Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
"Propaganda,"
says Noam Chomsky, "is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a
totalitarian state"--in other words, the means by which leaders keep the
masses in line. In this slim pamphlet, he looks at American propaganda efforts,
from the warmongering of Woodrow Wilson to the creation of popular support for
the 1991 military intervention in Kuwait, and reveals how falsification of
history, suppression of information, and the promotion of vapid, empty concepts
have become standard operating procedure for the leaders of the United
States--both Democrats and Republicans--in their efforts to prevent citizens
from raising awkward questions about U.S. policy. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this
title.
Book Description
This Open
Media title includes the complete text of Chomsky’s January 2002 Town Hall
meeting on media coverage of American foreign policy.
Ingram
Beginning
with the Creel Commission, the Woodrow Wilson-appointed committee that turned isolationist
America into a war-hungry machine, master political analyst Noam Chomsky traces
the history of American propaganda. Part of the Open Media Pamphlet Series. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of
this title.
4 of 6 people
found the following review helpful:
Bitter, charged, quick introduction to
Chomsky's thinking, April 26, 2003
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Reviewer:
Shashank
Tripathi (see more about me) from Tokyo, Japan |
As a brief and pithy introduction to Chomsky's anti-imperialistic thinking about media control, and as a charged denunciation of mass propaganda in the modern world (particularly US), this is a very fast-paced, slim, and intriguing read. But if you are looking for material that substantiates his claims with hard, quantitative evidence, you'd do better with a somewhat more detailed treatise from Chomsky, e.g., "Manufacturing Consent".
This though is a somewhat embittered manifesto, spewing out bits on how administrations in the past from Wilson to Bush Senior have manipulated the public into war with unlikely, usually defenceless enemies. This edition sports a new speech "The Journalist from Mars," which lends a refreshingly dissident tenor to the chorus of patriotism. The 31 new pages are particularly relevant today as President Bush picks up where his father left off, once again calling a fear-ridden population to war.
Media Control might sound like a flaming rant but it is a good, crisp lead-in into Chomsky's thinking -- likely to be misinterpreted unless you are also familiar with his work otherwise. But his ideas are a welcome second opinion at a time when we should be questioning more than ever whether the spurious memes of "War on Terror", "Shock and Awe" etc are really about terrorism or tyranny at all, or a nearly-successful PR agenda pandering to the big few.
A highly engaging read
2 of 3 people
found the following review helpful:
good intro to [information], but follow up
on it, April 5, 2003
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Reviewer:
Craig
Stern (see more about me) from Los Angeles, CA United States |
People often complain that Noam Chomsky is too erudite and intellectual in his arguments. Not so in this booklet--I don't think there's a single citation in the whole thing. In fact, I'd even call it low brow. Consider this a few levels above Michael Moore on the sophistication scale.
That having been said, everything Chomsky says in here has in fact been meticulously researched (from other, more substantial works he has written, such as Manufacturing Consent) and is argued in plain English. In many ways this is a vastly condensed, simpler, and rather sarcastic version of Stewart Ewen's brilliant work, PR! Overall it makes for a good, solid (if one-sided) introduction to the issues, especially so if you'd rather skip over the intellectual mumbo-jumbo and nit-picky historical details. I could have done with a bibliography, personally
11 of 16
people found the following review helpful:
This book will change the way you watch
the news, March 31, 2003
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Reviewer:
A reader from Reading, PA USA |
Before I read this book, I beleived what I read in mainstream newspapers and what I saw on the evening news shows. After reading this book I still read and watch mainstream media, but I do so with a media filter. Since learning about the lies that are fed to the "sheep" of America, I now go through a variety of sources to find the real story. A good source are alternitive news sources such as fair and the nation. My entire view of the world and the government have been forever altered. I feel that I have become a much more informed human being since reading this book
10 of 15
people found the following review helpful:
The Ideal Introduction to the American
Propaganda, February 26, 2003
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Reviewer:
enigma_48 from Lincoln, NE |
While high school classes tout the freedom of the press, Chomsky shows why this is not the entire story. The main focus of this book is propaganda--it's power and status and America--and how it functions as media control. Even so, the focus, even in the subtitle, is on the prevalence and power of propaganda, not on the intricate workings how propaganda, in turn, controls the media itself.
Chomsky's prose is simple and begs to be read in one sitting, but his evidence is cited well. This is definitely not aimed at graduate students but rather at any literate voter.
Reading this book will cause a paradigm shift for the reader who has gone through traditional high school government course. I think that those who believe there is no "media control" or propaganda will be forced to at least face some tough questions, and those who are more prone to agree with Chomsky will find such views expressed quite articulately
15 of 18
people found the following review helpful:
Powerful and Upsetting, February 21,
2003
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Reviewer:
Shikambu
(see more about me) |
One of the most to-the-point books I've read in ages. This book can be read within 45 minutes and not only gives real-life examples of modern propaganda uses and successes, but also gives a brief history of its use in the United States.
The details of Gulf War propaganda use reads prophetically... the same exact tactics used in the '91 Gulf War are being used today (2003). It's as if Chomsky sees the news reports before they're produced. The pattern of media control is made starkingly clear to the reader and is sure to upset you.
Few books have generated such emotion in me, and for a book this short to have such an effect speaks volumes. Highly recommended!
26 of 37
people found the following review helpful:
small book... powerful ideas., January
13, 2003
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Reviewer:
mlarsony
(see more about me) from Toledo, OH United States |
Media Control is perhaps the
best short introduction to Chomsky's thought on politics and propaganda around.
Whereas books like 9-11 and "What Uncle Sam Really Wants" are choppy
and prone to misunderstood interpretations by readers not already accustomed to
Chomsky, Media Control is coherent, in depth and very easy and quick to read.
The essay is from the time after the U.S. invasion of Iraq known as
"Desert Storm" and traces the uses of propaganda and misinformation
from that era back to the Wilson era and Walter Lippmann's theory of media
control. Chomsky perhaps displays his dry wit in this short volume more than
anywhere else, with his comparisson of the typical slogan "support our
troops" to the absurd slogan "support the people in Iowa." What
this makes clear, is the emptiness of the slogan. The question "do you
support our troops?" cannot be answered with a "no" unless one
is completely depraved. That question however masks the underlying question "do
you support our policy?" which is something that elites in the govt. and
media would prefer you not think about, because the answers would be more
ambiguous and require real democratic discussion. The rulers and media heads
would prefer to make those decisions for you, through what Lippmann dubbed
"consent without consent". The mass media (now controlled largely by
six major firms who all have holdings and enter into joint ventures with one
another.) constrain debate on issues to within a moderate range, so of course
most of the media will look to be at the "liberal" end of the allowed
spectrum, but that only has the effect of cutting anything further to the
"left" out of the discussion, so arguments many tend to go between
something like the "hawks" who are for immediate war, unilaterally,
and the "doves" largely represented in the media, who may tend to
stand for "multi-lateralism" or waiting for more info. Thus, many who
have other ideas on the subject are left out of mainstream debate, and thus
seem to not exist. What we are left with is a host of false-dichotomies and
debates that we don't even want to be in.
... Also, this new edition of Media Control is expanded to include transcript
of a talk, previously printed in FAIR, which is a little thought experiment
about how a journalist from Mars (which is what journalists who work with a
critical edge are often treated like), who is highly trained at the best
journalism schools in the U.S., would cover the "war on terrorism."
It is interesting to read the current essay in light of the essay on the Iraq
conflict ten years past. (and the new cover and print is much more attractive
than the 1st edition).
14 of 130
people found the following review helpful:
Liberal Lies, December 26, 2002
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Reviewer:
A reader from Seattle, WA USA |
This is a typical book by an anti-American liberal. Full of obfuscation, specious reasoning and half truths. Chomsky is right that most of the media is controlled, but he neglects to state that the media generally is controlled by fuzzy minded liberals.
11 of 20
people found the following review helpful:
Propaganda is to Democracy What Force is
to Dictatorship, December 15, 2002
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Reviewer:
www.stunning-reversal.com
(see more about me) from San Francisco, CA United States |
In "Media Control", Noam Chomsky provides a clear and penetrating analysis of how the American media represents the interests of state and corporate power by spreading disinformation among its audience including the popular myth of its own objectivity and public service. Chomsky provides a brief historical overview of how the American media has served corporate and government interests at the expense of average people and then examines how a truly objective, public minded media would cover the "war on terrorism".
HISTORY OF AMERICAN MEDIA CONTROL
According to Chomsky, American Media control truly began with the Creel
Commission that was established by President Wilson in 1916 to convert American
pacifist sentiments into popular support for war with Germany. The success of
the Creel Commission subsequently influenced a generation of liberal democratic
theorists such as Walter Lippman who divided society into a tiny minority of
specialists (the specialized class) and the less intelligent majority (the
bewildered heard). Limppman argued that the majority was incapable of deciding
matters for itself and consequently had to have its consent manufactured by the
specialist class. The specialist class did not act on its own, but served the
interest of the powerful elite, namely the large corporations. Chomksy
correctly points out that this approach is largely identical to
Marxist-Leninism, since both political philosophies advocate an elite minority
controlling the thoughts and aspirations of the general population that is too
stupid to decide what is good for itself. Consequently, except for their
participation in a few ceremonial events, the American people are spectators
and not participants in the democratic process.
DIVIDE AND STUPEFY
The United States, according to Chomsky, pioneered the public relations
industry whose primary function has always been to atomize the population with
carefully targeted messages, advertisements, and disinformation. Atomizing the
population prevents any kind of collective organization and thus renders people
into spectators instead of participants in democracy.
PERCEPTION INSTEAD OF REALITY
The media frequently distorts facts and then promotes the distorted information
to the point where it becomes an accepted reality. For example, the media has
frequently led the public to believe that the average number of Vietnamese
civilian casualties during the Vietnam War was approximately 100,000 when it
fact it was more than 2,000,000 by conservative estimates. Chomsky then asks how
would we view Nazi Germany if we believed the official holocaust death toll was
in the neighborhood of 300,000 instead of 14,000,000.
THE WAR ON TERROR IS NOT NEW
Chomsky points out that the current war on terror is not new but is a
re-declaration of the original one declared by Ronald Regan in 1980. The only
circumstances that have changed are that terrorists have attacked Americans on
U.S. soil. Other than that, the perceived enemies (anyone who stands in the way
of American interests) and the leaders on the home front (members of the Regan
and first Bush cabinet who are once again in power) are the same.
THE OFFICIAL DEFINITION OF TERRORISM IS UNUSABLE
Chomsky demonstrates that the definition of terrorism in official American
military and government publications is unusable by the current administration
because it closely resembles actions perpetrated by the U.S. government and its
allies. For this reason, both the government and the media unofficially define
terrorism as any act of terror perpetrated against the U.S. and its allies.
Since this generally takes the form of weaker countries or groups that cannot
oppose the United States militarily, terrorism is defined as a weapon of the
weak.
My only complaint about this book is that the language has been simplified beyond belief and at times reads like a Dr. Seuss propaganda critique. This minor flaw aside, "Media Control" is indispensable to understanding how the media is uses to distort reality and to mold public opinion
Chomsky's focus is on the foreign policies
of the US, but one can easily extend his thesis to simple domestic uses of
propaganda. In other words, the ways in which a person will champion certain
rhetoric to gain support which in so doing gains power from people who
willingly give up freedoms.
Remember three things:
1. All art is propaganda
2. Propaganda is to the free society what the iron fist is to the totalitarian
society.
3. A free society is not necessarily defined by what one is free to do, rather
what one is free NOT to do.
I have been a Chomsky-ite for years, but never knew it. This is an outstanding
starting point to his other works
Unlike most political writers, Chomsky uses
EXTENSIVE research in portraying the true power the media has on the way we
think. Don't forget that this guy is a Linguistics professor at MIT so he
definitely has a wealth of knowledge on the science of language and he applies
this knowledge into his writings. You might never realize how much nonsense we
get fed until you read this book or perhaps a book like it. Great read!! –
46 of 98
people found the following review helpful:
Intemperate and inconsequential,
February 8, 2002
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Reviewer:
Oliver
Kamm (see more about me) from London United Kingdom |
This pamphlet ostensibly discusses the impact of the communications media in shaping people's views on public policy. The subject is an interesting but inconclusive area of sociology and political science, in which some useful work has been published in the past few years (for example, Benjamin Page's 'Who Deliberates?'). Most such work, in my judgement, exaggerates the media's importance as intermediaries in a deliberative democracy, but raises important questions about matters of selection bias and the framing of policy issues. Chomsky's polemic doesn't begin to approach, and doesn't appear to be familiar with, this body of work. It is short on analysis and long on abuse. Few readers are likely to gain insight from its melange of unsubstantiated assertion, unfalsifiable thesis and frequent resort to abuse.
The unfalsifiable thesis is the notion that the communications media are a consistent force for communicating the policy preferences of a homogeneous elite, thereby 'manufacturing consent' among the governed. As an analytical device, this is useless, for it precludes nothing and predicts nothing. In Great Britain, for example, most newspapers opposed military action in Kosovo in 1999, but Tony Blair went ahead anyway and won public respect for doing so. One can read Chomsky's pamphlet on alleged media control in vain for any insight into the ambiguous relationship among the executive, the press and the people that this incident illustrates. All one will find is a refusal to credit people's ability to judge public policies for themselves.
Chomsky is thus a consistent elitist in the mould of Herbert Marcuse, and the reader should be prepared. But even so, it is still a shock to see just how deep is the contempt expressed in this pamphlet for the citizenry of a liberal democracy. What can one make, for example, of the assertion, with its preposterous identification of public opinion with unthinking militarism, that during the Gulf War everybody 'goosestepped on command'? Even as hyperbole, this is gross condescension and hardly consistent with democratic precepts. Unfortunately there is no stopping the stream of vitriol directed at those who have the temerity to hold different views from Chomsky. He asserts, "no reason was given for going to war that could not be refuted by a literate teenager." I can assure Chomsky that the 80% of us in the US and Great Britain who supported Operation Desert Storm are not automata and were perfectly capable of stating an overwhelming justification for going to war: we didn't wish to see an aggressive and expansionist tyranny succeed in annexing and plundering a neigbouring country, threaten Israel and the Arab states, and augment its weapons of mass destruction. Fortunately for world peace, our side ignored the prescriptions of the anti-war activists and defeated Iraq. But to Chomsky, if he loses the argument, there must be dark forces at work: the overwhelming public support freely and responsibly given to our leaders and armed forces was, in his judgement, "the hallmark of a totalitarian culture".
In his new book 'Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline', Judge Richard Posner notes that "the enormous volume of Noam Chomsky's political writings ... has received little public attention, much of it derisory." No one who has read 'Media Control' will be surprised by that information. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
30 of 48
people found the following review helpful:
Excellent Primer, October 2, 2001
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Reviewer:
A reader from San Dimas, CA |
An excellent little primer on propaganda in America, its origins, rationale, and uses. Readers may be surprised to learn that propaganda techniques have their origin in America's public relations industry. Specifically, in the need of modern democratic governments to shape perceptions and direct popular hostility. Lacking cruder coercive measures of totalitarian states, elected governments depend on managing information and creating popular conceptions to achieve their aims. These can then be exploited to carry out policies which may benefit only a few to the detriment of the many (attacks on Vietnam, Central America, et. al.). America's intellectual elites, as Chomsky makes clear, have historically supported such techniques, believing the common herd too ignorant to rule themselves. The task is best left to those elites, who, as Chomsky also makes clear, go on to serve the interests of the country's highest elite, the business and corporate sector where real power lies. Thus in the past 75 years, propaganda has become a standard tool of governance in the US, subverting the dictionary definition of what democracy is supposed to be. Many Americans feel the truth of this in their bones, so to speak, but have trouble admitting it. Patriotism's first allegiance, however, should be to truth, comfortable or not. And in that very necessary sense, Chomsky's is a solidly patriotic book indeed, pleasant reading or not
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Customer Reviews Avg.
Customer Review: 41 of 56
people found the following review helpful:
A co-worker, who used to
listen to me rant, recommended that I read Chomsky. I ignored the advice for
several years thinking no one could understand or even know what it was that
I was so positively enraged about in our so called 'free' country. I went on
hunting for validation that never came. Until finally, I picked up this
little gem! Ah! The fact that I felt isolated in my 'subversive' views is
even a part of Chomsky's little essay. This little book is pure concentrate.
20 of 33
people found the following review helpful:
This is a really short pamphlet in fact. The tone is very direct and highly legible (the texts being from talks I believe). The history of propaganda in the US, though not revealed in detail and its precise mechanical functioning, is outlined. More importantly, the values and thinking this type of human behavior and the functions it serves are outlined clearly. Lest the above paragraph mislead you, this is not a theoretical book. Chomsky starts simply with the question "what is democracy?", gives two different but applicable answers, and from there we get examples through recent history of how the elite (i.e. the people who own the companies and run the governmental and economic system, i.e. the people in control) behave and use propaganda for their purposes (generally for class warfare and also to create support or muffle dissent for their latest foreign crusades and repressions). Not the happiest reading but pretty clear and to the point. Makes you see pretty quickly how things work. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
7 of 44
people found the following review helpful:
This author's work is a little too sciolistic for my own personal taste, while the doctrine he promulgates is singularly unconvincing and is, to my mind, a purely bombastic jeremiad about the nominal faiings of entirely righteous democratic polities. Neverthless, we mandarins are small people and I would not presume to pass absolute judgment on a field outside the cordon of my ostensible competence. What I will enunciate is this: the text's style is so verbally ornamental, littered with latinates and limping with tired tropes that is does not so much teeter on the edge of self parody as plumet, vertiginously therein - shamelessly and with a naivity that is almost endearing. The next time the author is in London I sincerely hope we can meet up for a hearty polemical ding-dong (i with my crowbar, he with his cosh or jemmy). --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
18 of 32
people found the following review helpful:
Initially, I would like to say that this is without doubt the most intelligent book on the subject matter! It reveals the insidious methods commonly employed by the Media. Accordingly, these methods are used to manipulate and mislead the public's mind, especially in areas concerning foreign politics, domestic issues including racial discrimination and unjust distribution of wealth! People have to face the indisputable fact that the Media is controlled by the government. Unedeniably, the media frequently misrepresent the facts in order to protect the government from public discontent! I highly recommend this book to everyone who wants to understand how the media control the public's mind. Buy this book immediately! Noam Chomsky is a master! --This text refers to the Paperback edition. *** Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours. ***
21 of 35
people found the following review helpful:
Just in case you thought you knew about how the media stinks get ready, you haven't seen anything yet. Unlike most political writers, Chomsky uses EXTENSIVE research in portraying the true power the media has on the way we think. Don't forget that this guy is a Linguistics professor at MIT so he definitely has a wealth of knowledge on the science of language and he applies this knowledge into his writings. You might never realize how much nonsense we get fed until you read this book or perhaps a book like it. Great read!! --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
46 of 98
people found the following review helpful:
This pamphlet ostensibly discusses the impact of the communications media in shaping people's views on public policy. The subject is an interesting but inconclusive area of sociology and political science, in which some useful work has been published in the past few years (for example, Benjamin Page's 'Who Deliberates?'). Most such work, in my judgement, exaggerates the media's importance as intermediaries in a deliberative democracy, but raises important questions about matters of selection bias and the framing of policy issues. Chomsky's polemic doesn't begin to approach, and doesn't appear to be familiar with, this body of work. It is short on analysis and long on abuse. Few readers are likely to gain insight from its melange of unsubstantiated assertion, unfalsifiable thesis and frequent resort to abuse. The unfalsifiable thesis is the notion that the communications media are a consistent force for communicating the policy preferences of a homogeneous elite, thereby 'manufacturing consent' among the governed. As an analytical device, this is useless, for it precludes nothing and predicts nothing. In Great Britain, for example, most newspapers opposed military action in Kosovo in 1999, but Tony Blair went ahead anyway and won public respect for doing so. One can read Chomsky's pamphlet on alleged media control in vain for any insight into the ambiguous relationship among the executive, the press and the people that this incident illustrates. All one will find is a refusal to credit people's ability to judge public policies for themselves. Chomsky is thus a consistent elitist in the mould of Herbert Marcuse, and the reader should be prepared. But even so, it is still a shock to see just how deep is the contempt expressed in this pamphlet for the citizenry of a liberal democracy. What can one make, for example, of the assertion, with its preposterous identification of public opinion with unthinking militarism, that during the Gulf War everybody 'goosestepped on command'? Even as hyperbole, this is gross condescension and hardly consistent with democratic precepts. Unfortunately there is no stopping the stream of vitriol directed at those who have the temerity to hold different views from Chomsky. He asserts, "no reason was given for going to war that could not be refuted by a literate teenager." I can assure Chomsky that the 80% of us in the US and Great Britain who supported Operation Desert Storm are not automata and were perfectly capable of stating an overwhelming justification for going to war: we didn't wish to see an aggressive and expansionist tyranny succeed in annexing and plundering a neigbouring country, threaten Israel and the Arab states, and augment its weapons of mass destruction. Fortunately for world peace, our side ignored the prescriptions of the anti-war activists and defeated Iraq. But to Chomsky, if he loses the argument, there must be dark forces at work: the overwhelming public support freely and responsibly given to our leaders and armed forces was, in his judgement, "the hallmark of a totalitarian culture". In his new book 'Public Intellectuals: A Study of Decline', Judge Richard Posner notes that "the enormous volume of Noam Chomsky's political writings ... has received little public attention, much of it derisory." No one who has read 'Media Control' will be surprised by that information. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
30 of 48
people found the following review helpful:
An excellent little primer on propaganda in America, its origins, rationale, and uses. Readers may be surprised to learn that propaganda techniques have their origin in America's public relations industry. Specifically, in the need of modern democratic governments to shape perceptions and direct popular hostility. Lacking cruder coercive measures of totalitarian states, elected governments depend on managing information and creating popular conceptions to achieve their aims. These can then be exploited to carry out policies which may benefit only a few to the detriment of the many (attacks on Vietnam, Central America, et. al.). America's intellectual elites, as Chomsky makes clear, have historically supported such techniques, believing the common herd too ignorant to rule themselves. The task is best left to those elites, who, as Chomsky also makes clear, go on to serve the interests of the country's highest elite, the business and corporate sector where real power lies. Thus in the past 75 years, propaganda has become a standard tool of governance in the US, subverting the dictionary definition of what democracy is supposed to be. Many Americans feel the truth of this in their bones, so to speak, but have trouble admitting it. Patriotism's first allegiance, however, should be to truth, comfortable or not. And in that very necessary sense, Chomsky's is a solidly patriotic book indeed, pleasant reading or not. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
40 of 67
people found the following review helpful:
You have two options today as you read this review. 1. Buy this book. Release your mind and discover what has been hidden from you for years by the government and media. Learn to question the media and its interests. 2. Do not buy this book. Stay like a clone, a controlled dummy, fed by propaganda and totally oblivious. Just watch the news and read the papers. Do not consider how wrong they could be. I leave the choice to you, ladies and gentlemen. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
32 of 50
people found the following review helpful:
There is more in this book(pamphlet for God's sake) than you could get watching 20 years of news. Noam Chomsky has been influential in the way I look at things now. The forces he talks about are insidiously powerful and you must always be conscious of resistance and questioning of them.I think whoever said we use 5-10% of our brains was right. |
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