Abstract
This article proposes a Hollywood Propaganda Model, based on Herman and Chomsky’s original
theory for news media, to explain the ideological output of mainstream Hollywood. The five
filters are: concentrated ownership; the importance of merchandising; dependence on
establishment sources; the disproportionate ability of the powerful to create flak; and a dominant
ideology of ‘us’ versus the ‘Other’. The article acknowledges the limits of such a model but makes
the case that the filters are important overarching concerns in determining the ‘bounds of the
expressible’ and that countervailing forces such as the supposed left-wing beliefs of grassroots
Hollywood are of limited significance.
theory for news media, to explain the ideological output of mainstream Hollywood. The five
filters are: concentrated ownership; the importance of merchandising; dependence on
establishment sources; the disproportionate ability of the powerful to create flak; and a dominant
ideology of ‘us’ versus the ‘Other’. The article acknowledges the limits of such a model but makes
the case that the filters are important overarching concerns in determining the ‘bounds of the
expressible’ and that countervailing forces such as the supposed left-wing beliefs of grassroots
Hollywood are of limited significance.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 144-156 |
| Journal | Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Publication status | Published - 2009 |