"Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media" by Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky argues that mass media in democratic societies function as a system of propaganda, shaping public opinion to serve elite interests rather than fostering independent, critical thought. The authors present the 'propaganda model,' which identifies five filters that distort news coverage: (1) corporate ownership prioritizing profit over truth, (2) dependence on advertising revenue, leading to self-censorship, (3) reliance on official sources (governments, corporations), marginalizing dissent, (4) 'flak'—backlash from powerful groups against unfavorable reporting, and (5) ideological control through frameworks like anticommunism. Historical examples, such as the suppression of the 19th-century British working-class press and biased coverage of elections in El Salvador (favoring U.S. allies) versus Nicaragua (opposed to U.S. interests), illustrate how these filters reinforce systemic bias. The model demonstrates that media consolidation, deregulation, and market pressures further entrench a profit-driven, elite-serving narrative, making critical engagement with news sources essential for discerning truth from manufactured consent.

For more videos, visit BrightLearn.ai

Find a copy of this amazing book here.