Philosophy 224 test study guide

Question 1:
Media companies have two goals: the first to earn a profit and the second to
inform the public. It would seem these two goals could both be fulfilled without
becoming a conflict of interest but the fact is that in todays media the goal of informing
the public is sacrificed in order to increase profits. In order for media companies to
increase profits they do so in two ways: by increasing income or by decreasing e!penses.
"hese media companies rely on advertising for funding# this causes a filter of the news
that is reported to us as e!plained in $homs%ys Propaganda Model. &hether this
shaping is through an omission of events or distraction tactics to %eep their advertisers in
a business friendly environment. In order to increase income from advertisers these
companies attempt to report the most advertising friendly news possible# these attempts
lead to a bias media because there is a conflict between increasing profits which at times
is more important than informing the public.
"he media filter in order to increase profits is e!plained in $homs%ys propaganda
model in two methods the first is to decrease spending and the second is to increase
income. 'or the media to increase income# according to $homs%y# is done so through si!
different tactics: %now your target audience# shape your audience# protect the product you
are advertising# protect the business interests of owners of advertised companies# protect
the political and economic interests of owners of advertised companies# and to create a
business friendly environment.
"he method of %nowing and choosing a target audience is important in
$homs%ys model because the more the media %nows about their audience the better
platform they can create for advertising to possible buyers of what they advertise. "he
more %nowledge they have of their target group means the more attractive their media
source is to advertisers creating more income through advertisements. &ith this
%nowledge the media can choose topics that are somewhat conservative and do not go
into topics that could that are controversial because this could anger the audience there
fore loosing potential buyers and ma%ing advertisements less effective. (dvertisers will
rarely fund television programs or newspapers that e!press )radical* views that could
create a negative image for the advertising company or that effect the buying mood of
possible customers. "his filter of the media ma%es news almost a filler to push
advertisements onto the reader rather than a method of informing the public. "his leads to
the media targeting people with buying power only rather than the general public.
+haping the audience is %ey because once the companies have set their target
group and that group comes to trust and rely on the information reported they can start to
shape the way the audience reasons. "hey call to peoples emotions rather than their logic
in order to ma%e advertising more effective. "he media gets the reader or viewers
emotions to need a product advertised or get them to need to spend for no logical reason.
People are more li%ely to spend with their emotions than their logic so the media shapes
their thin%ing so the audience is more li%ely to buy or feel a certain way.
Media companies protecting the products being advertised is common practice
today because advertising is the %ey source of income. &ithout advertising companies
will have to raise prices ma%ing them less competitive so from a business perspective
media companies need to protect advertised products. "his protection includes downplay
of negative press for advertised products for e!ample bac% paging of stories where people
are less li%ely to read or even not running stories that put these companies in a negative
light.
Protecting the business interests of owners of advertised companies is another
part of the filter of media in $homs%ys model# protect against bad wrap for company or
the owners political agenda
Protect political views dont go against
Question ,:
+ome of the most prosperous economic times in -nited +tates history have been
surrounded by war or at least on the verge of war. &ar brings economic stimulation and
brings consumer spending which are both good for the economy. 'or e!ample during and
after &orld &ar II (mericans were affluent due to the .obs created by the war and the
money given to soldiers when they returned creating a boom in spending that sputtered
out until the -.+ dipped into a recession in 1/01.
Question /:
$homs%ys Propaganda Model can be ta%en in many different ways# some could
ta%e it as complete anti (merican non2sense or ta%e it as a very accurate description of
free mar%et media. "he model could be ta%en as a threat to democracy because of the fact
that if these filters are accurate then (merican media is very flawed and does not properly
inform the public in a non2bias form.
In $homs%ys model it is e!plained that as a business# media companies have to
act in the best interest of the business. "his is the flaw of having the media being
privately owned# the interest has gone from informing the public to turning a profit and
influence benefiting sponsored companies.
"he effects of $homs%ys Propaganda Model if accurate would mean that the
media that informs our countries decision ma%ers is actually driven by advertising
companies with political agendas. "his indirect power that advertisers have over the
media effects the information being reported therefore influencing the readers views and
mind state. "his becomes a threat to democracy itself because the basis of democracy is
having a well2informed public in order to ma%e the correct decisions and our public for
the most part can only be as informed as the information given to them. "here also is the
factor that for the people that do not stay politically informed and relies on what the bias
news tells them then the power is in the medias hands.
"he reason that $homs%ys model is not a conspiracy theory is because the
driving factor of the media filter in this case is not a plot by a group of people to ta%e
over the government. "he driving factor of the media filters is to run a successful
business and due to the dynamics of the system the best thing for the business is not to
thoroughly inform the public but to satisfy their advertisers. "he filters are not a
conspiracy theory .ust a flaw in the system. "he owners of these media businesses for the
most part are .ust doing whats best for that business and the effects of these actions
creates the filters and a bias from source to source.