Philosophy 2730F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Mass Media, Manufacturing Consent, Osama Bin Laden
Document Summary
Philosophy and the accumulation of knowledge is a collective undertaking that involves presenting arguments, then criticizing and defending those arguments. The media needs to be a fourth, independent and critical branch of government. Media corporations are interconnected with all other forms of business. All businesses are designed to generate a profit. The control over business is in the hands of a wealthy few a very small part of the population controls a large part of the wealth. The wealthy and government share the same interests. The wealthy like to use their wealth to try and gain power over the government. In the end, it is extremely unlikely that new stories opposing the common interests of the powerful and wealthy elite will be published, owning to the potential danger such stories present to profits. Thought there will be exceptions because a good propaganda machine doesn"t look like one they have to throw a few big stories in.