Propaganda Model: Reliance on Government Experts

According to Herman and Chomsky's propaganda model, there are five filters through which media dispersed information must pass before reaching the public. The third of these filters is the reliance on government/corporate/institutional experts for information. As the following article attests, relying on these "experts" can be problematic. When attending a government press conference, for example, information can be manipulated or witheld.

Michael Wolff, a columnist for New York magazine, drew hearty applause from reporters when he asked Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks, one of the command's chief spokesmen, during a briefing why we should attend when so little information was forthcoming.

Every reporter I knew concurred with the evaluation of the press center that appeared in Wolff's next column: "It takes about 48 hours to understand that information is probably more freely available at any other place in the world than it is here.