Manufacturing Consent

Abstract

With the increased efficiency of mass communication technology there has been enhanced sophistication in its varied utilization. Correspondingly, a few fresher perspectives of mass media analysis have also appeared in recent years. Wiebe's (1975) The Segmented Society offered a sociological interpretation of mass media contents which, according to him, aggravated the growing isolation of individuals from their social organizations. Williams (1982) wrote of serious dangers of the concentrated control of powerful media. In the same year, Berger (1982) dealt with the three types of media analysis techniques from the perspectives of a) structural-functionalist; b) serniological; and c) Marxist. Berger sounded rather casual about the misuse of media by certain individuals or groups. To him it seemed just a matter of varying perspectives to find faults with each other's media systems in the tradition of inter-ideological rivalry among researchers subscribing to the three different schools of thought. Lowery and DeFleur (1983, 1988) identified the major milestone in the evolution of communication research. In this process, they discovered several instances of misuse of mass media and of media research for commercial and political purposes. But their disapproval of such practices in the American society was relatively mild and subdued. Martin's and Chaudhary's (1983 ) work seems to be the first comprehensive comparative investigation into mass media systems currently operating in the world. They have compared and contrasted modes of control, goals and roles of media in the Western, Communist, and the Third World nations. In relative terms, Martin and Chaudhary are right in asserting that in the Western world "press freedom belongs primarily to the individual and secondarily to private groups." However, one needs to look deeper to be able to measure the extent to which the individual controls the Western media. It is this research concern that should lead us to a fuller discussion of the book under review here. Looking into the political economy of information in the global context, Mowlana (1988) justifies the "fear and frustration of Third World nations." He quotes Schiller (1981) to prove his point that the so-called 'free flow' of information does not exist, for "There are 'selectors and controllers' who shift and shape the messages that circulate in society." ...