Showing results for "Media Realities" in Media Studies

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. According to Chomsky, "propaganda is to democracy as the bludgeon...

In the tradition of Neil Postman's masterpiece Amusing Ourselves to Death, Audience of One shows how American media have shaped American society and politics, by interweaving two crucial stories. The first story follows the evolution of television from the three-network era of the 20th century, which joined millions of Americans in a shared monoculture, into today's zillion-channel, internet-atomized universe, which sliced and diced them into fractious, alienated subcultures. The second story is a cultural critique of Donald Trump.

Social media can inform and enlighten but can also manipulate, control, and destroy innocent people. It is changing humanity and is the new master of our daily lives, but some are calling it a virtual prison that we willingly engage in while oblivious to the sinister agenda behind the technology.

From the moment we are born to the day we die, we are under a spell. We are controlled by the magicians who use marketing and propaganda to manipulate our every thought. From religious leaders to company executives, from politicians to secret military elites, everything we do, say and even think is scrutinized. For thousands of years the system has been built, slowly consuming our true nature. Many are happy in their state of delusion. But every now and then a rogue appears who recognizes the truth for what it really is.