From an examination of how Woodrow Wilson’s Creel Commission "succeeded, within six months, in turning a pacifist population into a hysterical, war-mongering population," to Bush Sr.'s war on Iraq, Chomsky examines how the mass media and public relations industries have been used as propaganda to generate public support for going to war. According to Chomsky, "propaganda is to democracy as the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state," and the mass media is the primary vehicle for delivering propaganda in the United States. The Open Media Pamphlet Series, (2002): 1-27.Noam Chomsky’s backpocket classic on wartime propaganda and opinion control begins by asserting two models of democracy-one in which the public actively participates, and one in which the public is manipulated and controlled. Media control: The spectacular achievements of propaganda.
Through intensified expository points, the author reveals how strategic propaganda has blinded the public from realizing they are indirectly denied a chance to participate in critical decision-making concerning the nation. ConclusionĬhomsky exposes how the political influence threatens democracy and participation of the bewildered herd. This reveal is made through a causal argument that suggests that the controlled media has played a significant role in deceiving the public of their freedom to participate in national matters. This supports his purpose as an author, which is to bring into perspective how politicians use the commoner to achieve their interests. In the book, specialized class individuals are portrayed as powerful and the ultimate decision-makers, while the bewildered herds are spectators and victims of cruel decisions. Also, the “bewildered herd” is an idiomatic expression used in the book to add character and dynamism to the referenced.Īlso, the author divides his audience into two, one from the specialized class and the bewildered herd (Chomsky 3). For instance, “Tear the Germans limb to limb, go to war and save the world” (Chomsky 1) is a phrase used to explain how Woodrow Wilson’s administration influenced the public through propaganda to destroy the perceived enemy. Chomsky’s explanation of concepts is descriptive with idiomatic expressions.
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