Manufacturing Consent

I recently decided to make a conscious effort to read more widely, deeply, and critically about the world around me, in order broaden and better inform my thoughts, ideas, and opinions (both news and literature). I figure that this is something any good A-i-T should be doing. We all know the saying that, “Knowledge is power,” but perhaps even more profound is the notion that the control of information is true power.

Remember the game, “Telephone,” that we used to play in school, where the teacher would whisper a message in one student’s ear and have it passed through a series of students until it was reported five to ten iterations later? Invariably, the message reported by the last student was quite different from the original. Now, replace students playing telephone in a classroom, with radio, television, and newspapers informing the masses. Added to this are layers of state or corporate owners, profit margins, shareholders, advertisers, and in some cases underlying agendas. Given the number of filters through which information passes before we consume it as end-users, how true to the original message could this information really be?

Using the US as an example, the majority of major (read, mainstream) newspapers, radio and television stations are owned by a handful of large media conglomerates, each with their own set of interests, political leanings, and philosophies. Companies such as Viacom, CBS Corporation, Time Warner, News Corp, Hearst, Sony BMG, and Clear Channel Communications control a large swath of the US media landscape and therefore the news and even the music we listen to. Now, if your favorite newspaper or radio station owes its survival to large corporations and various controlling interests, whose interests do they really have at heart when they disseminate information?

Does the media industry supply us with information or does it manufacture our consent/opinion? Is the latest 50-Cent song really fire, or were you told that it’s hot because you’ve heard it five times on three different radio stations in the same hour? Is the Obama administration’s universal health-care plan really going to resolve this major issue? The NY Times, Fox, and CNN will have three different angles on the story.

Where then should we as A-i-T’s turn for our news? Thankfully we have this wonderful thing called the internet that has democratized information sharing and has given rise to an abundance of independent voices (including this blogger) who can add to the general discourse. Granted, there is a lot of garbage to wade through on the net before you can get to credible sources, but once found, they can be an invaluable way to check and balance what we see, hear and read in the mainstream media. One site I recently got turned on to was Zmag.com (Znet & Zmagazine in particular). I suggest that you check it out.

Control of information, especially in the information age that we live in, truly is power, but let us not forget our own agency in this matter. We have complete control over what information we consume and ultimately place our faith in. As A-i-Ts it’s definitely our responsibility to make sure that our consent, to believe, to support, and even to buy, is informed, and NOT manufactured.

Adults-in-Training, where do you turn for independent sources of news? Let's help each other diversify our news sources. What do you think about how the majority of us consume news/information?

Peace,
A-i-T