In much of his political rhetoric, Noam Chomsky has argued that the media establishments of the United States, led by the New York Times, fit a western propaganda model that tailors coverage and news selection in favor of the powerful elite.
So how would Chomsky consider the recent developments (and government backlash) about the New York Times and the S.W.I.F.T. story? The NYT has even been quoted as calling Chomsky the most important intellectual alive.
Firstly, the story about S.W.I.F.T. would probably be used by the elites as a story to distract the public from real issues that continue to concern us. Whether we have info about some possible terrorist making $35 dollar deposits at the local B of A is not really what is at hand here. The fuss about the program and its secrecy (or the lack thereof) is just another opportunity to divide politicians along vivid lines of terrorism and freedom of press. Like they need more to fight about.
So what would be the role of the elite here? How would putting the NYT in front of a grand jury fit into Chomsky's propaganda? Well, we could begin by conceding the idea that the NYT isn't run by elites and has its own ideological goals of getting the scoop and informing the world, but according to Noam it hasn't done that in the past 50+ years. MAYBE just MAYBE, the powerful are willing to sacrifice the NYT to show other media that punishment awaits any of those who dare to report anything that might piss them off. Possible, but maybe not likely. The question looms, who's behind this big mess?