Choose a piece of news media and analyze it through the 5 filters of Chomsky and
Herman’s Propaganda Model. News media pieces should be articles, not videos, and can be either a traditional news
story (from a source such as CBC, The National Post, CTV News, etc.,) or a longer form investigative piece (from a
source such as The Atlantic, Vox, The New Yorker, etc.). In the assignment, you will introduce your chosen media
piece (with a brief summary of the story itself and the connection to current events), the Propaganda Model itself,
provide an analysis of the news piece through each filter of the model, and then finally provide a concluding
reflection on your findings. You will also provide some additional analysis with your discussion of the filters and
your concluding thoughts with outside sources. For example, if you find a theme of racism through your findings in
utilizing the model, you may wish to spend some time discussing this pattern in news media via other scholars who
have addressed this issue. Or perhaps you will find it pertinent to address the patterns of media conglomerate
ownership and who is given the most space to speak in a story via other scholars in the filter on Ownership. You
might also bring in additional references as part of the concluding discussion to reflect on how using the model may
have supported or challenged your own assumptions, or perhaps to reflect on larger patterns that your news piece is
reflective of in our social environment. How you provide critical analysis will be up to you and what you find as you
use the model! This assignment should be approximately 1,300-1,500 words. You can consider breaking down this
word count to be approximately 200 words per filter (depending on the discussion present – some filters may require
more discussion, and some less so), plus 300-500 words for your assignment’s introduction and conclusion. You may
go slightly over the word count if needed, but try to keep your discussion as focused and succinct as possible
Key components/structure of the assignment:
1) Introduction (introduce the model and the chosen media piece/piece’s relevance)
2) Analyzing the media piece through the 5 filters of the Propaganda Model
3) Conclusion/Reflection on your finding
