By Sarah Munsi
‘Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media’ by Chomsky and Herman can be considered a milestone piece of work as it is still being debated and challenged in the years since it’s been released. Its opinions raise questions on the media and its development since the internet era. Here is a quick video that talks about the five filters of mass media.
The book was released in 1988, with a revised edition coming out in 2002. It won the Orwell Award in 1989 for “outstanding contribution to critical analysis of public discourse” and was then made into a documentary in 1992. The theory was mainly US-centred and not entirely discussing power dynamics across the world but they can be applied to other conservative countries such as North Korea and Iran. Hegemony is the word best chosen to describe one party that are in the dominant position of setting ideas and beliefs to the population that then become the “norm” and for anyone that differs become an outcast.
Media giants are in control of what we read, watch and listen which can influence out ideas and opinions on topics. The types of media, whether that be entertainment or news are no different from each other. They can just easily buy each other and put their narrative onto the platforms available, therefore spreading it out for all of society to watch, listen and read. As of 2023, The Walt Disney Company own well known corporations such as Marvel Entertainment, ABC and ESPN, Pixar, 21st Century Fox, Vice Media and Steamboat Ventures. People will tend to take in the information that spouts from a larger company rather than a smaller one. As they are a big company, their opinions are going to be highly respected compared to a small company who will be eaten up. That’s why when it comes to reading news, I read various companies to get a wide berth of opinions and language used because they can be referring to the same thing but in a different way.
Advertising is now one of the biggest forms of revenue for the media. An example can be when the Super Bowl is hosted in America every year. Thousands of companies pay a large sum of money to only have their ad shown between the breaks for 30 seconds to a minute. These media companies attract their audiences to the game with buying power and with the adverts shown. One ad could be sitting at home with others watching a game together with good food. There are a lot of famous adverts that I love and still remember to this day. Lately, there’s been a car advert that I sing along to that I don’t remember which is annoying because I really like it. Many adverts connect with me as I have a lot of fond memories with my siblings when we were younger.
Despite news corporations such as the BBC and ITV having their own bias, they are the ones that provide with the “official” and “expert” sources and they may not even have enough journalists to cover that news. Journalists, prime ministers and presidents are example of powerful sources of media. They continuously feed the audience information nonstop whilst the corporations will try to filter out what’s not important and what may be a personal bias that doesn’t align with the company. Continuous amounts of news can get overwhelming and it always goes back to the question of whether it’s true or not.
No one likes a bad image of themselves put out into the world, it can cause a lot of bad problems and embarrassment. Anything negative that is broadcasted out to the public, it can destroy the media. That is why everything is checked and double checked before it’s released. For example, anything that deems negative about a politician will need some very strong evidence for that or things can get a turn for the worse. Anti communism has the same principle only when communism is talked about in a positive light.
Living in a society with these five filters is a challenge, there’s no room to have any personal opinion and it can feel like we’re robots, being controlled to say this and do that. Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do about that and this is how things will be for the next years or so.
I really like the title, which greatly attracted me to read your blog. I appreciate your detailed explanation of manufacturing consent, especially with examples like Walt Disney and advertising in your childhood, which are very relevant to the content. However, I have a few suggestions. Firstly, you could add some images to your blog to make it more visually appealing and engaging for readers. Secondly, while I understand that you may have focused on ownership and advertising, you didn’t delve much into other filters. It would be helpful if you provide more information and examples on those filters. Additionally, you might consider reducing the background information at the beginning. Finally, it would be great to include some evaluation at the end.