ABSTRACT
Television is now probably the single most important medium for the communication of political information. For many, it is the crucial source of information about the outside world. But its importance also derives from its role in industrial societies. Unlike many other institutions, television is implicated in processes of change: it is both the creator and the product of change in society. In the field of politics, its treatment and coverage of conflict, elections, or nuclear energy has had enormous consequences for political organization and behaviour. Similarly its treatment of social issues has provoked many questions about its role in creating, and not merely reflecting, a changing society.
