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Media Control, Second Edition: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda (Open Media) | 
 enlarge | Author: Noam Chomsky
Publisher: Open Media
Category: Book
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $4.60
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Rating:  52 reviews
Sales Rank: 28717
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2 Sub
Pages: 104
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 6.5 x 4.9 x 0.3
ISBN: 1583225366
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.3
EAN: 9781583225363
ASIN: 1583225366
Publication Date: July 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New. Delivery is usually 5 - 8 working days from order, International is by Royal Mail Airmail
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Amazon.com Review
"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.
Product Description
This Open Media title includes the complete text of Chomsky s January 2002 Town Hall meeting on media coverage of American foreign policy.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 47 more reviews...
 Interesting, but Deeply Flawed December 28, 2008
John Peterson (Santa Fe, NM, USA)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I am very much sympathetic to Chomsky's thesis in re: propaganda and "manufacturing consent." I have read many books on the topic. However, it is unfortunate that Chomsky is taken as an authority here. No doubt this is because of his anti-Americanism, which is always popular.
The problem with "Media Control" is that it is rife with moral relativism and is itself a product, indirectly, of propaganda. If we take Chomsky's assumption that public opinion can be "created," (and I agree with this, unlike most of the one-star raters) then we can, after consideration, conclude that his own anti-Americanism is the result of a deep-seated subversion of thought that results in knee-jerk anti-authoritarianism and America-hatred.
The reality is that Soviet-style and Communist-bloc disinformation and propaganda has been much more successful in the subversion of Western public opinion makers and in the control of the "issues" than Western governments or corporations could be even in Chomsky's wildest paranoiac imaginations. The KGB spent the vast majority of its foreign intelligence resources on what it called the "ideological subversion" of both the West and the Third World. And this was manifest in the success and influence of the radical student groups and anti-war protesters and the like, whom, ironically, Chomsky takes to the the best of the opposition to propaganda and media control. In many cases, the Soviets directly aided and informed these groups, and even set up numerous "peace" and "nuclear disarmament" protest and activist groups around the world and in the US whose goals were, though they didn't know it, to aid in the furthering of Soviet hegemony, or, if you prefer, the "glory of international socialism." Those who weren't directly aided by the Soviet Union or its satellite states and organizations were mostly the product of, and a testament to, Soviet propaganda and "ideological subversion." (The Soviets called it "active measures.")
In some cases, Chomsky repeats lies that were directly manufactured through Soviet disinformation, forgeries, and the like. Mostly these involve dubious "CIA plots." In this way Chomsy's work is a direct testament, ironically, to the success of propaganda.
One of the Soviet Union's main goals was to spread the idea that Western intelligence agencies were just as interested in propaganda and subversion, if not more so, than the "glorious people's republic." This is partly because the Soviet hierarchy itself was diseased by conspiracy theories about Western subversion, due to Stalin's paranoia and also due to socialism's belief that the "decadent capitalists" can not fail to try to do all they can to bring down the world's first worker-peasant state. The difference between Western and Eastern "media control" is apparent in this anecdote: Sometime in the mid-seventies the head of the KGB got a call at 3 in the morning. So and so, a Soviet dissident and defector, had NOT received the Nobel Peace Prize. The disinformation and attempt to discredit him had worked!
So Chomsky does have some small part of the truth. But "Media Control" is mostly worthless because it spends most of its time on the US, which does have its problems with media autonomy, but nothing compared to most of the world, and especially countries like Russia (still) and China, let alone the Islamic states of the Middle East.
His work is riddled with a moral relativism which equates the actions of the US with the actions of the most petty and brutal dictatorships and fascist tyrannies. Any media report or opinion in support of war is automatically seen as evidence of media control by a cabal of elites who want to go to war for corporate profit. This is nonsense.
As I said, Chomsky has some small portion of the truth, but ultimately he is just another useful idiot who is quick to find fault (and conspiracies!) with the US, but naively believes in the innocence of the rest of the world.
For better work on this topic, look to Soviet dissident/defectors like Ladislav Bittman or Vasily Mitrokhin.
 Good overview, but superficial January 14, 2008
Caslon (Wellington, New Zealand)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This short book is a good introduction to the notion of media control and the manufacturing of consent. Given its length, however, it necessarily lacks some depth and does not develop its arguments as empirically or logically as some might prefer. This book might best suit those who prefer a brief overview, rather than an in-depth exposition, of some of the core concepts in this area.
 Parasite November 25, 2007
John A. Kantor (St. Petersburg, FL United States)
2 out of 24 found this review helpful
Chomsky is the worst kind of liberal: a hypocrite - nothing but a parasite on society promoting his own simplistic and sick political agenda as a way to gain notoriety for himself.
Very high-level October 27, 2007
gold ashes of a king
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
If it were any other author, I would say, "show me your sources." But it's Chomsky, and he's already written enough books showing his sources. This one isn't meant to be a footnoted volume of case-and-point. It's just a nice high-level essay highlighting the absurdity of the rhetoric of our times. I do have one complaint though. I wish this focused a little bit more on the media than the government. Chomsky blends the two together and speaks of one as if it's the other. Hmmmm...on second thought, maybe he did that on purpose.
Anyway, a light read for Chomsky fans and a nice intro for those unfamiliar with his work.
 Chomsky is brilliant, but ... July 31, 2007
Gary Ark (Winchester, MA United States)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
Brilliant, very insightful. I have only one problem with Noam Chomsky's position - his absolution of general population from responibilities of their goverment. Yes, America is a big bully and there is a lot of propaganda, but isn't it what the majority wants to hear? Doesn't it feel good when we can beat up on countries like Yugoslavia to make us feel good about our might? The problem with Irag and Vietnam is that, as with all bullies, if you fight back, the bully turns cowardly. Continuing resistance of Iraqies makes Americans, and media, feel insecure about themselves - with all that might and money we cannot control a few cavemen! Propaganda is successful not becuase there is a goverment conspiracy with media - it is successful because we want to hear what the media says.
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