Manufacturing Consent

"So is the diversification and geographic spread of the great media companies. Many of them have diversified out of particular media fields into others that seemed like growth areas. Many older newspaper-based media companies, fearful of the power of television and its effects on advertising revenue, moved as rapidly as they could into broadcasting and cable TV" (Herman and Chomsky. 12).

This article, published in 1988, shows itself to be very outdated insofar as no mention is made of the Internet, which has revolutionized the media world. The big breakthrough is no longer cable TV (though still very important) but the evolution of the Internet has made the world a much smaller place. Someone on their computer in Ghana, Africa is immediately "face to face" with someone in Old Westbury, thanks to the Internet. All the media companies have their voices out on the Internet and can reach a far greater audience this way than through print or broadcast and cable TV. No doubt, twenty years from now, the power of the Internet will be that much greater than it is today in 2007, the early years of the 21st century.