Manufacturing Propaganda

I actually watched some TV last night and I was fortunate enough to catch a documentory about Noam Chomsky on Free Speech TV (FSTV). The documentary, Manufacturing Consent, uses the title of one of Chomsky's books and takes a somewhat creative format in going through his life and ideas. Chomsky is a pre-eminent linguist who deciphered human natural language and was jetted around the world to accept prizes for his accomplishment. Everyone hailed him as a genius... That is until he started questioning and deciphering the results of free markets and free press being in the same bed. The documentary outlines how Chomsky's ideas evolved as he himself toured various countries being asked to speak about these ideas. I would do little justice in trying to convey his ideas without writing way more than I intend but the basics of his ideas are that the goal of free markets are to make more money, when you have corporations controlling media they will only convey "the news that's fit to print." Unfortunately the news that is fit to print is the news that makes the corporation money. Anything that disrupts this flow of money is an idea that does not get reported. This may seem innocuous until one looks at all of the news that is not being printed. There are thousands of people dying at the hands of the US government, multinational (oil) corporations, foreign governments, etc. The example they give in the documentary is that of the East Timor genocide. The New York Times only devoted 70 column inches over 10 years to the horrible human rights violations and genocide that was taking place there. Where not once did they mention the human rights violations or genocide. It may seem as if these ideas of a propagandist press are only recent (and that's what the press would like you to believe) but Chomsky was writing his books in the early and late 70's. He saw the dangers of corporate control of the media as a propaganda machine for corporations and those elite (20% of the population) who drive the path of western culture.

The thing is that Chomsky is still writing books. He is the pre-eminent lecturer in foreign countries and is on many TV programs around the world talking about his ideas. He is an expert that you will never see on the big news corporations because he is rocking their boat in a scholarly and rational way that cannot be challenged other than through silencing and defamation.

Have fun with Chomsky!