Constructing Public Opinion

Tags: government/the state, media, politics/election/voting, chomsky, 00 to 05 mins
Year: 2009
Length: 5:58
Access: YouTube

Summary: In this clip, professor Justin Lewis discusses the role of the US media in "manufacturing consent." The media, Lewis explains, is not used as a device which necessarily tells people what to think, but rather, it tells them what to think about and is therefore an agenda setting device. Lewis further discusses the role the media plays in elections by giving the American public the illusion of a distinct choice between political candidates, when in fact differences between Democrats and Republicans across substantive economic issues are often very minor. I have successfully used this clip in an introductory sociology class as a means of sparking discussion about the power of the media. The clip works particularly well as a means of supplementing Noam Chomsky's book, Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda.

Submitted By: Lester Andrist

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