Blog 2: Manufacturing Consent

One of the visual techniques that lent itself well to the understanding of Noam Chomsky’s propaganda model in Manufacturing Consent was the use of media samples such as television segments, pictures, and shots of newspaper articles. These acted as evidence throughout the film for what Chomsky was arguing. The film would use a clip from an interview of something he had said, often times a commentary on the media, and would then immediately follow it by showing an example of it directly from the media. For example, when Chomsky mentioned the atrocity of the media improperly reporting and failing to report important news stories on genocides, the film showed numerous shots of this failure; tiny news articles, interviews with media officials, actual shots of the genocides to show their significance, etc. This was used to clearly and thoroughly support all of his ideas and the points that the film was trying to get across to the viewer. The visual technique that stood out to me the most was the repeated shot of Chomsky interviews superimposed on gigantic overhead screens in a mall and football stadium. The scenes of people walking through the mall or running football drills and gazing up at these giant televisions were poignant in their irony, showing one of the most gratuitous forms of media juxtaposed with one of the most adamant anti-media intellects. I thought this really helped get his argument across well, in a more subtle and humorous way.