ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the means by which consent is manufactured in Britain. It looks at patterns of newspaper and broadcast media control and dominating influences that set and restrict news agendas. In a setting where oppressors oppress those who are least able to resist them, it is important to understand how the will of a ruling elite continues to dominate. A common shared understanding of injustice between the immediate victims and the wider community is an essential ingredient for organised opposition and pressure for reform. Yet the ability to develop shared insights and understanding are in the hands of oligopolistic media organisations that principally reflect the interests and priorities of society’s ruling elite. ‘Divide and rule’ is a well-used strategy via which the few dominate the many. Creating narratives that sow division based upon narrow differences helps to ensure that perception of a common cause amongst the many is limited and that the current situation is ‘just the way things are’. Resistance and change is possible, but for that to happen interested players need to have a clear understanding of both the forces at work and the mechanism employed to keep things the way they are.
