The Political Economy of the Mass Media

   In 1969, Richard Nixon's vice president, Spiro Agnew, launched an attack on members of the press calling them "nattering nabobs of negativism." In subsequent speeches Agnew maintained there is a pervasive liberal bias in the U.S. media.

   His comments still echo today, though liberals dispute this characterization pointing out, for example, that talk radio is dominated by conservative commentators and news sources. Indeed, liberal talk show hosts are a rare species.

   In Manufacturing Consent, Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky offer a different model for understanding the media. They suggest five filters determine what is reported in the United States. The filters are: ownership, advertising, official sources, flak and ideology.

   News media are owned by a small handful of corporations whose objective is turning a profit. To do that, they must sell advertising. The cheapest way for them to gather news is by relying on official sources. But the media must be wary of offending groups capable of throwing flak at them. All these things shape what is reported and how.

   The Herman/Chomsky model is provocative. It suggest an explanation of many things. For example, why is there so little reporting in the U.S. from South America, Africa and Asia? Why do the morning network news shows, which formerly did so much political reporting, focus on soft news like actors and movies?

   And finally, the model suggests why sex, forbidden topics and violence on television aren't examples of moral decay. They are simply the most cost effective way to attract an audience.

    The book is densely written with extensive footnotes. Many readers will disagree with the authors' political outlook, even as they find the five filters a useful way to understand how the media really operates. For casual readers, it may be enough to read and reflect on the first and last chapters.

From Manufacturing Consent:

--"…contrary to the usual image of the news media as cantankerous, obstinate, and ubiquitous in their search for truth and defense of justice, in their actual practice they defend the economic, social, and political agendas of the privileged groups that dominate domestic society, the state, and the global order."