How did Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman analyze mainstream media reporting in Manufacturing Consent?

In Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988), Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman argue that mainstream media in the United States function as a system of "propaganda" that serves the interests of state and corporate elites.12

Rather than suggesting a formal conspiracy, they posit that media behavior is a predictable outcome of the institutional power structure. To succeed, journalists must align their reporting with the interests of the corporations that employ them and the elite minority who run those organizations. This process involves:1

• Statistical Analysis: Using empirical studies to demonstrate how media outlets select, filter, and skew information to justify corporate and state policy.1
• Paired Examples: Comparing coverage of similar events to highlight bias. For instance, they contrasted the media's intense, often exaggerated focus on atrocities by the communist Khmer Rouge with the minimal, benign coverage of the Indonesian military’s invasion of East Timor—a U.S.-supported client state.1
• Self-Deception: They argue that journalists often engage in self-deception, viewing themselves as objective defenders of truth while framing reporting to support established privilege and limit public debate.1

Ultimately, they conclude that the media "manufactures consent" by framing information in ways that protect elite economic and political power.12