Thought Control and Media Term Paper

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Control and the Media

The media is an incredibly powerful force which has the ability to manipulate the minds and hearts of the American people. This type of "mind control" which is employed by news organizations in the United States is nothing less than propaganda.

Noam Chomsky writes that, "propaganda is to a democracy what violence is to a dictatorship." Indeed, nowhere is this more clear than in recent debates over the impending war with Iraq. On one side of the fence, the conservative Right argues that war is essential and that Iraq is in league with Al Qaeda. They argue that Saddam Hussein is developing weapons of mass destruction which he would like to unleash on the free world. On the other side of the fence, the liberal Left argues that such a preemptive war is "unjust," and that there is no definitive proof that Hussein was ever in league with Osama Bin Laden or that he has developed weapons of mass destruction. They worry that a unilateral strike on Iraq sets a disturbing precedent, that it presents the United States as unreasonable and willing to employ force to protect any interest it so desires.

Media's primary role is to mobilize public support for the special interests that dominate the government and private sector of our Nation," Chomsky writes. "History is what appears in the New York Times archives."

Perhaps Chomsky is right. It is well documented that George W. Bush came from a background in oil. It is also well-known that Iraq is a major producer of oil. One could easily make the case that the primary reason that this conflict is developing is due to the interests of the oil companies in the United States and their influence over the current president.

The media is heavily influenced by both the right and the left. Headlines are an excellent resource wherein the interests of a given news organization might be expressed.

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The content of the article which follows the headline will crystallize the organization's opinions and loyalties even more.

Recently, USA Today and the Washington Post, both regarded as mainstream press, documented the discovery of a weapon of mass destruction in Iraq. This particular weapon was a flying drone which some believe is capable of delivering chemical or biological weapons to enemy targets. It turns out that this particular item was a large scale model airplane and it's effectiveness as a weapon is under scrutiny.

USA Today's headline read, "Powell decries new Iraq weapon discovery." The word "decries" is intended to make it sound as if this is a major development in the case against Iraq for war. For Colin Powell and George Bush to make their case to the world, they must have evidence of wrongdoing in Iraq.

As new evidence to condemn Saddam Hussein as a deceptive cheat, Secretary of State Colin Powell and his spokesman cited the development of drone airplanes and cluster bombs, both capable of spreading chemicals. Powell said the world should be concerned. (USA Today, 3/10/03)

The preceding paragraph is not written objectively. The paragraph starts by calling Hussein a "deceptive cheat." It attempts to remain objective by following this statement with information about the Secretary of State. However, it does not say that this is what Powell believes or what arms inspectors believe, but instead through the structure of the paragraph identifies this as something the newspaper believes.

The Washington Post has a similar headline. "Iraqi Officials Proudly Exhibit a Disputed, Dinged-Up Drone," the headline reads. The use of the word "proudly" indicates that there is some level of disbelief concerning the drone by….....

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