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based on lying and deceit is inherently unstable’ (Chomsky, 1987: 49). Even so, the
authors contend that the filter constraints have powerful unilinear effects, such
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that media interests and choices serve class interests on a consistent basis. [...]

Concluding remarks

Herman and Chomsky’s institutional critique of media behaviour is forceful and
convincing, as is their analysis of the ideological formation of public opinion and
of the ‘Orwellian’ abuse of language in western democracies.
‘Brainwashing under freedom’ is Chomsky’s catchphrase for the hypocrisy of
western liberal opinion and its relationship to power.
The thesis put forth in Manufacturing Consent, that consent in a ‘free society’
is manufactured through manipulation of public opinion, perhaps even more
now than when their book was originally published, bespeaks journalistic self-
censorship in an era in which corporate ownership of media has never been as
concentrated, right-wing pressure on public radio and television is increasing,
the public relations industries are expanding exponentially, and advertising
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values dominate the news production process. If ever there was a time for the
PM to be included in scholarly debates on media performance, it is now.
This paper is dedicated to the memory of Suzanne Kondratanko (3 March
1974–11 September 2001).

Notes

I wish to thank Dr Valerie Scatamburlo-D’Annibale, Department of Communication Studies,
University of Windsor, for her insightful feedback.

1. This view echoes Miliband, who wrote that:
There is nothing particularly surprising about the character and role of the major mass
media in advanced capitalist society. Given the economic and political context in which
they function, they cannot fail to be, predominantly, agencies for the dissemination of
ideas and values which affirm rather than challenge existing patterns of power and
privilege, and thus to be weapons in the arsenal of class domination. (Miliband, cited in
Clement, 1975: 278)

2. In Chomsky’s Politics, Milan Rai (1995: 42) remarks: ‘If the explanation is based on the nature
of institutions, not the machinations of individuals, it cannot, by definition, be given the
name “conspiracy theory”.’
3. Herman (2000) takes this up in ‘The Propaganda Model: A Retrospective’.
4. It bears mentioning in this context that Herman was the principal author of the first chapter
of Manufacturing Consent, in which the filter mechanisms are laid out. A new edition of the
book, with a new introduction, was published in January 2002.
5. Personal correspondence, 8 December 1998.
6. For analysis of the influence of owners and media professional ideals on news discourse see
Gans (1979) and Tuchman (1978).