• Noam Chomsky & Edward S. Herman. 'Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media'. Review by Rerevisionist

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Review of Jewish propaganda theory Noam Chomsky & Edward S. Herman: Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media

This is not the book you think it is, June 26, 2010

I've made a repeat attempt to tackle this book, which I've always had reservations about.

[1] The main theory—'propaganda model'—is only 35 pages, less than a tenth of the book—it looks like the initial seed which has been padded out.
[2] The 'model' is: five 'filters', though another is sneaked in. These are (1) Ownership of media [this is pre-Internet, and mostly refers to print]. (2) Advertising and its withdrawal, direction etc. (3) 'Sourcing'. This is almost entirely state sources, including academics and 'think tanks'. (4) Flak and enforcers. (5) 'Anticommunism as a control mechanism'. Then (6) in effect biasing the report, clearly shown when switching sides.

The rest of the book is examples: (i) bogus elections, in El Salvador, Guatemaa and Nicaragua. (ii) 'The KGB-Bulgarian Plot to Kill the Pope'. (iii) Indo-China wars—this section is about half the whole book.

So what's the problem? I'll be brief and schematic:
** Although Chomsky emphasises the money-making press, the fact is (pp 19-23) that for example the Pentagon's publishing was 'sixteen times larger than the nation's biggest publisher'. The USAF, US Chamber of Commerce etc etc and 150,000 'professional' PR people would appear to dwarf the press, if I'm reading this book correctly. In other words, in the unlikely event that the publishing combines tried to become open and honest, their output would still be a tiny fraction of the total 'source'.
** Chomsky has a persistent tendency to assume organisations have a genuine purpose. He (as many have noted) has no truck with 9/11, NASA moon frauds, and so on, which are of course hugely expensive frauds. And yet, if you consider the huge military spending, why should it happen to be needed year on year? It's perfectly possible they bombed and burned Vietnamese just as a time-filling and money-making makework exercise.
** The whole idea of 'manufacturing consent' seems wrong—the slogan is out of kilter with the facts. What 'consent' have you, reader, given for mass immigration, for example? Or bombing Kosovo? Or invading Iraq? Absolutely none. 'Manufacturing stupidity' or 'manufacturing indifference' may be nearer the mark; but nothing really is 'manufactured'.
** There's a whole section on bogus elections, but Chomsky doesn't seem to compare this with the USA's first-past-the-post system, which has naturally morphed into two big parties. Democracy is a remote ideal, indeed, in the USA too.
** On 'communism', Chomsky never mentions the Jewish funding or personnel, which marks it out as entirely distinct from genuine humanitarian movements. Nor does he mention Mossad plots.
** Chomsky gives figures e.g. (p. 50) 10,000 deaths in El Salvador in 1980, 'disappearances' in Guatemala estimated at 40,000. Out of very roughly 5M and 8M populations at that time. It's an unpleasant thing to say, but knife, gun, and drug crime, infant mortality and so on are rife too.
** The final half of the book, on the Vietnam War, is important as of course it's largely censored. However, again,. what consent did ordinary Americans give to it? And what effect has Chomsky actually had in practice, for example, prosecuting Kissinger, or getting reparations?

I don't think the 'propaganda model' even begins to describe the reality. However the book may be valuable in opening people's eyes to military mass murders. Hence 3 stars.