Noam Chomsky and the Manufacturing Consent.

Noam Chomsky goes into the way print and electronic journalism tacitly and often willingly further the agendas of the powerful (media institutions as ABC and the New York Times). The centerpiece of the film, arguably, is a long examination into the history of the New York Times’ coverage of Indonesia’s cruelty-ridden occupation of East Timor, reportage that (as Chomsky shows us) was absolutely in lock step with the government’s unwillingness to be critical.

In this film, the NRC Handelsblad (newspaper) organizes a forum in Groningen in 1988, where Chomsky and Frits Bolkestein (conservative) debate in whether the media criticism of Chomsky is prophetical or paranoia. Chomsky claims the existence of filters within the American media. Bolkestein accused Chomsky of naïtivity and paranoia: “it’s a boys dream, it’s all conspiracy theory”.

You can view the video here, but the quality is terrible. So you can also download the documantary in reasonable quality here if you want.

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