Talking about Chomsky was fascinating. I think that it is not often that we critically analyze the loads of media we consume and rely on for mundane information. When it comes to news media in particular, it is crazy to think that the mediums we rely on to obtain information follow a certain agenda. A few control the media to their benefit and we are trained to accept and subconsciously support.
This class actually made me think of El Salvador. When we brought up the Vietnam war and many other international conflict where the U.S. intervened, I couldn't help to make the connection to my own country. Like many other historical events, the U.S. intervened in El Salvador's civil war to stop communism. This "anti-communism" narrative and constructed fear is what the U.S. used to justify intervention driven by self-interest. As the war developed and the conflict deepened, U.S. intervention escalated until it burst; the American military trained and funded one of the biggest massacres in Latin American history. Thousands of villagers where brutally murdered and our country is still suffering from the ghosts of the war.
When you read American media from back then, the U.S. is portrayed as heroic. The recurring message is that El Salvador would not have been able to achieve peace without the United States. Peace? peace was never settled. A simple signature does not eliminate the issue and since that massacre, our country has been on decline.
This highly relates to contemporary broadcasting. Google El Salvador and you will get loads of articles on criminals, gang members and how people should be banned, deported, and aid stopped. However, VERY few articles mention key facts:
- Gang artillery comes from the United States, much of it left over from the civil war where the United States funded uprisings
- Gangs were actually formed in the U.S. due to the huge displacement the massacre caused in the country
- El Salvador's official currency is dollars and we are home of hundreds of American labor plants
This class actually made me think of El Salvador. When we brought up the Vietnam war and many other international conflict where the U.S. intervened, I couldn't help to make the connection to my own country. Like many other historical events, the U.S. intervened in El Salvador's civil war to stop communism. This "anti-communism" narrative and constructed fear is what the U.S. used to justify intervention driven by self-interest. As the war developed and the conflict deepened, U.S. intervention escalated until it burst; the American military trained and funded one of the biggest massacres in Latin American history. Thousands of villagers where brutally murdered and our country is still suffering from the ghosts of the war.
When you read American media from back then, the U.S. is portrayed as heroic. The recurring message is that El Salvador would not have been able to achieve peace without the United States. Peace? peace was never settled. A simple signature does not eliminate the issue and since that massacre, our country has been on decline.
This highly relates to contemporary broadcasting. Google El Salvador and you will get loads of articles on criminals, gang members and how people should be banned, deported, and aid stopped. However, VERY few articles mention key facts:
- Gang artillery comes from the United States, much of it left over from the civil war where the United States funded uprisings
- Gangs were actually formed in the U.S. due to the huge displacement the massacre caused in the country
- El Salvador's official currency is dollars and we are home of hundreds of American labor plants
Post-comment/blog :
ReplyDeleteHola Luci, I love how passionate you are about Chomsky’s work. I feel that he is one of the most impactful and meaningful theorist of today's world. Past theorist’s are usually from some years past, Chomsky is our ‘today’s’ theorist that perfectly describes and explains our present influential apparatus. In today’s world, Media is very highly influential in every aspect of our lives. We now rely most our communication and daily performance through it. I feel that Chomsky is commenting in how ( and I can even say the seriousness) how how much we consume and rely in a daily basis from this mundane and controlled information. "Inculcate individuals with the values, beliefs, and codes of behavior that will integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society” (204). Just how his quote states, in today’s society, mass media is the driver of our consciousness and knowledge. If we didn't have mass media we would be communicating in other systems.
The individuals that stand out and come out of this gaze are the ones that understand the notion of conflicts. Just like Jenkins has said, in order to maintain some type of individuality, one must be able to understand the notion of who is controlling the power; in this case, the media. Just when looking at media companies, before being in accord with their statement, one must know the company’s ideal and values ( BBC and the economist will have a more reputable information than BuzzFeed or the Daily Mail).
Being in this class, has also made me think that this type of media control and disstruss is very dominant in the US. In my country, Venezuela, the audience knows which media conglomerates must not be trusted (they are mostly controlled by the goverment), and we publicly call them out . I don’t know why, but I feel that the american audience is most likely to believe this highly controlled media companies. I see this specially happening with Trump supporters vs. anyone that is not. I see in my facebook all the time, Trump supporters posting ridiculous articles that support Trump’s actions and deliberately attack liberals and democrats.