The Propaganda Model in the 21st century: Relevance and Applicability

With the arrival of the Internet and the new digital media environment, access to allegedly reliable news became increasingly easy and quick. Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model (PM), created back in 1988, tried to explain how US corporate mass media is used as a propaganda instrument to manufacture the public’s consent and how news is filtered before being published. Given the different geopolitical and cultural contexts of today’s world, it has been doubted whether this Model is still applicable. This study aims to show how this theory could still be relevant in the 21st century and how it can be related to a society permeated by the Internet. Firstly, an overview of the above-mentioned Propaganda Model, its origins, and its five filters will be given. Secondly, it will be argued how the PM could still be relevant in today’s world, presenting retrospectively how it could be revisited to adjust to the modern world. It will also be discussed whether this Model could be applied not only to the US but also to other countries. Finally, the role of traditional media in the Internet age and the concept of the filter bubble will be presented, together with the emergence of alternative media. To conclude, a retrospective on how social networks and modern media are not able to escape the bias exposed by the Model, which is thus still relevant.