ABSTRACT
In Manufacturing Consent, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky present a Marxist analysis of the influence of corporate and state power on mainstream media content. Through meticulous research on the reporting of ‘terrorism’ and close consideration of the media’s alleged collusion in the ‘criminalisation’ of non-friendly regimes, Herman and Chomsky demonstrate how economic, political, military and cultural elites effectively conspire to control the content and flow of media information. Many of the large media companies are fully integrated into the market, and for the others, too, the pressures of stockholders, directors, and bankers to focus on the bottom line are powerful. These pressures have intensified as media stocks have become market favorites, and actual or prospective owners of newspapers and television properties have found it possible to capitalize increased audience size and advertising revenues into multiplied values of the media franchises — and great wealth.
