Manufacturing Consent

The film “Manufacturing Consent” presents Noam Chomsky’s “Propaganda Model” that argues that there are five different kinds of filters that are key in the production of society’s news. The five filters include who owns the media, the advertising and sourcing for it, as well as unfavorable criticism and anti-communist ideals. One of the visual techniques used in the film was the constant “copy and paste” method of different sources of interviews and relevant television broadcasts. There was a mixture of both stock footage and film specifically shot for the documentary as well as other recorded sound bites that were blended together. Collectively, these diverse sources of media were assembled in a way where the viewer can feel the persuasion of the media that is exemplified in Chomsky’s “Propaganda Model.” These visual techniques allowed the viewers to have a better understanding of Chomsky’s “Propaganda Model” because they manipulate the viewer in understanding the main message of the film in the same way as the media manipulates its viewers with controlled content. The documentary was able to present its idea of prioritized media while exhibiting an example of how media can be used to manipulate its viewer. However, this does not mean that the documentary was another example of manipulative media—it just featured similar elements that mirrored what Chomsky’s “Propaganda Model” was exemplifying. The footage maintained a sense of fluidity that allowed the filmmakers to produce their main point even though the archival recordings presented were shot in completely different times and locations. This was seen in the montages of interviews where Noam Chomsky was talking about the same subject just in different interview locations.