Edward S. Herman

“The ‘societal purpose’ of the media is to inculcate and defend the economic, social, and political agenda of privileged groups that dominate the domestic society and the state.”

“It is the function of the experts, and the mainstream media, to shape and channel public opinion and to make sure that it does not stray too far from the elite consensus.”

“The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the general populace. It is their function to amuse, entertain, and inform, and to inculcate individuals with the values, beliefs, and codes of behavior that will integrate them into the institutional structures of the larger society.”

“A propaganda model focuses on this inequality of wealth and power and its multilevel effects on mass-media interests and choices.”

“The beauty of the system, however, is that such dissent and inconvenient information are kept within bounds and at the margins, so that while their presence shows that the system is not monolithic, they are not large enough to interfere unduly with the domination of the official agenda.”

“The elite domination of the media and the marginalization of dissidents that results from the operation of these filters occurs so naturally that media news people, frequently operating with complete integrity and goodwill, are able to convince themselves that they choose and interpret the news 'objectively' and on the basis of professional news values.”

“What is new and notable about the 'new' American 'imperial grand strategy' is its open proclamation and its flaunting of an explicit and assertive unilateralism.”

“What the system requires is ideological support, and the media are a major provider of that support.”

“The media serve, and propagandize on behalf of, the powerful societal interests that control and finance them.”

“If the media are independent and committed to discovering and reporting the truth, one would expect them to test the official narrative.”

“The raw material of news must pass through successive filters, leaving only the cleansed residue fit to print.”

“The ability to define the boundaries of the thinkable is a major instrument of control.”