, from http://www.state.nj.us/infobank/circular/eom43.htm. U.S. Census Bureau. (2003). New Jersey Quick Facts. Retrieved February 14, 2005 from http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/34000.html.

Propaganda Model 18 Where Have All the Papers Gone? (1998, April). Retrieved October 4, 2004, from http://www.revolutionarywebdesign.com/njmediawatch/papers.html. Who Owns What? Retrieved October 4, 2004, from http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/.