Media Control:Noam Chomsky

The reading starts off with Woodrow Wilson's creation of the Creel Commission in WWI. It talks about how the media has come to serve as factor of propaganda for the governments in the West, particularly America. The Creel Commission, like Chomsky says, didn't only show the public relations industry the way, but it also turned "a pacifist population into a hysterical, war-mongering population", and set a example for future establishments. He looks at the relationships and roles of the media, controlling powers, and intelligent people at a blistering pace. Specific examples he looks at are the contrast in media coverage between the biography of Armando Valladares who was distorted under the Castro establishment, and a report by Herbert Anaya and other members of the Human Rights Group of El Salvador talking about numerous times they were tortured. The end of the reading shows how propaganda techniques have been used during the current and previous Gulf War. The reading is written from the perspective of the propaganda manufacturers and commissioners rather that of the disturbed civilian. He presents facts that will make you open your eyes and will make you realize things on your own.