Chomsky explains how propaganda and systemic is biased function in corporate mass media.

5 filters of mass media machine –

• Structure of ownership – most media companies are concentration of ownership through vertical and horizontal integration, most media owned by mass media conglomerates
• The role of advertising – To produce money to cover the cost of production and distribution of media through advertisement and sponsors. You need advertisers to fill the cash gap.
• Links with the establishment
• Divisionary tactics – ‘flack’ – disposal of unwanted news negatively surrounding the patriarchy
• Uniting against a ‘common enemy’ – your enemy’s enemy is your friend, uniting against something we don’t like, media exploiting stereotyping something that is commonly disliked in the area to attract attention and exhibition.

Libertarianism – Libertarianism is a view in politics and philosophy that focuses on liberty. Libertarianism says that it is usually better to give people more free choice. It also says that the government should have less control over people. There are different kinds of libertarianism in both left-wing and right-wing politics.

Authoritarian – authoritarianism, principle of blind submission to authority, as opposed to individual freedom of thought and action. In government, authoritarianism denotes any political system that concentrates power in the hands of a leader or a small elite that is not constitutionally responsible to the body of the people.

A ‘permissive society’ is one in which liberal behaviour becomes more accepted – particularly with regard to sexual freedoms. 

In other words, postcolonial criticism challenges the assumption of a universal claim towards what constitutes ‘good reading’ and ‘good literature’; questioning the notion of a recognised and overarching canon of important cultural texts – book, poems, plays, films etc – much of which is institutionalised into academic syllabi.

Overall, POSTCOLONIALISM operates a series of signs maintaining the European-Atlantic power over the Orient by creating ‘an accepted grid for filtering through the Orient into Western consciousness‘. (Said, 1978:238). Or as Paul Gilroy puts it, ‘a civilising mission that had to conceal its own systematic brutality in order to be effective and attractive’ (2004:8)

the power to narrate, or to block other narratives from forming or emerging, is very important to culture and imperialism – Edward Said Culture and Imperialism, 1993: xiii

Essentially, and most crucial for postcolonial critical thinking, it is possible to identify a process whereby REPRESENTATIONS of – the East /the Orient / the ‘Other’ – are CONSTRUCTED through the lens of WESTERN COLONIAL POWER. So as much as the concept and image of ‘the West’ itself, the Orient is an idea that has a history and a tradition of thought, imagery, and vocabulary that have given it reality and presence in and for the West. The two geographical entities thus support and to an extent reflect each other.

Jacques Lacan – The Other

A good way to develop an understanding of this term is in his exploration of the mirror stage of child development, whereby, as we cannot actually see ourselves as whole, we use a reflection to understand who we are / who we are not. Lacan proposed that in infancy this first recognition occurs when we see ourselves in a mirror.

Common, byname of Lonnie Rashid Lynn, Jr., (born March 13, 1972, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.), American hip-hop artist, actor, and activist who became a mainstream success in the early 21st century, known for intelligent and positive lyrics that were performed in a spoken-word style. He was the first rapper to win a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and an Emmy Award.

Common is an advocate for criminal justice reform and is the founder of Imagine Justice, a non-profit organisation dedicated to “empowering communities and fighting injustice wherever it appears”. “Letter to the Free” is his rally call against racism and the different forms of slavery still being used in America.

Music Video – Letter to the Free is a product which possesses cultural and social significance. It will invite comparison with other music videos allowing for an analysis of the contexts in which they are produced and consumed.

● Cultural hegemony functions by framing the ideologies of the dominant social group as the only legitimate
ideology.
● The ideologies of the dominant group are expressed and maintained through its economic, political, moral,
and social institutions (like the education system and the media).
● These institutions socialise people into accepting the norms, values and beliefs of the dominant social
group.
● As a result, oppressed groups believe that the social and economic conditions of society are natural and
inevitable, rather than created by the dominant group.

The caged birds sings for freedom to bring
Black bodies being lost in the American dream
Blood of black being, a pastoral scene
Slavery’s still alive, check Amendment 13
Not whips and chains, all subliminal – this resonates