Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media (1992) YTS

Reviewed by GenerationofSwine 10 / 10

We have gone from Noam Chomsky, who famously

We have gone from Noam Chomsky, who famously said that you can only have one or two positions on free speech....to a left wing that wants to censor anything remotely offensive to them. The left has gone from this wise old sage to spray painting "Liberals get the bullet too" at protests they are countering to squash free speech. And its gotten to the point where Margaret Atwood had her feminist credentials stripped away, Howard Zinn passed away, anything that is disagreed with is labeled as hate speech...and anyone you disagree with is a Nazi that needs to be hit. The old guard has died and a new insanity has taken its place. We need Noam Chomsky back, we need his politics to return. We need that level-headed reason to come back into the left. Because, clearly, when we stop listening to people like him we open ourselves up for people like Stalin. You need to watch this film, you need to pay attention to it, because right now the left is doing it wrong.

Reviewed by rash594 8 / 10

Chomsky's explanation of the Media Propaganda Model, with relevant examples

Anyone acquainted with Herman and Chomsky's Propaganda Model will identify with this film, but the beauty of Manufacturing Consent is that even those who aren't, will, by the end of it, have a clear picture of what it is about. At 167 minutes, Manufacturing Consent is rather long for a documentary, but the detailing of events and juxtapositioning and interplay between frames are effective tools in delivering the message. The movie is divided into two parts. It follows Chomsky's interviews with various media outlets across platforms – TV and radio news stations, newspaper journalists, student groups and across talks, debates and Q&A sessions. Through all of them, he explains the Propaganda Model and gives various examples to explain it. The atrocities carried out by the US in Cambodia versus those carried out by Pol Pol, also in Cambodia, is given a great deal of importance in the movie, and Chomsky's view is that the former received very little coverage, since the US was involved, but the latter was played up – all in keeping with the Propaganda Model. Another example is that of the genocidal atmosphere created by Indonesian forces in East Timor, and how there was precious little coverage in US media, because it was a matter of economic interest (arms selling) for the US and they wanted the killings to go on. The movie was made in 1992, following the release of the book of the same name by Chomsky and Herman (1988). At the time, as was also discussed in the movie, the media comprised of the 'traditional' vehicles – TV, radio, film and newspapers. In such a situation, the Propaganda Model seemed to hit the nail of news filtering methods on the head. However, today, over two decades later, the situation is a bit different. The biggest change is in the method of news consumption. While a lot of people still turn to traditional news media, there are a large number of people (and the numbers keep growing) who have turned to the internet. With the dynamics of the internet, where content is easier to access and where the five filters don't necessarily apply, it is much easier for subjects other than those discussed in traditional media to be broached. More often than not, these would include 'uncomfortable' topics which would have been left out by traditional media. That being said, however, the online news space, too, is getting very competitive and is increasingly beginning to adopt means of revenue similar to traditional media, therefore succumbing to similar pressures. But with the online space, the common man can also be the disseminator of news, and this is where the challenge to Chomsky's Propaganda Model arises. Those with no economic, political or any other vested interests in media other than the dissemination of news will be committed to talking about the uncomfortable facts, making sure that the propaganda and agenda set by mainstream media are challenged. However, Chomsky states in the film that, "It's (alternative media) going to have a hard time, because there is such a concentration of power." Another important factor to consider while gauging the validity of the Model is an individual's own background. Those coming from media or 'media literate' backgrounds, would, arguably, be better able to decipher the news filtering process. The average common man is less likely to question what was eliminated before the news that he sees in the morning newspaper appeared, as compared to a more media literate person. However, Chomsky says that the common man is very smart and that given the know-how, he can tell the difference for himself. Besides this, schools and universities, as institutions of learning, are, by default, meant to be models of scholarly dissent and should train one to ask such 'difficult' questions. Besides, family, religious organisations and other social influences also make a difference in one's understanding of the media process. For instance, a person whose religious views are moderate is not likely to engage in flak against other religious groups (or the media carrying the news itself) based on a news item. Likewise, a person from a well- educated, 'aware' family is likely to ask poignant questions about the inclusion or, more importantly, the non-inclusion of certain news items in mainstream media. Thus, it is necessary to keep in mind the structure of news dissemination systems in today's date, and realise that there's been a shift in power. News is no longer a one-way process; it is now a two-way street, whereby the consumer is not helpless and at the mercy of the traditional media. The consumer, too, can ask questions or, not finding the answers, begin to disseminate the news himself via alternative means such as the internet. The only thing that's required is awareness, and Manufacturing Consent does just that. This is not to say the Propaganda Model isn't relevant, but efforts must be made. After all, as Chomsky mentions in the film, "The struggle for freedom and independence is never truly over."

Reviewed by jackinbox1982 8 / 10

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media

1992

Biography / Documentary / War

Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media

1992

Biography / Documentary / War

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Movie Reviews

We have gone from Noam Chomsky, who famously

Chomsky's explanation of the Media Propaganda Model, with relevant examples

Mind blowing but rather subjective

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