Mass media is communication—whether written, broadcast, or spoken—that reaches a large

audience. This includes television, radio, advertising, movies, the Internet, newspapers,
magazines, and so forth.

Mass media is a significant force in modern culture, particularly in America. Sociologists refer to
this as a mediated culture where media reflects and creates the culture. Communities and
individuals are bombarded constantly with messages from a multitude of sources including TV,
billboards, and magazines, to name a few. These messages promote not only products, but
moods, attitudes, and a sense of what is and is not important. Mass media makes possible the
concept of celebrity: without the ability of movies, magazines, and news media to reach across
thousands of miles, people could not become famous. In fact, only political and business leaders,
as well as the few notorious outlaws, were famous in the past. Only in recent times have actors,
singers, and other social elites become celebrities or “stars.”

The current level of media saturation has not always existed. As recently as the 1960s and 1970s,
television, for example, consisted of primarily three networks, public broadcasting, and a few
local independent stations. These channels aimed their programming primarily at two‐parent,
middle‐class families. Even so, some middle‐class households did not even own a television.
Today, one can find a television in the poorest of homes, and multiple TVs in most middle‐class
homes. Not only has availability increased, but programming is increasingly diverse with shows
aimed to please all ages, incomes, backgrounds, and attitudes. This widespread availability and
exposure makes television the primary focus of most mass‐media discussions. More recently, the
Internet has increased its role exponentially as more businesses and households “sign on.”
Although TV and the Internet have dominated the mass media, movies and magazines—
particularly those lining the aisles at grocery checkout stands—also play a powerful role in
culture, as do other forms of media.

What role does mass media play? Legislatures, media executives, local school officials, and
sociologists have all debated this controversial question. While opinions vary as to the extent and
type of influence the mass media wields, all sides agree that mass media is a permanent part of
modern culture. Three main sociological perspectives on the role of media exist: the limited‐
effects theory, the class‐dominant theory, and the culturalist theory.

Limited-effects theory
The limited‐effects theory argues that because people generally choose what to watch or read
based on what they already believe, media exerts a negligible influence. This theory originated
and was tested in the 1940s and 1950s. Studies that examined the ability of media to influence
voting found that well‐informed people relied more on personal experience, prior knowledge,
and their own reasoning. However, media “experts” more likely swayed those who were less
informed. Critics point to two problems with this perspective. First, they claim that limited‐
effects theory ignores the media's role in framing and limiting the discussion and debate of
issues. How media frames the debate and what questions members of the media ask change the
outcome of the discussion and the possible conclusions people may draw. Second, this theory
came into existence when the availability and dominance of media was far less widespread.

Class-dominant theory

The class‐dominant theory argues that the media reflects and projects the view of a minority
elite, which controls it. Those people who own and control the corporations that produce media
comprise this elite. Advocates of this view concern themselves particularly with massive
corporate mergers of media organizations, which limit competition and put big business at the
reins of media—especially news media. Their concern is that when ownership is restricted, a few
people then have the ability to manipulate what people can see or hear. For example, owners can
easily avoid or silence stories that expose unethical corporate behavior or hold corporations
responsible for their actions.

The issue of sponsorship adds to this problem. Advertising dollars fund most media. Networks
aim programming at the largest possible audience because the broader the appeal, the greater the
potential purchasing audience and the easier selling air time to advertisers becomes. Thus, news
organizations may shy away from negative stories about corporations (especially parent
corporations) that finance large advertising campaigns in their newspaper or on their stations.
Television networks receiving millions of dollars in advertising from companies like Nike and
other textile manufacturers were slow to run stories on their news shows about possible human‐
rights violations by these companies in foreign countries. Media watchers identify the same
problem at the local level where city newspapers will not give new cars poor reviews or run
stories on selling a home without an agent because the majority of their funding comes from auto
and real estate advertising. This influence also extends to programming. In the 1990s a network
cancelled a short‐run drama with clear religious sentiments, Christy, because, although highly
popular and beloved in rural America, the program did not rate well among young city dwellers
that advertisers were targeting in ads.

Critics of this theory counter these arguments by saying that local control of news media largely
lies beyond the reach of large corporate offices elsewhere, and that the quality of news depends
upon good journalists. They contend that those less powerful and not in control of media have
often received full media coverage and subsequent support. As examples they name numerous
environmental causes, the anti‐nuclear movement, the anti‐Vietnam movement, and the pro‐Gulf
War movement.

While most people argue that a corporate elite controls media, a variation on this approach
argues that a politically “liberal” elite controls media. They point to the fact that journalists,
being more highly educated than the general population, hold more liberal political views,
consider themselves “left of center,” and are more likely to register as Democrats. They further
point to examples from the media itself and the statistical reality that the media more often labels
conservative commentators or politicians as “conservative” than liberals as “liberal.”

Media language can be revealing, too. Media uses the terms “arch” or “ultra” conservative, but
rarely or never the terms “arch” or “ultra” liberal. Those who argue that a political elite controls
media also point out that the movements that have gained media attention—the environment,
anti‐nuclear, and anti‐Vietnam—generally support liberal political issues. Predominantly
conservative political issues have yet to gain prominent media attention, or have been opposed
by the media. Advocates of this view point to the Strategic Arms Initiative of the 1980s Reagan
administration. Media quickly characterized the defense program as “Star Wars,” linking it to an
expensive fantasy. The public failed to support it, and the program did not get funding or
congressional support.

Culturalist theory

The culturalist theory, developed in the 1980s and 1990s, combines the other two theories and
claims that people interact with media to create their own meanings out of the images and
messages they receive. This theory sees audiences as playing an active rather than passive role in
relation to mass media. One strand of research focuses on the audiences and how they interact
with media; the other strand of research focuses on those who produce the media, particularly the
news.

Theorists emphasize that audiences choose what to watch among a wide range of options, choose
how much to watch, and may choose the mute button or the VCR remote over the programming
selected by the network or cable station. Studies of mass media done by sociologists parallel
text‐reading and interpretation research completed by linguists (people who study language).
Both groups of researchers find that when people approach material, whether written text or
media images and messages, they interpret that material based on their own knowledge and
experience. Thus, when researchers ask different groups to explain the meaning of a particular
song or video, the groups produce widely divergent interpretations based on age, gender, race,
ethnicity, and religious background. Therefore, culturalist theorists claim that, while a few elite
in large corporations may exert significant control over what information media produces and
distributes, personal perspective plays a more powerful role in how the audience members
interpret those messages.