Manufacturing Consent

The Political Economy of the Mass Media

By: Edward S. Herman, Noam Chomsky

Narrated by: John Pruden

In this pathbreaking work, now with a new introduction, Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky show that, 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.

Based on a series of case studies - including the media's dichotomous treatment of "worthy" versus "unworthy" victims, "legitimizing" and "meaningless" Third World elections, and devastating critiques of media coverage of the US wars against Indochina - Herman and Chomsky draw on decades of criticism and research to propose a Propaganda Model to explain the media's behavior and performance. Their new introduction updates the Propaganda Model and the earlier case studies, and it discusses several other applications.

©2002 Edward S. Herman and Noam Chomsky (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[A] compelling indictment of the news media's role in covering up errors and deceptions in American foreign policy of the past quarter century." ( New York Times)

well read by narrator.

I didn't fully understand everything,
but what I did shocked me.
I had no idea that the american government and military were capable of such horrifying acts.
being an American myself, it makes me want to take a more active part in my society.

Excellent!

This is the most influential book in my library. It was a bit of a slog to start but I had heard so much about it over the years and respect Noam as a critic of American influence so much that I had to bear with it and finish it. It gave me a completely new perspective and has taught me that I will have to do my due diligence in the future to stay well informed. I absolutely recommend this to any open minded individual.

Interesting content, terrible narration

One of the most poorly narrated audiobooks I’ve ever listened to. Otherwise, the book itself had some thought-invoking takes.

Dry but thorough accounting of media

Very affirming account of what brings us to our media environment today by looking into the recent past with case studies and evidence presented in great detail. Very dry presentation but unsure if it could or should be done any other way. I watched the BBC documentary Century of Self before this. A great primer or supplement to this book.

Everyone needs to read this

Everyone needs to read this. It’s an incredible and I depth look into how the media portrayed significant events in US history from the 50’s onwards.