Idea Ripper // ArchiveCards: 1555 [Live] | Updated: 2026-10-14
Card #c159IR // #c159Synthesis

A propaganda system will consistently portray people abused in enemy states as worthy victims, whereas those treated with equal or greater severity by its own government or clients will be unworthy.

— In our words · Source: Manufacturing Consent (Noam Chomsky & Edward S. Herman)

[Use when]

When comparing how two similar atrocities get covered.

[Why it matters]

The paired-comparison method of the whole book: worth is assigned by politics, read off the volume and tone of coverage.

More from Manufacturing Consent

#c149The essential ingredients of our propaganda model, or set of news “filters,” fall under the following headings: (1) the size, concentrated…When someone asks how propaganda works in a country with no censorship. #c150The elite domination of the media and marginalization of dissidents that results from the operation of these filters occurs so naturally…When “but reporters mean well” is used to dismiss media critique. #c151Ben Bagdikian stresses the fact that despite the large media numbers, the twenty-nine largest media systems account for over half of the…When the sheer number of outlets is offered as proof of press freedom.