Economy of Mass Media.” “Manufacturing Consent” contends that mass communication media in the U.S. are effective and powerful ideological institutions that perform system-supportive propaganda functions through market forces, internalized assumptions, self-censorship, and by employing the propaganda model of communication. At its heart lies “Manufacturing Consent’s” central thesis: the propaganda model. According to this conception of communication theory, mass media acts to propagate elite viewpoints by “producing consent for their agenda”, ultimately making a public consensus through mass media coverage of their agenda through mass media coverage, which is the “propaganda model”.
Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of Mass Communication was an influential book about communications published during the 1980s. This work proposed the “propaganda model” as a means of understanding how mass media interacted with the U.S. economy, political system, and special interests dominating state and corporate activity—first introduced by politicians when looking to manipulate general populations.What role does the media have here? Originally, manufacturing consent spread via television news reporting; by now, its most prevalent means are still news reports, which now more often take the form of smart phone or laptop-based social media apps instead of traditional television newscasting. But manufacturing consent still spreads best via the media today!
Information was intended to give us more freedom to stand up against powerful groups, yet instead it has given them new methods of silencing dissenters and suppressing debate. More knowledge should have increased debate, but instead we seem less capable than ever of deliberation and mutual understanding across borders. Instead, new forms of subversion have arisen through information; dark ads, hacks, bots, soft facts, deep fakes, and fake news continue their proliferation.”
However, one sentence from Manufacturing Consent still speaks volumes to today’s concerns over data abuse, disinformation, and fake news on social media:
Organization, self-education, networking, and activism of groups within communities and workplaces remain key ingredients to further democratizing social life and creating meaningful change within societies.”
The writer suggests that in today’s digital era, the ground has shifted and become unstable; “this has given rise to an entirely unique propaganda model from that used during the 20th century—instead of force-feeding an ideology via television and radio, spin doctors now must tailor individual messages tailored specifically for different social media groups.”
What should we do about it?
It isn’t a good idea to let media manipulate our mind.
If the media is capable of manufacturing consent, how do we avoid it?
As part of our education efforts, it’s vital that individuals learn to view news (“anything someone doesn’t want you to know”) and information with an objective eye, asking pertinent questions of multiple sources while employing logic and common sense when making their choices.
That includes calling out instances of media bias, fake news, and unfounded opinions.
The media should play an integral part in explaining to its audiences how news is produced and being more forthright when things go awry.
An example is found in cases at the New York Times where reporters were caught falsifying stories; CNN ran false video clips, etc.
Nowadays, it is a digital age, and media has a lot of impact on public thinking. It can shape how people think and even close to the most opposing views. We need to be smart media consumers, thinking about what we read. And the media need to be responsible for what they report. Trust is very important, and we all have the responsibility to keep the media honest. Good job!!
I can see the significance of “creating consent” in today’s digital age and emphasise the importance of media literacy. It is a fact that we are all “manipulated” as part of social media networks today.