MediaTheory: Chomsky and the Propaganda Model (W9-P1) F19

Let's jump straight into coverage of Noam Chomsky and his critical theory perspective.
We'll do this with the documentary Manufacturing Consent (1992).



The above documentary gives a good summary of Chomsky and his ideas as they relate to media, especially the news media.  If you are interested, you might want to also consult Chomsky and Herman's book Manufacturing Consent (1988). Also, if you are interested, you might want to see this clip from the documentary film "The Myth of the Liberal Media" (1998).

Now, let's update Chomsky and his ideas.
What about current examples of the 5 filters from the Propaganda Model?




How does Chomsky's critical theory perspectives apply to Google and Facebook?



Surveillance capitalism: "the unilateral claiming of private human experience as free raw material for translation into behavioral data" (2019).

More recently these general critical theory perspectives have become part of national and international news as they relate to U.S. presidential elections.  Netflix's documentary The Great Hack (2019) explores the concepts of surveillance capitalism and data exploitation (see the trailer below).  If you are interested and have Netflix, you might want to watch the doc.  As you are watching it, ask yourself how do Chomsky's ideas fit in?






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ComTheory: Media, Normative Theories and a Chomskyan Critique (W7/W9-P1) Fa17

“Normative theories … don’t describe things as they are, nor do they provide scientific explanations or predictions. Instead, they describe the way things should be if some ideal values or principles are to be realized” (Baran and Davis, p. 61).

When looking at media we could start to ask questions like: How should media be organized?  What relationship should there be between media and government?

One normative political theory that can be applied to media is libertarianism.

Libertarianism: “In the most general sense, libertarianism is a political philosophy that affirms the rights of individuals to liberty, to acquire, keep, and exchange their holdings, and considers the protection of individual rights the primary role for the state” (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).

Libertarianism in 6 Minutes

Chomsky and his Critique of (American) Libertarianism

“Noam Chomsky ... is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes described as "the father of modern linguistics," Chomsky is also a major figure in analytic philosophy and one of the founders of the field of cognitive science. He is the author of over 100 books on topics such as linguistics, war, politics, and mass media. Ideologically, he aligns with anarcho-syndicalism and libertarian socialism” (Wikipedia).

Noam Chomsky - Freedom of Speech I

Chomsky and Manufacturing Consent

On of Chomsky’s books that deals critically with media is Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media.  This is also a title of a documentary and Chomsky and his idea.

Manufacturing Consent (trailer)

When watching the full documentary, take careful notes on terms like hegemony, manufacturing consent, necessary illusions, media consolidation/concentration, the Herman & Chomsky propaganda model and flak  Note also lists like those associated with the propaganda model.

If you are interested, parts of the Manufacturing Consent doc are available YouTube.
Also, if you interested, you may find "Key points in 'Manufacturing Consent'" helpful.

Also, if interested, there is a more up-to-date video of 5 filters of the propaganda model.

Lastly, if you are interested in what Manufacturing Consent says about today's media landscape, you may want to check out these two videos, one a more recent interview of Herman and the other of Chomsky.

• "Manufacturing Consent" 25 Years Later
• Noam Chomsky - On the Internet and 'Manufacturing Consent' (Interview)

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Please follow, add, friend or subscribe to help support this blog.
See more about me at my web site WilliamHartPhD.com.