“The Occupation of the American Mind”: A Palpable Exhibit of Herman, Chomsky, and Moeller’s Theories

Upon the first words articulated by the narrator, Roger Waters, an American connection is already established when referring to Gaza.

Densly populated area the size of Philadelphia

It is safe to say that the entire movie showcases the accuracy of Herman and Chomsky’s five filters theory and Moeller’s news habits theory. The greatest display was Herman and Chomsky’s first filter: size, ownership, and profit orientation of the mass media.

There’s a clear consensus amongst the entire world about the Occupation of Palestine, except in the United States. Seeing European and Arab news reporters slamming Israeli officials with questions and accusations, versus witnessing the ridiculous and extremely one-sided news broadcasted by American news outlets, is enough to prove the veracity of the first filter.

The movie by Alper and Earp discloses the several news habits in American news reporting vis-a-vis Israeli actions.

The first habit, formulaic coverage (Moeller, 1999), is perpetually reinstated when painting Israeli forces as the victims, struggling to live under the ‘raining rockets’ of Hamas, and Palestinians as the villains.

Americans get it. They know who the good guys are — Israel — and who the bad guys are — Palestine — .

Another representation of the formulaic coverage was presented when an accurate representation of the Israeli-Palestine happenings was published in the NY Times but was ‘buried’ within the news of the election of the first African American President, Barack Obama.

Lull in the violence

A sentence repeated over and over again by American news outlets expressing once again one side of a multilateral story, seen through the Israeli lens, and again, not Palestine’s. This reinforces Moeller’s third habit of international news reporting: analogies, metaphors, and images.

One of Israel’s number one PR strategies was to reverse the context and ask:

What would YOU do?

Yet again, strengthening Moeller’s fourth news habit: an American connection. Flipping the scenario to Americans, as viewers, automatically force them to agree with Israeli’s so-called ‘defense’ tactics.

Sut Jhally concludes the movie with a sentence that could shorten the picture the film is trying to send

It all comes down to American public perception

Herman, E. S., & Chomsky, N. (1988). A Propaganda Model. Retrieved from Manufacturing consent: The political economy of the mass media (1st ed.). New York, N.Y: Pantheon Books. Retrieved from: https://chomsky.info/consent01/

Moeller, S.D. (1999). Four Habits of International News Reporting.

(2022). Vimeo. Retrieved February 3, 2022, from https://vimeo.com/277492186?fbclid=IwAR0vQVI2bcobGycJGTDCzytH7Ot1idQ7auByY9FQpWXadCpqh2uSSoHbf3U.