Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent revisited | The Listening Post
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 มิ.ย. 2024
- There is an exquisite and oft-quoted moment in an interview between BBC journalist Andrew Marr and Noam Chomsky in which Marr asks: "How can you know that I'm self-censoring?".
"I'm not saying you're self censoring. I'm sure you believe everything you're saying. But what I'm saying is that if you believed something different, you wouldn't be sitting where you're sitting."
Wry as ever, Chomsky exposed the slightly delusional pretensions of the journalistic establishment - and not far behind, the complicities of the media industry with political power.
Harsh? Perhaps. True? All too often.
For many of us who work at The Listening Post, Chomsky's ideas on the media in Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media have provided us with a guide, full of cautionary tales and ideas that are still controversial to this day.
The book was published in 1988 - a year before the end of the Cold War when it was announced that western liberal democracy had triumphed, heralding the end of ideology, authoritarianism, and propaganda.
In the past 30 years, we have seen the mass communications industry multiply, providing an illusion of choice, echoing the rhetorics of freedom - of press, of expression - but not necessarily yielding the pluralism liberal democracies had promised.
In that way, the book continues to resonate.
But like all revered texts, Manufacturing Consent also calls upon us as active readers, journalists, citizens to interrogate its premises. Does the book's denunciatory tone risk overstate the power of the media establishment? Does it underestimate the critical faculties of the public? Is the media so homogenous an entity that power can be wielded top-down? Where are the lapses, the blind spots? Where do journalists find pockets of power that serve to disrupt?
We spoke to three journalists who have their careers being disruptive and asked them about the ideas that had influenced them in Chomsky and Herman's book: Matt Taibbi, whose reporting for Rolling Stone has provided one of the most critical accounts of US political history in recent years; Indian editor-in-chief Aman Sethi who questions the premises of Chomsky's book and Amira Hass, the Haaretz correspondent for the Occupied Territories.
The first thing we asked Hass was what she thought about Chomsky's statement: "the general population doesn't know what's happening, and it doesn't even know that it doesn't know".
"This is a very humanist and optimistic statement," she responded. "The belief that when people are informed they may act, things may change. In Hebrew, the words knowledge and awareness are all made of the same root. Yedda and Mudaoot. And so awareness is connected to Mudaoot in Hebrew. And this is how I started working in Gaza, aware that the Israeli public knows nothing about the occupation and what it means. But the people do not pick up this information. They have access to it but they choose not to access it."
Hass has been covering Palestine for the best part of 30 years - in that time, sources of information have multiplied, but public outrage?
"Today we have so much access to information in other ways that we are on a collision with the fact that people are not interested in what does not serve immediately their interest," she said, with resignation, "and this is a very sad realisation."
Aman Sethi put it like this:
"It's easy to say that people believe what they believe because their consent has been manufactured. But what if people know exactly what's going on and still believe what they believe, right? Then that's terrifying."
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BBC Guy:
- How can you know that I am self-censoring?
Chomsky:- I am not saying that you are self-censoring.- I am sure that you believe everything you are saying.- But, what I am saying is that, if you believed something different you wouldn't be sitting where you are sitting.
Well thats not necessarily true, top journalists I'm sure know exactly what they are doing but they are willing to compromise for the big pay check
That's the same reason we won't have good politicians, they will never go up the ladder.
@@stevengao8527 true- there's corruption at every level.
That said, the fact that some media personalities may be playing a part doesn't change the fact that, if they'd professed to believe inconvenient truths, they'd never have been given the position to begin with.
@@stevengao8527 yes
@@stevengao8527 I think he was being cheeky and calling out the lack of morals within journalism
Noam Chomsky is a living legend. Manufacturing Consent was a pivotal moment in my understanding of geopolitics and media coverage.
Did you yesterday notice Chomsky trying to manufacture consent for keeping the US army in Syria ?
Chomsky the war monger.
+@@laurier3348If you took the time to notice, that interview was done in October, but only became popular yesterday. And his position on the matter is strictly for purposes of the protection of the Kurds, not for toppling the Assad government.
@@Behemoth29 The Kurds can protect them selves, they are strong.
The US was mainly in Syria to prevent Iran from rolling in.
Chomsky the war monger showing his real face.
+@@laurier3348 The Kurds are a competent fighting force. However, without at least a token US presence they will be facing Turkey, Assad, Iran and Russia alone.
The last few minutes of this piece offer some of the most sage advice...the idea of not simply dismissing the media as so many may assume he is saying, but to read and listen critically, to seek multiple sources and to engage in a thoughtful way.....the same holds true for government. When people disengage, these institutions become even more powerful.
Facts!
The HuffPo guy answered the exact way I expected, by rejecting Chomsky and pretty much saying; no we work real hard, were not corporate tools, exactly the same arrogance both Chomsky and even John Stewart have warned about.
Yeah, the guy was trying to imply that individual journalists are the problem, and therefore all he needs to do is be diligent and he won't make those mistakes. But Herman and Chomsky's point is that he is part of a system, and no matter how hard he tries, he will be severely punished if he steps too far out of line. So, his framing on individuals distracts from the corporate system. He reproduced some of the moves of propaganda there.
@@FreekinEkin2 I know it was so ridiculously obvious, he was everything chomsky described.
that guy said the book manufacturing consent provides journalists with a manual of commonly made mistakes. Apparently spewing out complete lies on the airwaves to feed corporate profits & the war machine was a mistake, or maybe the mistake was being found out.
@@mazxbv,
Yes because who better to judge such an important topic than a Linguistics Professor, with ZERO Real World Experience in Legitimate Investigative Journalism himself-Merely his own preconceived conclusions of how HE THINKS the media works, based on his own one-sided data! smh
The (Gas)Huffington Post is a complete joke. One of the worst publications ever.
The Huffpost guy is a perfect example of someone who gets the corporate media gig for his 'correct' views.
Yeah, honestly, most people I know totally believe the media, and I used to, too, but seeing the American 2020 election, I've started to see through it.
He made a very valid point, which was echoed by the Israeli reporter.
Exactly!
@@excitedaboutlearning1639 I agree 100%. And this is the state in most countries. India, in my case.
@@sideedali5747 he just doesn't get it... He has a point but I simply don't think he thinks in the layers Noam does...he is a face value guy.
Chomsky doesn't search Google, Google searches Chomsky.
LOL Funny but true.
Lol good chance that's literally true
When Google goes to bed at night, Google turns on a night light, not because is worried about the bogeyman, Google is worries about Chomsky
Noam is the algorithm.
Google? 😊😊😊 LOL, Google isn't even a real technology company much less a search engine..... It's a company under Alphabet, Microsoft that spies on it's users for the foreign enemies CIA FBI NSA and so on .....Why do you think 🤔 they hide in the mountains of Mountview California?
For some reason, having TH-cam ads pop up during this video is rather fitting.
I'm amazed at the naivete of Aman Sethi, and this is the editor in chief of a mainstream news outlet. If anything, he proves Noam's points.
Gratitude to you Prof. Chomsky for your gifts of knowledge to humankind. One day, hopefully, the values you stand for might come true in the world.
And yet he ultimately upended his entire thesis by admitting that his very first and preferred source of "news" is the New York Times. Words can't convey the utter irony in that admission. Amazing.
Even if you were able to convince a majority of the people their consent was being manufactured, it wouldn't do any good, because most people are too ignorant to know why they should care whether their consent is their own or manufactured by someone else.
It's them being manipulated not me 🤣🤘❤️
if half the population of the US knows who chomsky is the world would be a much better place.
@Donald Kasper I believe you talk about yourself.
Ziggy Arbani SO TRUE
No, he'll be dead. I think. Just an educated guess from history.
One of the best human beings alive...
Pesky Echo You’re a delusional leech.
@Pesky Echo Chomsky is despised by most of the Jewish community.
@@edeto16 probably despised by most Israelis, but maybe not the Jewish community. One shouldn't conflate Jews with Israelis.
It wasn't just Chomsky. It was Edward Herman as well!
thanks for this special edition
Excellent piece. I commend AJ and Richard Gizbert. It is clearly a difficult topic to cover, and I'm grateful for this channel's earnestness. It's hard to find this kind of stuff without it containing polemics (RT) or being overly focused on the US (Democracy Now!).
case in point: "Drone shuts down Gatwick airport". No actual footage of _the_ drone, nor evidence of any kind, but lots of regurgitated scary footage of a lab test drone hitting an aircraft wing at high speed.
Fabulous interview with one of the most gifted minds today. I found compelling the introduction animation video, it breaks it down to simplicity. Bravo Aljezzera.
"One of the most effective devices is to encourage debate, but within a system of unspoken presuppositions that incorporate the basic principles of the doctrinal systems. These principles are therefore removed from inspection; they become the framework for thinkable thought, not objects of rationale consideration." Noam Chomsky
“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - even encourage the more critical and dissident views. That gives people the sense that there's free thinking going on, while all the time the presuppositions of the system are being reinforced by the limits put on the range of the debate.” Noam Chomsky
Thanks for posting.
The amount of unironically inserted commercial interruptions made me chuckle.
Very interesting. I appreciate the different view points with the three journalists.
Growing up in the Excited States of America, Chomsky guided me through the 'insanity' of US foreign policy and his critique of everything has been consistent for 30 of my years as an adult and counting.
Thanks, great interview. Al Jazeera to hear one of the greatest intellects of our time, that's how busted our trust has been betrayed by today's media. This is why I shut off dish tv, no more manufactured news content.
I believe it was Virgil who was standing at the entrance to Dante's "Inferno" & read a sign that said; "The Master of those who know" or something to that effect? Well in my opinion, Chomsky is the living master of all those who know in today's world.
Rob: agree with the spirit of what you say. But the sign in Dante's inferno said: "Abandon hope, ye who enter here."
16:58 Look at host's facial inclination when chomsky mentions about "read what the big brother told you to read otherwise you lose your job"🙊
Chomskys "students".
Just need to ask Julian Assange what happens to journalists who stray out of the permitted zone. I know that in Australia jounalists tend to pick a side and go with it. They just wait for the daily media releases from politicians staff and publish the information as though they had done some research. Any ideas or evidence coming from sources other that the two "Parties" that run parliament hardly get a look in.
We even have laws allowing govt to detain people in secret without charge under legislation stamped national security. It is no wonder so many journalist cant tell the truth, they are not allowed to.
Now he just might die in jail since the media made millions believe he is a bad guy that ruin Hillary election. People are so easily manipulated by the press
@@camilom2752 People are capable of intelligence. But as soon as they become informed, the establishment must choose. Let them live. Or disappear them. Hehe ...
Australia doesn't have journalism (except for Michael West) it is all just soulless corporate garbage from NewsCorp and Nine Entertainment - both listed companies!
That animation at the start is creepy af
@@sudovirus3285 sometimes it's necessary to bring home the point!🖕🏻🖕🏿
It's very ugly
i loved it
dezmoanded yeah it’s hard to watch, the composition and textures are just kinda painful
I found it captivating.
When you realize the notion of manufactured consent is real you can then follow on to realizing we live in a matrix where everything around us is controlled.
YES
By God and our MORTALITY !
Nobody gets out ALIVE !!!!!
Thank you for your brain, your humanity and humility Mr. Chomsky.
I emailed the same thing to him, to thank him, to show my gratitude, he wrote back "Many thanks. Appreciated."
Yes if ONLY Chomsky had used that great brain of his to do MORE than merely criticize others in areas that he has ZERO Real World Experience in himself, and with the great luxury of 20/20 Hindsight! smh
@@mck1972 he wakes people up, what is more important
@@89strangelove ,
In order to REALLY, ‘ wake people up ‘, one is required to actually know WTF they are talking about, in the field in question.
-NOT merely cherry-pick fact & figures, to fit his own preconceived conclusions, in fields that he has ZERO Real World Experience in, himself!
Which is what Chomsky has been doing for the past half-century!
More people need to ignore the media's 'Consent' stories & think for themselves.
Our mode of production creates the superstructure and social relations and moving past that type of social relation is quite difficult.
I'm fine with the format of The Listening Post, but please upload the unedited interviews after. The cuts are painfully obvious for anyone familiar with Chomsky and some like to hear the man speak.
Tabibbi is rather spot on when he talks about the structural class change within Journalism. When I started as a journalist in the 1990s, you couldn't have anything less than a Bachelors degree if you wanted to get hired. Journalism became a progression not simply a trade.
He's one of the best real journalists out there. I just finished reading his book "Hate Inc" and it draws so much from Manufacturing Consent and the appendix includes an interview with Chomsky by Matt himself.
Excellent piece. Congratulations to all involved. Chomsky has always known what's going on.
It is so freaking ironic funny, that when I the video after saying how advertisers are paying for our attention, and the line "consent is bein g manufactured" I got a youtube ad. Like wow, the irony hurts now
TH-cam advertisers dont have direct contacts with people
@@faizanusmani1039 yeah but TH-cam does, and TH-cam wants to show you certain ads, they have made it clear. They would much rather moderate content rather than give up their advertisers, manufacturing consent to the last letter.
I recognize that voice to be Amy Goodman of Democracy Now!
Such powerful animation at the start.
The Indian guy has no clue that he is being played. Lol he seems to believe he is in control of his opinion. 😂😂😂
@@faizanusmani1039 Huffington Post is Left Leaning not Right Leaning. I am no fan of nationalistic ideologies , but come on mate atleast do some research on the premise on which you're indulging in name calling. How does that make you any different from the brainwashed alt right you ridicule ?
@@chlorine5795 what did he say? It's in another language
@@faizanusmani1039 He's not bhakt
@@chlorine5795 Huffington post is not exactly left leaning but liberal.
The funny thing is, a revisiting is just allowing people to see generational propaganda at it's finest (worst)
Chomsky watching that cartoon was probably like, oh great.
Gotta keep people with no attention span interested.
Great production: creepy video from Amy Goodman moves forward to an astute interview by Richard Gizbert and spectrum of speakers like Matt Taibbi and journalists from Israel, India, etc. Super dope audio editing, too. This one's straight science!
You probably believe Mike was a pedo because of NEVERLAND BAH
This book was just about the best advice to come out of the movie Good Will Hunting.
You see, each day I survey and click upon what has become now my daily diet of TH-cam videos, and in doing so I find another book I never knew about and now feel I need, advanced advertisement!?
This man is the embodiment of a real intellectual
great animation
What’s honoring more than honesty ? We are destroyed each other’s 🙏🏻.
'We'll return to 'Manufacturing Consent' after this short message from our sponsor!'
If I have so little time for news in my day, I'd go to Democracy Now, Al Jazeera, or outlets alike.
This is mainly due to Edward Bernays, one of the most despicable men in history, yet most have no idea who he was...clever eh?!
@SiMills Absolutely despicable, and the sleeziest plagiarist of his brilliant Uncle Sigmund's theory for HEALING the human mind! Bernays took those understandings of how emotions or repititions affect our subconscious thoughts and SOLD them to fascistic warlord presidents or cigarette corporations to make us EVIL and sick.
i learned of him from the century of self documentary..
@@tertiary7 You mean the century of selfish-SELL/consume-everything-ism?
My goal this year is to read foucault and chomsky
s: If you are interested in both those guys, a good place to start is the Foucalt-Chompsky debate. You can watch a video of it, and there is also a book which is longer. I have done both, and it is fascinating stuff.
Michelle Foucault?
HOW DO WE - AS A SPECIES - PRESERVE THIS MAN? AS MORBID AS IT SOUNDS - I SINCERELY HOPE HE OUT LIVES ME!!! Manufacturing Consent single-handedly changed my world views and no other book had such a profound impact on my beliefs.
When your country's smartest and most influencial man is also one of the oldest.
Noam was the first man to say "ok boomer"
Intelligent people are a dying breed.
I don’t think it’s rare for the most wise in the village to be the eldest
That was dope!
Chomsky is a hero, no doubt. On a side note, Tabbi is pretty wonderful too. Check out his numerous articles on the 2008/9 financial crisis.
Praise God for people like him!
A shock to many is that Taibbi actually hails from the Valley...
Well, everyone knows that Noam Chomsky and his co-author were and are right, but still some hate to accept it.
LOL Actually it's Chomsky that has yet to accept that his book does not actually prove anything he claims! 😀
Chomsky was very kind to praise the animation.
i realy want this legend to recite the kalima
from bottom of my heart
Noam Chomsky on his 'Not Dead Yet' tour.
It'd be a sad day.
Wow ! Le titre est tout croche. C'est: La Fabrication du consentement
Exact.
Thank God for Noam Chomsky. One of the few voices of truth in our dystopian wilderness.
But if there was a god we wouldn't need a Noam Chomsky.
Perhaps Chomsky is heaven sent. God in the flesh. Most ppl hate God.
brilliant
The animated part needs to be redone
Another aspect of looking into this supposed dilemma of News Corporations around the world is to have a good, hard and honest look on the financial model of their operations.
If the consumers can't cover the production and operational cost of news generating entity then the it has to have develop workable financial model that can not allow it to compromise its credibility and integrity in the first place.
This dependence to cover the operational cost and to generate inflated profits on power centre's of a state will lead to nowhere but to the road of self-deception and professional ignominy.
A well thought-out and threshed balance should be deduced and maintained to cover the cost and to keep reasonable amount of profit for the corporation and to keep a firm check on personal ambitions and relentless greed is the need of the hour in the field of journalism.
Chomsky's voice is so soothing, what a legend
Like a cat purring...
When viewing internet news media as an alternative to the uniformity of broadcast media, one should always check the address bar or publisher and research the source. What is their opinion, what is their source of income and on what side of political issues do they support? This is not to accept or reject but that it should be a consideration when forming your own opinions. Knowing the source of news reporting is crucial..
That is true, though is kind of easy to understand the subjectivity of a media outlet. Which causes do they support? Which it undermines or erase from the face of the earth?
Noam a true global hero that will live on in history as long as we actually have a planet. Hopefully people put many of his books in a vault somewhere just in case
Dr. Noam is the voice of millions of voiceless!
The irony of Amy Goodman being featured in this piece is painful. She is a perfect example of how the corruption discussed here works. Sad.
This doco was my red pill 20 years ago - amazing work.
An excellent interview. Chomsky needs no praise because no praise is sufficient for all he has done. I can praise the interviewer however: he was outstanding. God bless Noam Chomsky. He is irreplaceable.
Yes how can we sufficiently praise a Linguistics Professor, with ZERO Real World Experience in ANY other field, and whose criticisms of others all have the great luxury of 20/20 Hindsight?
-What a challenge to, ' praise ', such a man! smh
M CK.
Think arson investigations and forensic evidence. Hmmmm..
What ACTUALLY took place here?
YOU can defend the facts but you don't get to change them.
Did you send people to prison on your own authority or did you look for the factual evidence?
@@LuisSanchez-lu4cu ,
LOL Funny you should say that-Because I am actually a former Fraud Invesigator myself; I worked on Criminal Prosecutions, and I presented evidence in Court-Things that Chomsky has NEVER done!
And if Chomsky ever tried to present what HE THINKS is, ' Proof ', in Court, he would get laughed out of the place!
Starbuck's Pike Place Blend is the shittiest coffee in the world
ANIMATION = SUPERB
Please make more!
Maybe hire Lewis Theroux or Amy again to narrate ?
Got an ad after 1 minute 42 seconds
Mr. Professor Chomsky is a hero 🙌 👏 ❤
High-paid Journalists are scared of losing their over-paid "jobs".
Whats worse is a lot of them think theyre doing the right thing, they believe their own lies
Fort Hood. Could stand some checks and balances.
Ooft the advert on this video for me was the Gaza appeal showing the Al Jazeera tower getting missiled
Please fix audio so I fly in the room buzzing around isn't enough to loudly override that of what Chomsky might of said but few if any can clearly hear???
15:24 the internet to overcome overconcentrayion of media. Can be very effective
The Iraq invasion of 2003 was a perfect example of Chomsky's thesis in practice.
100% Wrong! 😀
Just because the manufacturing of consent doesn't happen all the time in the media is not an argument that it doesn't happen at all as some in this video have tried to suggest.
Everyone should be taught Marketing ....
If you learned Marketing this would be so easy to understand and FAST !!!
Taibbi is a fantastic example of a journalist who learned from Russia just how to be a more discerning journalist in the USA.
And that's the problem, not enough discernable minds can do this, now if it's because they can't read or don't like to read, that's something else.
That guy with the bird on his shirt is trying to justify being a journalist.
Cannot cut the hands that feeds you. Majority of "journalists" (journalism is a midddle/upper class's profession and comprises who are oblivious to the man on the Clapham omnibus) are presstitute and lickspittle for the establishment.
I don't know if it was a coincidence, but when that HuffPost guy started talking I got diarrhea and had to run to the toilet...
It’s a tautology to say you believe what you believe because you don’t know what not to believe.
Unequivocally, the world's most important intellectual.
Truth can be refreshing. But used wrong, it will crush you.
lol Amy Goodman is now part of that consent manufacturing process.
Yeah...she is the worst culprit because she claims for the people and is gettingpaid directlyby the feds and big business....why her voice?
In age of internet we have false news manufacturing
1. We need an AI version of Chomsky.
2. Hey TH-cam, thanks for the disclaimer for who owns this channel; now also put that same disclaimer on all other major media so we know who owns/runs that too.
A Legendary , Prof. Dr. Noam Chomsky speaks , God bless !!!
This is a keeper...
I killed my TV over 20 years ago... giving me the opportunity to see its effect on the public... and to see how compliant media consumers are.
Society is damaged. Working class unity, power, is dissolved... Society's self-importance, makes everyone an authority of everything, where the most feared words to say is, "I don't know." It's all thanks to the media.
Sound-bites have been replaced by Tweets.
Music is too loud
Living legend he ll be more famous in future...
Aman Sethi (@13:29) said what if the people do realize that they are being lied to but say they don't care about the facts, and still believe that this should happen, that is where we are now. I feel we are too far gone now to share facts about the reality of issues, It's now irrelevant to many on all sides. They just want their desired outcome regardless anything else. Truth is dead.
A format needs to allow a public non profit un-censured media platform on the internet highway way; 5 commercial interuptions during the interview - U tube boogie
"Le consentement à la fabrication" ?
Cela signifie que l'auteur accepte sa dyslexie ?
When I start hearing that BS I remember Vietnam and question the narrative.
I mean the rhetoric leading to war.