How did Noam Chomsky compare news coverage of East Timor and Cambodia?

In The Political Economy of Human Rights (1979), Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman compared U.S. mainstream media coverage of the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia with the Indonesian military's invasion and occupation of East Timor. Despite similar death tolls relative to population size during the mid-to-late 1970s, the media treated the cases drastically differently.1

Chomsky noted that the New York Times devoted over 1,000 column inches to atrocities in Cambodia, which were often exaggerated or fabricated to align with U.S. Cold War interests. Conversely, the media provided only about 70 column inches to East Timor, portraying the Indonesian military—a U.S.-supported client state—as essentially benign.1

Chomsky argued this disparity demonstrates that the media functions to protect elite interests. By downplaying the actions of a U.S. ally while highlighting those of an adversary, the media discouraged public opposition to U.S. foreign policy, effectively shielding the government from accountability for its support of the Indonesian occupation.1