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“There are no important media outlets in the U.S. that are not owned or controlled by Jews.”

— Israel Shamir
Russian-Israeli journalist
in his article “Midas Ears”
Note: Israel Shamir is a decent, conscientious man.
His statement is meant not as an ethnocentric boast,
but as a wake-up call.


Manufacturing Consent


bookcover

Manufacturing Consent:
The Political Economy of the Mass Media
by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky
Pantheon Books, 1988; ISBN 0-679-72034-0

Contrary to the commonly believed image of the press as cantankerous, obstinate and thorough in its search for truth, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky show that, in fact, a highly prejudiced elite consensus creates the state propaganda that is presented daily as “news”.

They skillfully dissect the way in which the marketplace and the economics of publishing significantly shape the news. They reveal how issues are framed and topics are chosen. As a prime example, they reveal the fact that totally dishonest double standards are used by the corporate media when “reporting” about countries which are puppets of the U.S., and countries which attempt to be free of the U.S.

In the corporate mass-media’s propagandistic accounts of so-called “free elections”, a “free press”, and governmental repression, Herman and Chomsky contrast the double standards which were used between Nicaragua and El Salvador; between the Russian invasion of Afghanistan and the American invasion of Vietnam; between the genocide in Cambodia under a pro-American government and genocide under Pol Pot (which was later supported by the U.S. government).

They explore how Watergate and the Iran-Contra hearings manifested not an excess but a lack of investigative zeal into the accumulating illegalities of the executive branch.

What emerges from this pathbreaking work is the fact that the mainstream mass media are nothing more than highly sophisticated propaganda organs of the corporate state, and that a knowledge of their methods allows us to see them for what they are.




Reviews


“[A] compelling indictment of the news media’s role in covering up errors and deceptions in American foreign policy of the past quarter century.”

— Walter LaFeber
The New York Times Book Review



“An intellectual dissection of the modern media to show how an underlying economics of publishing warps the news.”

— Book Description



“A tour de force, co-authored by one of the world’s leading experts on language and meaning. In this book, Herman and Chomsky put forward a ‘propaganda model’ to explain the bias in Western (mostly US) media on international affairs. Their thesis is that, although the US is not a dictatorship where a single leader can censor the press, the very market forces that lead people to believe in the freedom of their press actually work to create a self-imposed censorship which creates a biased media, more intent on delivering audiences to their advertisers and vital corporate sponsors than in providing their readers with balanced and informed news.

“The authors back up their theory with a large number of examples, and focus on 3 main topics: Latin America, Vietnam and the attempt on the life of the Pope in 1981. Using extensive quotations from US contemporary media reports, and comparing them with official sources such as government documents, White House memos, State Department press releases, as well as reports in non-US-based media, Herman and Chomsky are able to bolster their thesis of a propaganda model, and show that US media reports are nearly always skewed to show the US and its allies as the ‘good guys’, and other (enemy) states as the ’bad guys’.

“When ‘they’ do it, it’s called ‘terrorism’, when ‘we’ do it, it’s called ‘fighting for democracy and freedom.’”

— sheffi
Amazon.com reviewer
from Nara, Japan



About the Authors


Edward S. Herman is Professor Emeritus of Finance, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley. At the Wharton School his specialties were corporate control and power, financial regulation, and issues relating to conflict of interest. He also taught for years in the Annenberg School of Communication at Penn. He is a regular columnist for Z magazine and a frequent contributor to Dollars & Sense as well as Extra!.

He is the author of over 20 books and numerous articles on the corporate system, the media and American foreign policy. His books include:



Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky is a major figure in twentieth-century linguistics. He has taught since 1955 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he became a full professor at the age of 32. His 1957 work Syntactic Structures revolutionized the field of linguistics, fundamentally changing the current understanding of language and mind. In 1976 he was appointed Institute Professor in the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT. Currently he is also the Ferrari P. Ward Professor of Modern Languages and Linguistics.

Chomsky has received honorary degrees from the University of London, University of Chicago, Georgetown University and Cambridge University. He is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences. His work in linguistics, which has been internationally acclaimed, has earned Chomsky the Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award of the American Psychological Association, the Kyoto Prize in Basic Sciences and the Helmholtz Medal.

Born in Philadelphia on December 7, 1928, Chomsky became politically conscious at a very young age, writing his first political article, on the fight against fascism in Spain, when he was only ten years old.

Chomsky has written many books on contemporary issues and is an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy and corporate power. His political talks have been heard, typically by standing-room only audiences, all over the country and the globe.

In a saner world, his tireless efforts to promote justice would have long since won him the Nobel Peace Prize. But no, the committee prefers to give it to sleazy war-criminals like Henry Kissinger.

Chomsky’s books include:



Audio books:



Other works:




Related sites


The Pacifica Counterrevolution Hits WBAI:
Another Call for Action
by Edward S. Herman
http://www.radio4all.org/fp/endgame/herman_counterrev.html

“Given the importance of the media in hegemonic processes, and in contesting those processes, what is happening to Pacifica, and now WBAI, should be first order business for the left. This was our only radio network, and it is being destroyed!”



Extra! Articles by Edward S. Herman
http://www.fair.org/extra/writers/herman.html



The Noam Chomsky Archive
http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/

“This archive is hosted by ZNet, the web site of Z Magazine. It contains the full text to many of Chomsky’s major works, the complete audio to several important lectures, and numerous articles, interviews and speeches.”



Media Beat
http://www.fair.org/media-beat/

“Media Beat is the insightful weekly syndicated column on media and politics written by FAIR associate Norman Solomon. It runs in newspapers across the country.

“Utne Reader called Solomon one of ‘the fiercest and most articulate media critics around.’ A Los Angeles Times reviewer wrote: ‘The bold, muckraking tone of these columns offers a welcome respite from the decerebrated discourse that too often passes for contemporary journalism.’”



Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting — FAIR
http://www.fair.org/

“FAIR, the national media watch group, has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986. We work to invigorate the First Amendment by advocating for greater diversity in the press and by scrutinizing media practices that marginalize public interest, minority and dissenting viewpoints.

“As an anti-censorship organization, we expose neglected news stories and defend working journalists when they are muzzled. As a progressive group, FAIR believes that structural reform is ultimately needed to break up the dominant media conglomerates, establish independent public broadcasting and promote strong non-profit sources of information.”




Related books


Inventing Reality:
The Politics of News Media
by Michael Parenti


The Habits of Highly Deceptive Media:
Decoding Spin and Lies in Mainstream News
by Norman Solomon


Pirates and Emperors, Old and New:
International Terrorism in the Real World
by Noam Chomsky


The Real Terror Network:
Terrorism in Fact and Propaganda
by Edward S. Herman


What Uncle Sam Really Wants
by Noam Chomsky


Corporate Media and the Threat to Democracy
by Robert W. McChesney


Censored 2000:
The Year’s Top 25 Censored Stories
by Peter Phillips & Project Censored


Body of Secrets:
Anatomy of the Ultra-Secret National Security Agency
by James Bamford

In 1962, U.S. military leaders had a top-secret plan for committing terrorist attacks on Americans in Miami and Washington D.C., while blaming Cuba. Codenamed “Operation Northwoods”, the plan was intended to provide the propaganda necessary to create popular support for an invasion of Cuba.


War, Lies & Videotape:
How media monopoly stifles truth
edited by Lenora Foerstel; multiple authors


The Fire This Time:
U.S. War Crimes in the Gulf
by Ramsey Clark


Desert Slaughter:
The Imperialist War Against Iraq
by the Workers League


The Culture of Terrorism
by Noam Chomsky


Western State Terrorism
Alexander George, editor; essays by Noam Chomsky, Edward S. Herman, Gerry O’Sullivan and others


Terrorizing the Neighborhood:
American Foreign Policy in the Post-Cold War Era
by Noam Chomsky
Pressure Drop Press, 1991


Deadly Deceits:
My 25 years in the CIA
by Ralph W. McGehee


The Hidden Persuaders:
What makes us buy, believe – and even vote – the way we do?
by Vance Packard


Derailing Democracy:
The America the Media Don’t Want You to See
by David McGowan


Toxic Sludge is Good for You!:
Lies, Damn Lies and the Public Relations Industry
by John Stauber and Sheldon Rampton


The Decline and Fall of the American Empire
by Gore Vidal


Rogue State:
A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower
by William Blum


Killing Hope:
U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since WWII
by William Blum


Blackshirts and Reds:
Rational Fascism and the Overthrow of Communism
by Michael Parenti


The Beast Reawakens
by Martin A. Lee


To Kill A Nation:
The Attack on Yugoslavia
by Michael Parenti


Hidden Agenda:
U.S./NATO Takeover of Yugoslavia
by Ramsey Clark, Nadja Tesich, Michel Chossudovsky, Slobodan Milosevic, numerous authors


NATO in the Balkans:
Voices of Opposition
by Ramsey Clark, Nadja Tesich, Sean Gervasi, Sara Flounders, Thomas Deichmann, Gary Wilson and Richard Becker


Against Empire
by Michael Parenti


The Sword and the Dollar:
Imperialism, Revolution and the Arms Race
by Michael Parenti


Apocalypse 1945:
The Destruction of Dresden
by David Irving


A People’s History of the United States:
1492 — Present
by Howard Zinn


Bloody Hell:
The Price Soldiers Pay
by Daniel Hallock


Colombia:
The Genocidal Democracy
by Javier Giraldo


Corporate Predators:
The Hunt for Mega-Profits and the Attack on Democracy
by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman


Saving Private Power:
The Hidden History of “The Good War”
by Michael Zezima


The Continuing Terror Against Libya
by Fan Yew Teng


The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb
by Gar Alperovitz




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