Indexing state–corporate propaganda? Evaluating the indexing, propaganda and media dependence models on CNN and CNN en Español’s coverage of Fallujah, Iraq

Abstract

This study applies and evaluates the effectiveness of several critically inclined media performance models that have been termed by Robert Entman as the ‘hegemonic’ models: the propaganda and indexing models. The study proposes a synthesis of both these models, which serves as one of the main foundational theoretical components of the resulting media dependence model, an original and critical model of news analysis. An English-language news source and a Spanish-language news source belonging to the same company (Cable News Network (CNN) and CNN en Español) were analyzed in a sophisticated content analysis of coverage of major events in Fallujah, Iraq, in 2003 and 2004. The study concludes with the finding that ownership remains a powerful variable in news content, even when differing audiences and distinct public opinion leanings are in question.