An interesting discussion on Keeping the Media Safe for Big Business can be found at MediaLens.
“In 1996, Noam Chomsky attempted to explain to an equally bemused Andrew Marr (then of the Independent):
Marr: “This is what I don’t get, because it suggests – I mean, I’m a journalist – people like me are ’self-censoring’…”
Chomsky: “No – not self-censoring. There’s a filtering system that starts in kindergarten and goes all the way through and – it doesn’t work a hundred percent, but it’s pretty effective – it selects for obedience and subordination…
Chomsky’s key point:
“I’m sure you believe everything you’re saying. But what I’m saying is, if you believed something different you wouldn’t be sitting where you’re sitting.” (The Big Idea, BBC2, 1996)
This piece was followed up by a response from former Guardian and Observer journalism Jonathan Cook:
“Editors hardly ever need to bare their teeth against an established journalist because few make it to senior positions unless they have already learnt how to toe the line.”
You can read the full (6,500 word!) piece by Cook here.
The two articles on “Intellectual Cleansing” were brought to my attention via Antony Lowenstein’s blog. He picks up the point that reliance on wire copy (an increasing fact of life in news media) is an effective way of stifling other viewpoints or reports from filtering into mainstream media.
Worth a read if you’re interested in the “future of journalism” debate.
