The Political Economy of News Production

Abstract

The products produced by the media as professional work is news, information, and cultural content. These products are produced based on the historical organization of the media operating as a commercial company. With the 1980s, some structural changes in capitalism, such as globalization, flexible capital-labor relations, and the digital revolution, have greatly influenced the field of journalism. In parallel with the transformations in the media ownership structure, media organizations operate according to market conditions. As a result, the transfer of news and information of media is gradually decreasing. Today, the Propaganda Model, which reflects the merger of commercial media companies, levels of extreme inequality, class conflict and emerging new authoritarianism, remains valid. On the basis of a critical political economy approach, this chapter proposes to draw a road map of Herman and Chomsky's Propaganda Model and the current theoretical framework of journalism, including the effects of digital technology in journalism on news production.