Editing Propaganda model (section)

=== Flak ===
The fourth filter is 'flak' (not to be confused with flack which means promoters or publicity agents), described by Herman and Chomsky as 'negative responses to a media statement or [TV or radio] program. It may take the form of letters, telegrams, phone calls, petitions, lawsuits, speeches and Bills before Congress and other modes of complaint, threat and punitive action'. Business organizations regularly come together to form flak machines. An example is the US-based [[Global Climate Coalition]] (GCC), comprising fossil fuel and automobile companies such as Exxon, Texaco and Ford. The GCC was conceived by Burson-Marsteller, one of the world's largest public relations companies, to attack the credibility of climate scientists and 'scare stories' about global warming.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://documents.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/columns/probe11.html|title=The Decline of the Global Climate Coalition|website=documents.uow.edu.au|access-date=2020-06-12|archive-date=2020-08-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200806123105/https://documents.uow.edu.au/~sharonb/columns/probe11.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

For Chomsky and Herman "flak" refers to negative responses to a media statement or program. The term "flak" has been used to describe what Chomsky and Herman see as efforts to discredit organizations or individuals who disagree with or cast doubt on the prevailing assumptions which Chomsky and Herman view as favorable to established power (e.g., "[[The Establishment]]"). Unlike the first three "filtering" mechanisms—which are derived from analysis of market mechanisms—flak is characterized by concerted efforts to manage public information.