The Noble Lie

While I have to say that the scope of this film is very narrow - it focuses on the sins and omissions of one of the major networks instead of stepping back to look at the bigger picture (though it starts to remedy this very briefly near the end), it is a very good example of the true purpose of media - to be the middle man between the power elite and the unwashed masses, to shape and control public opinion along a pre-ordained track.

The big television stations are owned by the military-industrial complex or their hangers-on (Westinghouse, General Electric, Disney), and people should realize they have NO vested interest (and no duty) to report in a truthful fashion those things which might reduce or cut-off the steady flow of money to their businesses via wartime defense contracts.

The media is more than just passive and complicit. That criticism does not go far enough. They are an essential ingredient in the formula of mass deception, just as much as Bush's lying speeches, executive orders, the new Emmanuel Goldsteins -- new wars and new enemies with new faces.