An Examination of The Key Views and Policies of Noam Chomsky on American Politics as Depicted in The Manufacturing Consent Documentary

Introduction

The documentary Manufacturing Consent focuses on Noam Chomsky’s critical policies and views on American politics. Chomsky states that media complicates democracy and displays events only if it benefits society in some way. He believes that corporations manipulate the media to display what they want and gain power. These issues demonstrate societal theories such as conflict theory and functionalism (Chomsky & Herman, 1988).

Conflict Theory

Conflict theory is an objective perspective that Chomsky supports. As mass media functions as a hierarchy, those at the top of the structure are wealthy and in charge of creating a belief system for those lower in the hierarchy in society. As the wealthy and corporations work together, society is manipulated through media to believe that everything the corporations do is for not only their own interests but everyone else’s interests. However, the reality is that the ideology is being created through branding (Herman & Chomsky, 1988). Generally, Republicans are known to be wealthy, whereas the Democrats are known to be middle class and working class. So, as these political parties are formed, political parties have their own news channel to express their opinions on news. For example, FOX News is a part of the Republican Party. As their wealth coincides with education, there is a vast difference in presenting the bullet points and expressing their opinion as the Democratic Party. NBC is a part of the Democratic Party, and although they have the same kind of purpose to express opinions in the Democracy’s favor, they aren’t very good at presenting them. Another example where conflict theory plays a huge part through the media is the war that ensued in East Timor and Cambodia. Comparing news columns published by the New York Times, columns written about Cambodia exceed the height rather than East Timor. The reason why Cambodia was written about more was that when the United States fought against them, they were able to benefit from it. However, East Timor has no benefits, and nothing is improved when helping them. This highlights the media's bias towards events that align with national interests and economic gains (Herman & Chomsky, 1988).

Functionalism

Functionalism also takes part as a sociological theory in this documentary. As war ensues during the time this documentary was filmed, those who weren’t specialized in this topic were distracted by watching sports. If genocide were presented to Democratic citizens in media, many of those citizens would try and prevent things from happening, such as protests. As functionalists, their job is to distract those who aren’t specialists in a type of situation that involves genocide. As a separation of classes emerges, a certain peace of mind is created for society. When citizens are distracted and specialists are working, they both work together in some way to create reconciliation. The newspaper also uses a Red Dot system. The Red Dot system consists of a map of certain areas that are subscribed to a certain newspaper. There are green, yellow, and red dots. The green dots represent the places that are already subscribed, the yellow dots represent the places that are on the verge of subscribing, and the red dots are the places that are not subscribed to the newspaper. The plan for the newspapers using the Red Dot system is changing the red dots to yellow dots and changing the yellow dots to green dots. To thrive, this system is utilized. Just as the newspaper needs its patrons, the patrons have their customers to read and take the newspaper. Manufacturing Consent takes on functionalism by socializing the media based on the integration of consumers (Herman & Chomsky, 1988).

Conclusion

Manufacturing Consent combines functionalism and conflict theory to express the sociological vision Noam Chomsky critically views on American politics. Chomsky discusses the cooperation of big corporations and media to talk about future society. The future society includes seeking out forms of authority and domination, challenging legitimacy, and any forms of coercion that require knowledge. The movie Manufacturing Consent talks about the manufacture of consent, which means primary mass function. This critical examination invites viewers to consider how media influences public perception and the importance of questioning the information presented to them.

References:

• Chomsky, N., & Herman, E. S. (1988). Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Pantheon Books.