1. WK9 – The Social Construction of
News
Dr. Carolina Matos
Government Department
University of Essex

2. Key points
• Walter Lippman and public opinion
• “The picture in our heads” and stereotypes
• Chomsky’s propaganda model
• Chomksy’s Manufacture of Consent and critique of Lippmann
• The objectivity debate and the ideal of objectivity
• Essay feedback
• Tips for essay writing and future work
• Seminar questions and activities
• Group presentation
• Readings for week 10

3. Readingsfor week9
Required texts:
Herman, E. S. and Chomsky, N. (1988, 2002) Manufacturing
Consent – The Political Economy of the Mass Media, 1-37
Lippmann, W. (1922). Public Opinion. New York: Free
Press
Additional:
Bennett, L. (2002). News: The Politics of Illusion. New York:
Langman.
Matos, C. (2008) Journalism and political democracy in Brazil,
Lexington Books, chapter on partisanship and professionalism
Group presentation:
• Schudson, M. (2000) “The news media as political institutions”
in Annual Review of Political Science, 5, pp 249-269

4. WalterLippmann-Publicopinionandpublished
opinion
• * Pioneer of the agenda-setting process (“The
World Outside and the Pictures in Our Heads”)
•
• * Conducted one of the first content
• analyses, the New York Times coverage
of the 1917 Russian Revolution
• “The pictures inside the head of these human beings…are their
public opinion. These pictures which are acted upon by groups of
people…..are Public Opinion with capital letters” (Lippmann, 1965,
18, in N. Neumann, 143).
• People with different attitudes see the same events differently
“...the pattern of stereotypes at the centre of our codes largely
determines what group of facts we shall see....”

5. Lippmann:onpublicopinion
• Walter Lippman examined the coverage of newspapers and
saw many inaccuracies
• In 1920, he stated that the New York Times’ coverage of the
Bolshevik revolution was biased and inaccurate
• Lippman was one of the first to state how journalists tended
to generalise about people based on the “ideas” or “images”
in their heads about them
• Lippmann was worried about civic participation in democratic
life and that voters were largely ignorant about policies
• Lippman thought that citizens needed to be governed by a
“specialized class” (elites or experts) who had enough
knowledge to make more rational and less biased decisions

6. WalterLippman’sPublicOpinion
• News versus truth
• Lippmann (1922, 126) also pointed out how one tends to
belief in the absolutism of ones own views. “For while men
are willing to admit that there are two sides to a
“question’’, they do not believe that there are two sides to
what they regard as a “fact’’’’.
• “The function of news is to signalise an event, the function
of truth is to bring to light the hidden facts, to set them in
relation to each other, and make a picture of reality on
which men can act.”
• Lippmann (1922) has been, according to critics like
Schudson (1978), one of the most forceful spokesmen for
the ideal of objectivity.
• Criticised for his elitism (i.e. Chomky’s Manufacture of
Consent is a reference to his use of the phrase)

7. Lippmanon stereotypes
• Walter Lippmann(1922) argued that people spent little time
informing themselves. Most people had confused ideas in relation to
politics and interests beyond their small circle of friends.
• “We are told about the world before we see it. And those
preconceptions, unless education has made us aware, govern deeply
the whole process of perception”.
• “Each of us lives and works on a small part of the earth’s surface,
moves in a small circle, and of these…..knows only a few intimately.
Of any public event that has wide effect we see …only a phase and
an aspect. This is true of the eminent insiders who draft treaties,
make laws and issue orders….Inevitably our opinions cover a bigger
space, a longer reach of time, a greater number of things, than we
can directly observe.”
• “We have seen that our access to information is obstructed and
uncertain, and that our apprehension is deeply controlled by our
stereotypes…”

8. Theproblemwith democracyandlackofcivic
participation
• Stereotypes provide us with only a partial truth and they can also
serve as a mechanism for self-defense
• For Lippman, the basic problem with democracy was the accuracy
of news.
• “The world that we have to deal with politically is out of reach, out
of sight...It has to be...imagined.”
• People make up their minds before they define the fact
• “The only feeling that anyone can have about an event he does not
experience is the feeling aroused by his mental image of that event.”
• Public opinion is volatile, and shifts in response to the most recent
developments.
• I.e. Contemporary example – even today studies on the British
electorate have shown how voters shifted to the left during the
Thachter years (Bartle’s Moving Centre: 1950-2005)

9. Theproblemwith democracyandlackofcivic
participation
People are not capable of acquiring a competent opinion about
all public affairs
The real environment is too big, complex and fleeting for
direct acquaintance
• “I argue that representative government, either in what is
ordinarily called politics, or in industry, cannot be worked
successfully, no matter what the basis of the election, unless
there is an independent, expert organization for making the
unseen facts intelligible to those who have to make the
decisions. I attempt to argue that the serious acceptance of
the principle that personal representation must be
supplemented by representation of the unseen facts would
alone permit a satisfactory decentralization, and allow us to
escape from the intolerable and unworkable fiction that each
of us must acquire a competent opinion about all public
affairs.”

10. “The pictures in our heads”
• Why do the pictures inside mislead men in their dealings
with the outside world?
• “…this same creature is learning to see with his mind vast
portions of the world that he would never see, touch, smell,
hear or remember. Gradually he makes for himself a
trustworthy picture inside his head of the world beyond his
reach. These features of the world outside which have to do
with the behaviour of other human beings….., we call roughly
public affairs. The pictures inside the heads of these human
beings, the pictures of themselves, of others, of their needs,
purposes and relationships, are the public opinions. These
pictures which are acted upon by groups of people, or by
individuals acting in the name of groups, are Public Opinion
with capital letters.”

11. The news that is fit to print
• “Version” of facts which can be open to dispute?
• “For the real environment is altogether too big, too
complex…for direct acquaintance. We are not equipped to
deal with too much….we have to reconstruct it on a simpler
model…All reporters in the world working all hours of the
day could not witness all the happenings in the world. But
the facts are not simple...but subject to choice and opinion, it
is natural that everyone should wish to make his own choice
of facts for the newspaper to print…” (1922).
• “The facts we see depend on where we are placed, and the
habit of our eyes.”

12. Lippmanas aspokesmanforthe idealof
objectivity
• “As our minds become more deeply aware of their own
subjectivism, we find zest in objective method..... We see vividly, as
normally we should not, the enormous mischief and casual cruelty
of our prejudice. And the destruction of a prejudice, though painful
at first, because of its connection with self-respect, gives an
immense relief and fine pride when it is successfully done…. As the
current categories dissolve, a hard, simple version of the world
breaks up. Prejudices are so much easier and more interesting. For
if you teach the principles of science as if they had always been
accepted, their chief virtue as a discipline, which is objectivity, will
make them dull. But teach them at first as victories over the
superstition of the mind, and the exhilaration of the chase and of
the conquest may carry the pupil over that hard transition from his
own self-bound experience to the phase where his curiosity has
matured, and his reason has acquired passion.”

13. Theroleofexpertsandthe“manufactureof
consent”
• For Lippmann, citizens must be governed by a “specialized
class whose interests reach beyond the locality” (the global
elites?)
• “The established leaders of any organization have great
natural advantages. They are believed to have better sources
of information. …..Every official is in some degree a censor.
….the official finds himself deciding more and more consciously
what fact, in what setting, in what guise he shall permit the
public to know. That the manufacture of consent is capable of
great refinements no one I think denies. The process by which
public opinions arise is certainly no less intricate than it has
appeared in these pages, and the opportunities for
manipulation open to anyone who understands the process
are plain enough.”

14. Globalpolitics and current affairs

15. HermanandChomsky’sAPropagandaModel
A propaganda system does not exist only when the media are
controlled by the state
It is more difficult to spot a propaganda system where the media are
private
• “The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages…Its
is their function to arouse, entertain, and inform and to inculcate
individuals with the values, beliefs and codes of behaviour that will
integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society.
In a world of concentrated wealth and major conflicts of class, to
fulfill this role requires systematic propaganda. A propaganda model
focuses on this inequality of wealth and power and its…effects on
mass media interests…It traces the routes by which money and
power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent,
and allow the government and dominant private interests to get their
messages across to the public.” (Herman and Chomsky, 1988, 2002 ).

16. HermanandChomsky’sAPropagandaModel
• Herman and Chomsky believe the news must pass through
these successive 5 filters:
• The objectivity of journalists:
• “They fix the premises of discourse and interpretation, and
the definition of what is newsworthy in the first place….The
elite domination of the media and the marginalization of
dissidents that results from the operation of the filters occurs
so naturally that media news people, frequently operating
with complete integrity and goodwill, are able to convince
themselves that they chose and interpret the news
“objectively” and on the basis of professional news values.
Within the limits of the filter constraints, they often are
objective; the constraints are so powerful, and are built into
the system in such a way, that alternative bases of news
choices are hardly imaginable.”

17. HermanandChomsky’sAPropagandaModel
What are the consequences of this for news?
• “The five filters narrow the range of news that pass through the
gates, and even more sharply limit what can become “big
news”….”
Media will allow stories that are hurtful to powerful interests
to disappear from public debate, suspending critical
judgement
• “A propaganda approach to media coverage suggests a
systematic and highly political dichotomization in news
coverage based on service-ability to important domestic power
interests seen in the choice of stories and….quality of
coverage.”

18. 1–Size,ownershipandprofitorientationofthe
massmedia
• Concentration of the media is found amongst the top tier that
supplies much of the national and international news to the
lower tiers of the media, and this goes to the general public
• Television is the main source of news for the public
• The pressures of stockholders to focus on the bottom line are
powerful, especially at a time when media stocks have
become market favourites
• Rules limiting media concentration, cross-ownership and
control by non-media companies have been abandoned in an
increasing de-regulated media environment
• The media giants also maintain close relationships with the
mainstream of the corporate community through boards of
directors and social links. Many boards are dominated by
bankers.

19. Media giants
• 1) Television networks – ABC, CBS and NBC;
• 2) The leading newspaper empires: New York Times,
Washington Post, Los Angeles Times (Times-Mirror), Wall
Street Journal (Dow Jones), Knight-Ridder, Gannett, Hearst,
Scripps-Howard, Newhouse (Advance Publications) and the
Tribune Company;
• 3) The major news and general-interest magazines: Times,
Newsweek, Reader’s Digest, TV Guide (Triangle) and US News
and World Report;
• 4) Major book publisher (McGraw-Hill)
• 5) Other cable-TV systems of large and growing importance:
those of Murdoch, Turner, Cox, General Corp…..and Group W
(Westinghouse).
• I.e. The Tribune Company has become a large force in
television as well as newspapers

20. 2 –TheAdvertisingLicenseto do Business
Advertising has played an important role in increasing
concentration:
• Advertising as the primary source of the mass media
• From the time of the introduction of press advertising,
working-class and radical papers have been at a serious
advantage
• According to the authors, advertising also served as a
powerful mechanism weakening the working-class press
• An advertising system will tend to drive out of existence the
media companies that depend on revenue from sales alone
• Thus, the advertiser’s choices influence media prosperity and
survival. They gain a quality edge which allows them to
weaken their ad-free rivals
• It is affluent advertisers that spark advertiser’s interest today.

21. 3- Sourcingmass medianews
• Refers to the reliance of the media on the information
provided by government, business and “experts”, funded and
approved by the primary sources and the agents of power
• Due to economic pressures, resources are concentrated on
significant areas where news often occurs, such as the main
governmental institutions
• Government and corporate sources have the merit of states
and prestige
• Reliance on official and primary sources supports their claims
of being “objective”, and reduces expenses with investigative
journalism
• Critical sources may be avoided by the mass media so as not
to offend the primary sources and the powerful groups

22. 4 – Flak and the Enforcers
• Understood as a means of disciplining and controlling the
media
• Flak refers to a negative response to a media statement or
pronouncement
• Flak has grown with business’ growing resentment of media
criticism and the corporate offensive of the 1970s/1980s
• The ability to produce flak, especially flak that is costly and
threatening, is related to power
• The government is a major producer of flak, ….”correcting” the
media
• Powerful groups can thus complain to their own
constituencies about the media as well as fund political
campaigns and help into power conservative politicians

23. 5–Anti-communismascontrolmechanism
• Seen as a national religion and a mechanism of control
• The ideology of anti-communism helps to mobilize the
populace against an enemy
• The concept is fuzzy and can be used against anybody
advocating policies that threaten property interests or other
forms of reduction of inequality
• This ideology also contributes to weaken and fragment the
labour and left movements, and can be seen as a political
form of control
• Liberals at home (US) are in a constant defensive, for being
either too pro-Communist or insufficiently anti-Communist
• Occasional support for social democrats can break down when
they are not harsh enough on their own indigenous radicals
• Some critics argue for a substitution of this to the “anti-
terrorism” rhetoric

24. Somecriticisms
1- Has invited criticism of a “conspiracy theory” of the
powerful against everyone else
2- The media as platform for a “unified elite” is
contested by some. Media are a site of contested
struggle and conflict (i.e. Hallin, 2000)
2- The market and the state with the same interests?
Not always. (In some new democracies the market is
having a pushing for democracy)
3- Ignores other dimensions, such as the impact of
journalism ideologies, journalism autonomy and the
importance of resistance
4- The are also various forms of internal/external
conflicts and contradictions that exist in newsrooms and
in the media system (in Matos, 2008)

25. Thedebateonobjectivityandbalanceinjournalism:
historicalperspectives(inMatos,2008)
• According to US historians, journalists and academics
(Waisbord, 2002; Tumber, 1999; Schudson, 1978), a more
sophisticated reading of the ideal of objectivity gained
strengthen amongst American journalists because of
their..questioning of their own subjectivity.
• Objectivity was also seen as vital for publishers and their
needs to move away from highly politicized publications....
• It also began to be considered a necessity by journalists
who wanted their work to be taken seriously (Tumber,
1999; Merritt, 1995; Schudson, 1978; Tuchman, 1972)
• Model of “information” and factual journalism...was
mainly represented by the success of the New York Times
since the 1890’s.

26. Ontheimportanceoftheidealofobjectivity(inMatos,
2008)
• “We cannot coherently abandon the ideal of objectivity
and, whatever they may think, objectivity critics do not
abandon it either. To claim that a piece of journalism
piece is not objective is to say that it fails to provide the
truth.. How do we know that American news accounts on
the Gulf War are partial, except by comparison with
some other…possible accounts? We know how to
distinguish between better and worse, more or less
accurate accounts..” (Lichtenberg, 2000; 241-242 in
Matos, 2008).
• As Hackett and Zhao (1998, 88) state, the objectivity
regime persists precisely because “it does offer openings,
however unequal, to different social and cultural groups”.

27. Essaydiscussions and generalfeedback
How can I improve my essay for next time?
• You were required to engage with the theories that we have
been exploring. You are tested on this. This does not mean
that you can disregard the theories. Even if it is a largely
empirical essay, it needs to be sustained by a theoretical
framework and some minimum theory.
• You are tested on your understanding of the theories and the
core debates in your field, or the ones that your question
asks you to address or make a selection of. You are also
tested on the engagement with them, critical judgement of
the subject and critical acumen, as well as the examination
of your own examples and evidence of independent
research.

28. Essayfeedback:what now?
• Do more reading of the core texts as well as additional
• Do not be afraid of engaging with the theory, and highlight
more in seminars more points of the theories in your answers
• Write a draft plan and do not leave everything for the last
minute
• Re-write it a few times, read it out loud to yourself to see if
you understood (pretend you are a neutral reader)
• See us during office hours, e-mail drafts and do not be afraid
to ask if you do not understand!
• There will be a lecture on WK17: Writing Better: Essay and
Research Question.
• Tuesday 24th of January, 3-4pm, 5 N.7.21 and
• Friday 25th, 2-3pm, 4.311.
• Dr. Theresa Crowley also conducts one to one sessions.

29. Seminarquestions
• 1) Examine Lippmann’s understanding of the relationship
between the public opinion and stereotypes. How does
this affect what is reported and printed in newspapers?
• 2) Discuss the ideal of objectivity. Can journalists be ever
objective? Use the handout to help you as well and
assess also the contribution that Lippmann made to the
shaping of journalistic standards of objectivity.
• 3) Look at the five filters provided by Herman and
Chomsky in their propaganda model. Focus on one filter
to discuss in detail, bringing in your own examples.

30. Readingsforweek10
Required texts:
• Archetti, C. (2008). “Unamerican Views”: Why US
developed models of press-state relations do not apply to
the rest of the world”, Westminister Papers in
Communication and Culture 53 (3), 4-26.
• Bennett, L. (1990) “Towards a theory of press-state
relations in the United States” in Journal of
Communication 40 (2), 103-125.
• McCombs, M., and Shaw, D. L. (1972) “The agenda
setting function of mass media” in Public Opinion
Quarterly, 36, pp 176-187.
• Group presentation:
• Manheim, J. B., and Arbitron, R. B. (1984). “Changing
national images: International public relations and media
agenda setting” in The American Political Science
Review, 78 (3), 641-657