Noam Chomsky – The 5 filters that manufacture consent

Chomsky talks about 5 filters which include: Ownership, Advertising, The media elite, Flak and the Common enemy. Chomsky talks about ownership and how mass media forms are large corporations or even conglomerates. He says how every business has the same goal which is money/profit. He says that every company puts profit as their first priority over everything else.

He shows us how advertising actually is and how the advertisers aren’t so much as selling the audience their product, but instead are selling US as the product.

This tells us how they media control what we see as they can influence news, feed then scoops of information. So, those in power and those who report on them are in bed with each other.

Flak shows us how they block any news that will either discredit them in a negative way so they control it and trash stories they don’t like.

This filter suggests that you need a common enemy as a way to have more intriguing news. This is because news with a more dramatic feel gets more attention, for example, terrorism.

Antonio Gramsci – Hegemony

Hegemony is seen as the domination of a diverse society by the ruling class. This means that the society is run by a higher power which is made to implement set order in a society. This means that the beliefs and perceptions in the society will be formed by the ruling class.