Manufacturing Consent (and the accompanying documentary) were fairly groundbreaking at the time, but also obviously comes from an Ivory Tower. Chomsky seems to

Manufacturing Consent (and the accompanying documentary) were fairly groundbreaking at the time, but also obviously comes from an Ivory Tower. Chomsky seems to really believe the public would have adopted some of his platforms if they hadn't been drowned in distraction. You're not going to get the average American to care about the plight of the East Timorese until American soldiers are dying there....Vietnam demonstrated that. In the early 90s though, the documentary played to packed houses of college students who suddenly claimed to have a longstanding concern for East Timor...then East Timor became unfashionable and they went back to not giving a hoot. If anything, Chomsky "manufactured" his own "consent", for a time.