Community & Government
New Media: Information and Misinformation
Lesson time 13:03 min
Noam Chomsky shares his views on the impact of social media on society. Get Noam’s cutting insights and learn about the responsibility of the individual to challenge mainstream narratives.
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Topics include: Noam and New Media: The Dangers of Surveillance Capitalism: The Harm of Sound Bites: The Rise of AI and ChatGPT
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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[STACCATO STRING MUSIC] - My name is Jules Terpak. I am a young independent journalist who is navigating today's complex media landscape. Tech is continuously moving us towards being immersed in augmented and/or virtual realities, where people will be able to create exactly what they want to be a part of. Professor Noam Chomsky published most of his major work on media decades ago, yet it's only become more relevant. His thinking and approach to media applies even more so today in our fragmented media landscape. I'm excited to talk with him and explore how to be both curious and critical of the media we consume. [STACCATO STRING MUSIC] You tried TikTok for the first time last week. I'd love to hear about your experience. - All I could see was a lot of teenage kids having fun dancing. - In a world full of daily quotas and sensational headlines, specifically within social media, how do you assess what media is worth giving your attention to? - First thing I do in the morning is read "The New York Times" or "Washington Post." It used to be mostly news. Now it's more columns and opinion. This is exaggerated in the social media or, say, Fox News or talk radio to the point that's all there is. But even the mainstream legacy media are affected by it. I noticed, for example, that it takes me much less time to read a major newspaper today than it used to 20, 30 years ago because there's just less there. One of the really lethal effects of this is the disappearance of local media. There used to be very good journals in major cities, the "Los Angeles Times," "Boston Globe," the "San Francisco Chronicle," the "Detroit Free Press." These were journals that had their own news bureaus that used to be many sources with diverse views. Enterprising journalists, smart, inquiring journalists disappeared. It's cheapened the media landscape enormously. And people believe it. They have a staff of people looking things up for them so they can give answers. It makes it look very-- very competent. JULES TERPAK: Daily media personalities have only become more prevalent over the years. They're adding a lot of personal commentary in the name of profit. - I am here because there is a concerted effort by the Democratic Party, multinational corporations, and Big Tech to silence conservative and nationalist and populist voices. - So how do you look at the importance of separating the individual, the persona from the information that they're sharing? - The personalities are overwhelming. If you present this false image of perfect insight and understanding and super confidence, you can attract people who really don't have independent access to media or don't have the kind of institutional structure in which you can resist the media onslaught. Media literacy, if it were taught and internalized, would lead people to be able to defend themselves against these tendencies. But ...
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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