Manufacturing Consent summary

On occasion, the media do appear to criticize the ruling elites of society. There are numerous cases, the Watergate scandal being a fine example, where politicians or business leaders are criticized by the media and their misdeeds exposed.

Such incidents seem to disprove the idea of an inherent bias in the media toward the ruling classes. Certainly, media spokespeople do proudly proclaim that they act as the defenders of free speech and the wider community against the wealthy and powerful. Yet, in these cases, the mass media’s so-called criticism merely consists of representing the interests of one group of the elite against another, never of a non-elite group versus an elite group. When criticisms come from outside the elite, the media will suppress or ignore them.

The mass media heavily slant their coverage in favor of the interests and opinions of the elite. News which goes against these interests is deliberately ignored or suppressed.

Unlike the media in authoritarian societies, the media in the democratic west are not constrained by state ownership or heavy censorship. The forces which coerce the western media are more subtle and ‘natural,’ leading many to falsely believe that the West has a ‘free’ and ‘objective’ press.

In Britain in the first half of the 19^th century, the left-wing radical press owned by small, independent proprietors flourished. This medium helped represent and spread working class views, seriously threatening the ruling class’s monopoly on information. Despite attempts to quell this media through libel laws and prosecutions, the radical press remained strong.

What destroyed the radical press’s power was the free market. Where state repression had failed, the ultra-competitive market succeeded. The industrial revolution allowed large publications to reach mass audiences through new printing machines, while the cost of buying and maintaining such machinery squeezed out the underfinanced radical press. This left only the right-wing press backed by the dominant elites, and it prospered. This process continued and the industry consolidated, leaving a few massive giants to dominate the entire media market of the Western world.

In the media, business costs from studios, publishing facilities and reporters are high, and the industry is highly competitive. Success in the marketplace depends overwhelmingly on the sponsorship of advertisers. Media organizations that lack advertising revenues are very likely to fail.

Therefore, the main objective of media companies is the attraction of advertisers. To this end, the media will seek to please its advertisers through biased coverage. Thus, advertising becomes another filter in the propaganda model, allowing the wealthy to filter out critical news stories.

The media need a reliable and constant stream of information to fill their news schedules and columns, but of course they cannot have reporters at every location where news stories might break. Hence, they must focus on sources which provide material constantly.

Such sources are overwhelmingly state institutions, such as the police and government agencies, or the press departments of large corporations.

If the media report the news in a way that offends the interests of the ruling social groups, they can find themselves facing a backlash. The criticism thrown back at the media by the elite is known as ‘flak.’

Flak can take various forms: Journalists and media outlets can be directly threatened by the government or corporations, becoming the target of negative press releases. The elite can also create flak indirectly, leaning on advertisers to boycott certain media companies. Sometimes even legal action is taken against critical media.

The mass media are coerced by the ruling elites to judge events through the lens of an ideological battle between the ‘free’ and communist worlds.

The actions of communist forces are always reported negatively and those of America and its allies seen in a positive light. Thus, executions and torture in a communist-controlled state will be reported at great length, whereas similar occurrences in a nation friendly to America will be completely ignored.

The mass media like to proclaim that their coverage is objective, but if this were the case they would report events in the same way irrespective of where in the world they happened. Looking at the media’s coverage of events, it is clear that this is not so, as they slant news stories differently depending on the political situation of those involved.

A perfect example of this is the mass media coverage of the issues concerning Central America. The nations in this area lie within the sphere of American influence and are therefore of interest to the US government and mass media.  Some nations, such as Guatemala and El Salvador, are US-sponsored military dictatorships. Others, such as bourgeoning democracy Nicaragua, are left-leaning and are therefore mistrusted by US authorities.

The mass media will often employ the insights of an ‘expert’ when discussing events. This, the media hopes, will lend authority and objectivity to its reports. Yet, despite their unbiased image, media ‘experts’ are in fact a crucial component in spreading the propaganda of the elite.

The ruling elites are able to furnish the media with a constant stream of ‘experts,’ because they spend huge amounts of resources educating and employing them. Think tanks and similar institutions are created to fund and publish the studies of ‘experts’ who are able to spread ruling class opinions in the media.

In 1984, a Polish priest who actively campaigned against Poland’s communist government was abducted, beaten and murdered by members of the secret police. The story was covered at great length in the US media with the emphasis on its emotional impact and its wider political implications for the communist system.

This story is perfect for the media, because it fits into the framework created by the interests of the ruling elites: It casts the communist enemy as a brutal and dangerous force which in turn helps gather support for American policies.