Starfish Herman & Chomsky

Propaganda has always been something that has fascinated me. We have discussed in CMC 200 the influence and power media has over our culture. “The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the general populace” (257). The media sends out messages, and sometimes subconsciously these messages change the way we think or feel about certain things. That is why the media is used for propaganda.
We talked about the connection media and government sometimes has in CMC 200 as well, it reminded me of this article. “Another structural relationship of importance is the media companies’ dependence on and ties with government. The radio-TV companies, and networks all require government licenses and franchise and are thus potentially subject to government control or harassment” 265. This quote reminded me of the whole “weapons of mass destruction” period on the news. Everywhere we looked on television we were being told about these weapons of mass destruction that were hidden in Iraq. The more we saw this, the more people understood why we needed to go to war and more people supported the governmental decision to do so. How is it that this story was all over the news, when it wasn’t even true? This story was given to the media for propaganda for the war so more people would support the cause. Propaganda is not a new concept to the government. Governments and authorities around the globe use and have used the media to help their own cause. Just look back at Nazi Germany. Hitler used the media as propaganda so that more people supported his cause and more people were against the Jewish people. I remember when I visited the Holocaust Museum in Boston, I saw a children’s book on display. The children in the book all were German, but the evil character was Jewish. Things such as this are happening today as well. In the Middle East, there was a children’s program aired with a big rabbit character that hated Jews and told children that Jews were evil and must be destroyed. Propaganda is a very powerful thing and can be used for good and evil. It is important that we are aware of the power media has over us, and make sure to shape our own opinions and thoughts rather then listen to what the media tells us.