Noam Chomsky is the most hated + most loved, depends on whom are you talking with.
Introduction
Name: Manufacturing Consent Noam Chomsky and the Media,
Type: Non-fiction. A companion book to the award-winning film.
Publisher: Black Rose Books (1994)
Pages: 264 (Don’t panic! Half of them are just Images & Quotes)
Gear up, a pile of words are coming!
I’ve read a pdf from the net.
The book is A complete transcript of the film is complemented by key excerpts from the writings of Chomsky. It also Includes interviews and exchanges between Chomsky and his critics, historical and biographical materials. People who are unfamiliar with Chomsky’s and Edward Herman’s propaganda model, this film is highly recommended.
It is a very wonderfully put together book. It’s written in a conversational style. As in drama, all the characters are talking in a form of interview. The layout of the book is also good. It’s font styles, line spacing and combination of images was really good.
Every chapter has a catchy HEADLINE that I felt like I’m reading proverbs. So TRUE!
Film Adaptations: Manufacturing Consent Noam Chomsky and the Media film was produced after four years after publication, Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. The film was directed by Mark Achbar and Peter Wintonick. The length of this film is almost three hours. Mark Achbar has applied a wide range of creative abilities and technical skills He has worked as an editor, researcher and production coordinator.
Contents:
(Main topics included only)
The Man.
Early Influences.
Vietnam A Turning Point.
The Media. Thought Control in Democratic Societies.
A Propaganda Model.
The Gulf “War”. A Case Study Cambodia & East Timor.
Alternative Media.
The Linguist. Basic Premises.
Nim Chimsky: Chimpanzee.
The Social Order.
On Education.
Anarchism/Libertarian Socialism. Resistance & Critical Analysis.
Only the brave one need an attempt to read the rest of the book chapter by chapter.
It’s not a fun reading theoretical conversation by any means. But I can say that if you read this book and watch the documentary you will be able to see things differently. The clarity of his reasoning, the horror implicit thoughts and the endless exposure of its shocking historical evidence will leave an impact on you. Other examples include comparing media coverage of E. Timor, Kosovo, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia. Also how the media narratives and meta-narratives shifted over the course of US involvement in Vietnam and Cambodia.
This book centers on a “propaganda model,” an analytical framework. It attempts to explain the performance of the U.S. media in terms of institutional structures and relationships in which they operate. propagandists on behalf of, the powerful societal interests that they are well-positioned to shape and constrain media policy.
It should also be noted that I’m talking about media structure, not the effects of the media on the public. Certainly, the media’s adherence to an agenda is likely to influence public opinion in the desired direction. Sometimes the public’s interest helps to get a thing VIRAL.
Some questions will pop up in the mind of the reader
• • What happens when media is controlled solely by a corporation?
• • What happens when a corporation is controlled by a political ideology?
• • What happens when the news is no longer free from bias?
• • What happens when the news is no longer reliable in the virtual world?
• • What happens everything is controlled by propaganda?
There are plenty of reviews, articles, research papers on Chomsky in google. But I’m writing the review to provoke the readers and members of the writer’s block group. I want you to feel an urge to read the book.
On education
“Education is a system of imposed ignorance.”
This chapter reminded of a book by Robert Kiyosaki named Rich Dad Poor Dad. Their views are matched in one point, that is education. The point is that we read but we don’t understand. You can see that nowadays educational institutions are running a business on education. For Example- Suppose you’re reading a book of programming language, you can read every word of it but you can’t understand it without practical knowledge about programming. That’s the point! We’re getting a degree and running after a job. A regular rat race of life, like everyone else. I don’t mean not to go to school, School does provide the skills needed to self educate though.
Propaganda model
Chomsky has been warning people for decades about the manipulative practices.
There are five filters of that model, I’m not gonna describe all of them.
Advertising is called the second filter. Here Chomsky gave some criteria of advertising in America. But surprisingly it can be applied everywhere. Let me give you an example of menstruation pad ads in Bangladesh. Most sanitary pad ads have a common theme that is women empowerment. If a woman uses those pads they can do anything, go anywhere, do whatever they want without any skills. People tend to forget that, it is just a blood soaking napkin. It doesn’t have any healing power for menstruation cramps or other problems. Most men can get the wrong idea. They can think that if girls are using these pads they will be all okay. Advertiser can make the buying mood in the audience.
Some Quotes
“You‘re responsible for the predictable consequences of your actions. You‘re not responsible for the predictable consequences of somebody else‘s actions. The most important thing for me and for you is to think of the consequences of your actions. What can you affect?”
We as citizens of democratic societies are directly involved in and are responsible for it. I think we have a collective responsibility to affect system change because the individual actions available to us are strictly limited by the socio-economic system in which we live.
His ideas are ‘difficult’ because they challenge us to act intelligently.
“The culture and ideology fostered in this globalization process relate largely to “lifestyle” themes and goods and their acquisition; and they tend to weaken any sense of community helpful to civic life.”
“The picture of the world that’s presented to the public has only the remotest relation to reality. The truth of the matter is buried under edifice after edifice of lies upon lies. It’s all been a marvelous success from the point of view in deterring the threat of democracy, achieved under conditions of freedom, which is extremely interesting.”
I’m always a bit thrown when hearing the term freedom used so much. Being in a system of financial slavery where money from labor allows one to eat, have shelter, along with living a reasonably safe existence, these require money.
“ There are people with power. There are people who own the country, and they are not going to let the country out of control”
A living LEGEND.