The advent and growth of the technological sector have been instrumental in the dynamic changes that have been realized in the media sector. The sharing of information and ideas has been revolutionized with the advent of the internet. The speed and rate of information flow have also been enhanced significantly. This essay focuses on analyzing the capacity of new media to cope with the propaganda models as defined and explained by Noam Chomsky. It seeks to expound on the dynamics of new media and the depth to which propaganda models can be applied or fail to work.
In the recent years, the media has been the plague with a myriad of challenges and problems ranging from scandals to propaganda, to reducing and declining profits. The concept of distortion, bias and inaccuracy have all been acknowledged and accepted by the media fraternity. Noam Chomsky explores the concept propaganda within the media in his video called Manufacturing Consent (Herman and Chomsky, 1988).
For a great deal of the populations new and valuable information is acquired through the media cycles. This can be understood to mean that for a huge part of the population the decision making and problem identification in society is dependent upon the information gather from the various media platforms. When analyzing the concept of new media all a person is referring to is the information that is on demand and available through the internet.
Its access is limited to digital devices that allow for interactive communication between the user and the information disseminator. Online newspapers, blogs, websites and social media are the best examples of what new media entails. The single most crucial factor that distinguishes it from the conventional form of media is the fact that it allows for interaction, conversation, and connection.
Looking at the propaganda model that is discussed and defined by Noam Chomsky, the one factor that formed the basis of the ideology was that disinformation and deception did pervade the media. The degree of propaganda within the media in the past has been made possible due to the lack of interaction between the media platform and the recipient. In this manner, information is distributed in a one-way challenge of communication (Cunningham, 2002). Recipients of the information lack the ability to ask, interrogate and interact with the message sender. It is a communication channel that does not allow for asking questions.
The propaganda model can be defined as being an evaluation of the various mechanism through which propaganda influences the public. The model analyzes the impact of mass media on the contemporary society and the outcomes from the utilization propaganda. It seeks, more critically, to understand and define the action of population manipulation.
In Manufacturing Consent, Chomsky asserts that the western corporate media is in form and structure bound to come up with content and consent that furthers the interests of the elite and the rich within the society. Chomsky brings forth the concept of filters upon which the media uses to determine what becomes viewed by the recipients as “news.”
The changes that have been realized in the technological space, more the communication technology dynamic has allowed for a decreased degree spread of propaganda. The internet space has allowed for the growth of a myriad of channels of communication (Herman and Chomsky, 1988). However, most importantly, it has created a channel that accords checks and balances to the information that is being distributed. Real-time communication between the sender and the receiver provides the chance of confirming and verifying information that is being passed (Klaehn, 2005).
The single most important role of the media has always been to provide information for the populace that can be used to make sense of the world. However, by introducing elements of propaganda for profit and perpetration of selfish interests, the core principle and role is lost. The new avenues of interaction and communication that have been brought about by the internet have been instrumental in reducing the degree of propaganda (Herman and Chomsky, 1988). However, it is also imperative to realize the fact that the media system as remained fundamentally unchanged.
The media and press have for years been held at ransom by owners of the newsmaker. However, in as much as one would want to argue that the internet space has brought about the irrelevance of the propaganda model, a keener, and deeper analysis brings forth a similarity within the core of the media (Herman and Chomsky, 1988).
That is to say, the owners and individuals in charge of the distribution of information on the various internet platforms are as few as those who control the ‘news.' The type of information and news that is created and disseminated even on the websites and social media platforms is dependent on the owners. This, in essence, holds the idea that the new media and the ‘legacy’ media have fundamentally remained the same.
The internet still holds the capacity to shape, select and package the type of information that reaches out to their clientele. The competition, even on the new media platforms is to gain followers and viewers and thus raise the revenue (Herman and Chomsky, 1988). Recent cases of online media companies developing surveillance systems that are aimed at obtaining information and data from clients and their interactions and habits. Such events and situations highlight the need for most of the new media platforms to shape and package their information in a way that best fits their business and economic goals.
References
Cunningham, S. B. (2002). The idea of propaganda: A reconstruction. Westport, Conn: Praeger.
Herman, E. S., & Chomsky, N. (1988). Manufacturing Consent, A Propaganda Model. Manufacturing Consent.
Klaehn, J. (2005). Filtering the news: Essays on Herman and Chomsky's propaganda model. Montréal [u.a.: Black Rose.
