{"id":620,"date":"2015-07-20T21:08:46","date_gmt":"2015-07-20T21:08:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/courses.candelalearning.com\/masteryusgovernment1x6xmaster\/?post_type=chapter&p=620"},"modified":"2015-07-29T22:52:01","modified_gmt":"2015-07-29T22:52:01","slug":"putting-it-together-8","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/courses.lumenlearning.com\/spokanecc-americangovernment\/chapter\/putting-it-together-8\/","title":{"raw":"Putting It Together","rendered":"Putting It Together"},"content":{"raw":"

Summary<\/h2>\r\nA major trend over the last three decades has been the concentration of media-outlet ownership among\u00a0fewer and fewer large corporations. As you worked through this module, you considered whether or not this growing consolidation has corrupted the media\u2019s ability to properly inform the public.\r\n\r\nAgenda setting is a major function of the media. As media scholar Max McCombs puts it, \u201cElements that are prominent in the media frequently become prominent in the public mind.\u201d The question is what sort of agenda gets propagated, if any? McCombs suggests that there is no overarching agenda and that the mainstream media \u201cpretty much plays it down the middle.\u201d However, other scholars disagree with this characterization. Glenn Greenwald, for instance, thinks the corporate media tends to comfort the powerful, precisely the opposite of the ideal role he sees for journalism in a democratic society.\r\n\r\nChomsky and Herman\u2019s propaganda model lends support for Greenwald\u2019s view and suggests that there are five \u201cfilters\u201d that\u00a0determine what gets treated as \u201cnews\u201d by mainstream media. These include (1) the aforementioned concentration of corporate ownership of media outlets, (2) the influence of corporate advertisers that finance news production, (3) the privileging of information from government and corporate sources, (4) \u201cflak\u201d or punitive activities by powerful organizations to counter or manage inconvenient stories\u2014often to the point of discrediting organizations or individuals involved in challenging prevailing assumptions\u2014and finally (5) the hyping of external threats as a means of distracting from and silencing voices critical of elite interests.\r\n\r\nAs the debate over framing and agenda setting rages on, the rise of social media and changes in the way journalism is financed have presented new challenges, and potentially democratic opportunities, for the production and consumption of information.","rendered":"

Summary<\/h2>\n

A major trend over the last three decades has been the concentration of media-outlet ownership among\u00a0fewer and fewer large corporations. As you worked through this module, you considered whether or not this growing consolidation has corrupted the media\u2019s ability to properly inform the public.<\/p>\n

Agenda setting is a major function of the media. As media scholar Max McCombs puts it, \u201cElements that are prominent in the media frequently become prominent in the public mind.\u201d The question is what sort of agenda gets propagated, if any? McCombs suggests that there is no overarching agenda and that the mainstream media \u201cpretty much plays it down the middle.\u201d However, other scholars disagree with this characterization. Glenn Greenwald, for instance, thinks the corporate media tends to comfort the powerful, precisely the opposite of the ideal role he sees for journalism in a democratic society.<\/p>\n

Chomsky and Herman\u2019s propaganda model lends support for Greenwald\u2019s view and suggests that there are five \u201cfilters\u201d that\u00a0determine what gets treated as \u201cnews\u201d by mainstream media. These include (1) the aforementioned concentration of corporate ownership of media outlets, (2) the influence of corporate advertisers that finance news production, (3) the privileging of information from government and corporate sources, (4) \u201cflak\u201d or punitive activities by powerful organizations to counter or manage inconvenient stories\u2014often to the point of discrediting organizations or individuals involved in challenging prevailing assumptions\u2014and finally (5) the hyping of external threats as a means of distracting from and silencing voices critical of elite interests.<\/p>\n

As the debate over framing and agenda setting rages on, the rise of social media and changes in the way journalism is financed have presented new challenges, and potentially democratic opportunities, for the production and consumption of information.<\/p>\n\n\t\t\t

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Candela Citations<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t
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CC licensed content, Original<\/div>