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Media control
The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda
320 pages
A sharp, unsettling peek behind the curtain of modern democracy that permanently alters how you consume the news.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a red pill for your daily news consumption. It is a brisk, unsparing intellectual dismantling of the narratives we are fed by those in power. Chomsky's prose is direct and fiercely logical, stripping away the comforting illusions of a participatory democracy to reveal the cold mechanics of public relations and state-sponsored propaganda. The mood is sobering and urgent, leaving you with a lingering sense of justified paranoia every time you turn on a screen. It is a short but heavy read, moving at a rapid clip as it connects historical dots from World War I to the War on Terror. This is essential reading for skeptics, media critics, and anyone who wants to understand the invisible forces shaping public opinion.
- Mood
- sobering
- provocative
- disillusioning
- intellectually stimulating
- Tone
- analytical
- urgent
- unsparing
- cynical
- authoritative
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- the illusion of democracy · manufactured consent · power and manipulation · the mechanics of persuasion
- The writing
- Direct, unadorned, and fiercely logical, prioritizing clarity and impact over academic jargon.
- The arc
- Moves from a baseline of accepted reality to a jarring, disillusioned awakening about the nature of political communication.
- Who it's for
- Skeptics, political junkies, and anyone who instinctively questions the dominant narratives of mainstream news.
Content notes
- discussions of war
- state violence
- terrorism
About the book
"Chomsky's backpocket classic on wartime propaganda and opinion control has been updated and expanded into a two-section book, and redesigned following the acclaimed format of his Open Media anti-war bestseller, 9-11. The new edition of Media Control also includes 'The Journalist from Mars, ' Chomsky's 2002 talk on the media coverage of America's 'new war on terrorism.' Chomsky begins by asserting two models of democracy -- one in which the public actively participates, and one in which the public is manipulated and controlled. According to Chomsky 'propaganda is to democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state, ' and the mass media is the primary vehicle for delivering propaganda in the United States. From an examination of how Woodrow Wilson's Creel Commission 'suceeded, within six months, in turning a pacifist population into a hysterical, war-mongering population, ' to Bush Sr.'s war on Iraq, Chomsky examines how the mass media and public relations industries have been used as propaganda to generate public support for going to war. Chomsky touches on how the modern public relations industry has been influenced by Walter Lippmann's theory of 'spectator democracy, ' in which the public is seen as a 'bewildered herd' that needs to be directed, not empowered; and how the public relations industry in the United States focuses on 'controlling the public mind, ' and not on informing it. Originally written in the immediate aftermath of the Gulf War, Media Control cites numerous examples of how Bush Sr. pushed the American population into supporting an attack on Iraq, a particularly relevant analysis today as Bush Jr. attempts to convince a reluctant population that we should again go to war."--Publisher description.
Description from Open Library.
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PropagandaEdward L. BernaysA chillingly pragmatic masterclass in how invisible forces shape our desires, beliefs, and daily choices.
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