The War on Terrorism and the US Propaganda Machine Essay -- September

The War on Terrorism and the US Propaganda Machine   Totalitarian regimes control their people by bludgeoning and incarcerating them. Critics of Western societies allege that democratic authoritiess maintain approval for their actions through the manufacture of consent, a cryptic and insidious form of propaganda.   How?, you ask skeptically. By framing the debate, the theory says. By setting up a debate between two opposing acceptable views--one slightly left of government policy, and the other slightly right--the media can marginalise the radicals and legitimize the party line. Thus the debate surrounding the war in Vietnam was a debate of the hawks (If we keep fighting we can win) vs. the doves (Its too dear(p) were fighting a losing battle). There was no question of our right to interfere in the mainstream media, no question of the purpose of the war. You can see the very(prenominal) framing of debate in the US medias coverage of the war on terrorism.   If you l ook for it, anyway. It all sounds like a conspiracy theory, though, doesnt it? It seems rather far-fetched that the government is controlling the media, even if National Security Advisor Condoleeza Rice did suggest that the networks broadcast only abridged versions of any future appearances by Osama bin smashed and friends. Its much more plausible that the big companies control the government, but Im not going to open that kettle of fish. So lets forget about conspiracies for the moment, and simply focalisation on the media coverage are we getting a fair shake?   Increasing numbers of Americans dont think so. Despite the fact that UK is our strongest ally in this conflict, their media has been significant more even-handed in cov... ...s a war on terrorism, but kills countless innocent Afghanis because their government refused to give over bin Laden without about evidence of his involvement in the WTC attacks.   But if thats the radical view, and the media comments abo ve are mainstream, wed do well to broaden our scope. British support for the war has go drastically, and is now outnumbered by those opposed. If youd like to find out why, youll have to look further than CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox, etc. Try the Guardian, the Independent, BBC, Fair.org, or just search Google for Noam Chomsky + Afghanistan. Even if our heavy ignorance is not the result of a conspiracy, weve still got plenty of good reason to alleviate it. Surely were educated and critical enough to decide for ourselves what constitutes a reasoned perspective. We dont need the purifying filter of the mainstream media.