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      Noam Chomsky: personal influences
                                            MANUFACTURING CONSENT
Part 1 of the discussion starter series     Noam Chomsky and the Media
 from the National Film Board of Canada     __________________________


AVRAM NOAM CHOMSKY, born 1928 in Philadelphia, was the older of two
boys. Both parents worked (they taught school). They put Noam in
experimental Deweyite classes before he was two years old. The place
shunned competition. He stayed at the progressive, university-run
school until he was 12. Noam read a lot--American and English
literature, translations of French and Russian classics. Only when he
reached public high school did he learn he was a good student.

Religion and politics were part of life in his home, which Chomsky
says was lower middle class. His father had fled Russia at 16 to avoid
the draft into the czar's army. As a boy, Noam followed news of the
Spanish Civil War. His first political article, for the school paper,
mourned the fall of Barcelona and the rise of fascism in 1939.

Like other Jewish families, Noam's relatives split along lines of
religious orthodoxy, cultural assimilation, and class values. He would
take the train to visit relatives in New York. Sometimes he worked at
the Manhattan newsstand of his mother's brother. This uncle was a
self-taught anarchist and a lively debater. It was a working class
immigrant neighbourhood. Socialists could still find an audience and
an argument (and young listeners).

The discussion starter series is good for classrooms (social sciences,
journalism, etc.), study circles, audiences from grade 10 on. The six
VHS videotapes of the series vary in length (minutes:seconds):

 Videotape 1 Noam Chomsky: personal influences (27:30)

           2 The propaganda model of media (30:00)
             Exploring alternative media (13:00)

           3 Concision: no time for new ideas (14:45)

           4 Case study: East Timor and Cambodia (28:30)

           5 Holocaust denial v. freedom of speech (12:00)

           6 Toward a vision of future society (23:00)

These videotapes are based on the 1992 documentary film--an award
winner by Peter Wintonick and Mark Achbar. Each video in the series
has a guide: ideas for prescreening activity, postscreening activity,
and discussion. The guides refer to pages in a book that comes with
the series--a primer in intellectual self-defence:

MANUFACTURING CONSENT : Noam Chomsky and the Media, by Mark Achbar
(ed.), 272 pp. Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1994. ISBN 1-551640-02-3.
Index. Filmmaker Achbar says "...[W]e...reveal...media construction
(including our own)...to create in the viewer a sense of critical
engagement" (p. 12). You might browse this text in a bookstore. It
suggests the look and feel of the whole discussion starter series. The
companion book expands on the film's complete transcript--production
notes, 300 stills, extra historical and biographic matter, exchanges
with critics, plus an 18-page guide to resources (periodicals and
books on linguistics and media, audiovisual products, organizations).

Playful touches are part of the appeal of the series. The companion
book includes 18 Philosopher All-Stars Trading Cards on heavy stock.
The front of a card pictures a Western philosopher. On the back are a
hint of the philosopher's thought and deeds, list of major works,
and quotations. Is your favourite philosopher amongst the All-Stars?

DE CLEYRE, Voltairine (1866-1912)   LUXEMBURG, Rosa (1871-1919)
DESCARTES, Rene (1596-1650)         ROUSSEAU, Jean-Jacques (1712-78)
FOUCAULT, Michel (1926-84)          RUSSELL, Bertrand (1872-1970)
GANDHI, Mohandas K. (1869-1948)     TRUTH, Sojourner (1797-1883)
GOLDMAN, Emma (1869-1940)           VOLTAIRE (F. M. Arouet, 1694-1778)
KING, Martin Luther Jr. (1929-68)   VON HUMBOLDT, W. F. (1767-1835)
KROPOTKIN, Peter A. (1842-1921)     WOLLSTONECRAFT, Mary (1759-97)

You can email, phone, fax, or write to order or to learn more about
MANUFACTURING CONSENT: Noam Chomsky and the Media (versions, price of
discussion starter series, languages available, and so on). Get in
touch from the USA or Canada or elsewhere.
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