Noam Chomsky argues that American mass media does not suppress dissent through censorship but through structure: ownership, advertising, sourcing, and professional norms that filter out perspectives hostile to elite interests before a story ever gets written. This is a lecture, not the later feature film of similar name, recorded on March 15, 1989 at the Memorial Union Theater on the University of Wisconsin campus in Madison, part of a "Voices from the Archive" series. Chomsky lays out what became known as the propaganda model, walking through how concentrated ownership, dependence on advertisers, reliance on government and corporate sources, and routine "flak" against unwelcome reporting work together to keep coverage inside a narrow range of acceptable opinion. He draws on examples of how the press treats foreign policy and dissent to make the case that the same outlets capable of rigorous reporting on safe subjects go slack on anything that threatens power. The talk is Chomsky alone at a podium, working through the argument point by point rather than illustrating it with other footage.