ABSTRACT
The mass media are of two types: print and electronic. Print media are books, magazines, and newspapers; electronic media are television, radio, and films. Most media research during the past several decades has focused on the United States. Most of the patterns and tendencies apparent in the United States, however, are increasingly characteristic of the mass media in other industrial societies. Control and accessibility of the mass media in the United States and increasingly in other industrial societies are determined primarily by the economic context within which the media function and by their place in the political economy. The mass media exercise considerable power independently of both government and business. The mediated version of social reality presented by television, newspapers, and other media is most evident in the communication of news. The ability of the media to propagate dominant values and shape political reality is by no means absolute.
