Machinations of Media: Herman and Chomsky’s Propaganda Model in Umberto Eco’s Numero Zero

Abstract

Modern mediascapes are often detached from reality. Newspapers simulate facts and serve the interests of the powerful. The propaganda model of media, proposed by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky, offers a framework for analysing how, even in liberal democracies, the media are structured to support those in power. The dominant elite indirectly controls the media through market forces, which operate via five filters shaping news content. Umberto Eco’s final novel, Numero Zero, centres on a fictional newspaper project called Domani. This article analyses the newspaper project using the propaganda model framework. Juxtaposing the filters of the propaganda model with Domani’s operational principles and practices reveals the manipulations and the manufacturing of news.