Author Topic: The 5 Filters of the Mass Media Machine  (Read 283 times)

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Offline segnosaur

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Re: The 5 Filters of the Mass Media Machine
« on: April 13, 2017, 04:01:44 pm »
Interesting video on Chomsky's theory of "manufacturing consent":
Always amazed that people pay so much attention to Chomsky. He was a linguist, not a political scientist or historian. And while he may produce a lot of "research" to back up his claims, the fact that he seems to take such an extreme (and sometimes hypocritical) approach, coupled with some rather questionable mistakes (e.g. discounting the Cambodian genocide) makes me question whether he engaged in that "research" in any sort of rational manner, or simply cherry-picked sources that supported his pre-determined views.
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What do you think?  Truth or not?  Some truth, some flaws in this theory?
Probably incredibly flawed...

I am not assuming the political system and/or the media is perfect; far from it. (The media's inability to handle Trump properly is a prime example of this.) But it is a far cry to go from "There are flaws" to "the whole system is a sham".

Take for example is complaint about companies having a profit motive. Ok, yes.... newspapers and TV stations want to earn money. But, that ignores a few important points:
- Media companies do not have 100% thought control over their employees, and as such published material may not always follow the "profit" model
- Companies earn profit by connecting with viewers/subscribers. Those subscribers are not a monolithic block, and sometimes the way to earn a profit is for the media company to seek out alternative niches to tap into unused markets. In that way, alternative viewpoints (including those that challenge the status quo) can be heard.

I find it ironic that Chomsky would decry the profit motive when his work has gained him a rather loyal following, even though in theory his work should supposedly be "quashed" by the corporate media.