I wrote this in Sociology 101 at San Diego State University in the Fall of 2000. It felt relevant to share this today. In my 20 years of experience in public relations, I learned that the general public can always benefit from a 101 refresher on most topics.
The article, “The Mass Media as a Power Institution” by Martin N. Marger examines the fact that the mass media is a means by which people construct their views on social reality, and hence form misconceptions of society and various stereotypes. These views are highly influenced by the government, the economy and the elites. Large corporations and powerful elites produce revenue for the media, who intern hold their interests to the highest standards when deciding what will be reported to the public. With the help of the government and the economy, the media has power over society. These institutions rely on each other to instruct society’s norms and values, transmit culture, and supply information.
The main purpose of the media is to generate revenue, only supplied by big businesses and political elites. Therefore, the media must please them by putting their views on air. When the public only sees these views, the result is a misconception of society. If the public doesn’t get to see opposing views, they have no choice but to believe in those being portrayed. Furthermore, large corporations have more money to advertise, so their ads are produced more by the media, which increases a demand for their product. If the public doesn’t get to see similar advertisements for different products, they buy the product they see because they have nothing to compare it to. The media has the final say on what’s aired. If they don’t receive enough money, we won’t see it or hear about it. It’s a bit of a contradiction that large corporations have more money and hence more demand for a product because it’s more recognizable. If a business doesn’t have enough money, they can’t advertise; but if they can’t advertise, then they won’t have money. This being true, I concluded that big businesses control supply and demand by using ads to create desire.
The government and media elites rely on each other as well. Most news is about the government, and the government needs the media to convey messages that form good images to the public. This kind of give-and-take relationship causes other ideas and events to go unnoticed and the public begins to define what is important s whatever the media reports. This is where the false illusion of reality comes in. The information the public receives could be false if the media is doing a given political figure a favor in return for something he or she did for them. There is no limit to what certain political figures will do to produce a good public image. The dominant political elites are rarely criticized and hence become idealized by the public. Furthermore, the media attempts to make the news more entertaining in order to relate to the public, this means that a lot of information is exaggerated or hidden. All of these factors form a misconception of society and prove that the media really are our “window to the world.” They control our perceptions of political, economic and social events.