You are the product

My nephew Karan and I recently debated over various economic and political matters one evening. I asked him how he was convinced that what he said was correct. He replied that he read and saw it in the media, and therefore they were 'facts'.

Foolishly we believe we are consumers and therefore we are being served with facts. Nothing can be further from the truth.

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By whatever affiliation, all the major media players are large companies, owned and interlinked with even larger business groups.

Like other companies, they sell a product to a market.

The market is advertisers - that is, other businesses.

The product is audiences.

The elitist media decides the basic agenda who and what must be promoted and which others must adapt. So we have major corporations selling their ideas to other businesses.

Not surprisingly the picture of the world presented reflects the narrow and biased interests and values of the sellers, which comprise the powerful and privileged. These include big business houses and political leaders.

You are not the consumer, you are the product.

Adapted from - How the World Works - Noam Chomsky

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