Community & Government
Manufacturing Consent: The Control We Can't See
Lesson time 11:47 min
Noam Chomsky shares his theory of “Manufacturing Consent,” which exposes the power of the media to influence, control, and shape public perception. Learn how to use Noam’s five filters to think more critically about what you consume.
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Topics include: Manufacturing Consent: Developing the Framework; How media gets filtered
Independent Thinking and Media’s Invisible Powers
Renowned scholar, linguist, and political activist Noam Chomsky explores the dark side of media. Learn to cut through propaganda, defend against manipulation, and control what you consume.
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BOB BUZZANCO: Hi, I'm Bob Buzzanco, a professor and scholar of United States history. This year, I was fortunate to meet with someone I've admired for years, Professor Noam Chomsky. He's been working on issues of propaganda, mass media, and corporate control of media for well over a half century now. He's unrivaled in his authority and expertise. - Ownership of the world, of the world economy, is now a dramatic index of a country's power. BOB BUZZANCO: Now we're in a new landscape that's clearly changed the way we receive information and the way information is used for political reasons. Join me in a conversation with the brilliant Professor Noam Chomsky as we discuss how media influences our everyday lives and what we can do to think for ourselves. [LIVELY ORCHESTRAL MUSIC] [GENTLE PIANO] NOAM CHOMSKY: In the United States, there is this massive effort to try to control and manipulate behavior and understanding, and it works to some extent. That's where you have people believing state propaganda. Highly manipulative approach that works in all societies. A project of intellectual self-defense would be very valuable from elementary school on. These are the kinds of things that children should be learning about right away-- how these effects operate and how to defend yourself against them. [VIBRANT PIANO] BOB BUZZANCO: Noam's most influential writing began in the 1960s, when his views on the connection between media and governments gained national attention. He showed how he believed that the public was being manipulated by the media. As a result, his ideas were suppressed, and he was even faced with the threat of prosecution. As an activist speaking, writing, you clearly saw that a lot of ideas by you and others were being suppressed, and that led to your next major work, a very famous book called "Manufacturing Consent." What got you interested in dealing with this? And what was the propaganda model? - First of all, the phrase itself comes from Walter Lippmann, the leading public intellectual of the 20th century. During the First World War, the United States, Woodrow Wilson, had a problem. He was elected on a peace platform, but he was determined to get the United States into the war. So he had to find a way to turn a pacifist population into raving, anti-German fanatics. He succeeded, incidentally. One of the ways in which he did it was by setting up a commission. It was called the Committee on Public information, the Creel Commission. [INTRIGUING MUSIC] And the idea was to try to carry out this transition. Two of the members of the Commission were Walter Lippmann and Edward Bernays. As Lippmann put it, the public are an unruly mob. They don't understand anything. So for their own interest, you have to manufacture consent so that they will be passive and obedient and will recognize that their role in a Democratic society is to be spectators, not partic...
About the Instructor
Dive into the invisible powers of media with Noam Chomsky. One of the most influential thinkers of our time, he’s challenged the mainstream narratives of media, corporations, and governments—for generations. Now he’s connecting his long-standing theories to the issues we care most about today. Get his cutting insights into the powers and perils of social media, AI, and disinformation in a society set up to manipulate.
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Noam Chomsky
Renowned scholar, linguist, and political activist Noam Chomsky explores the dark side of media. Learn to cut through propaganda, defend against manipulation, and control what you consume.
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