Remember that the media have two basic functions. One is to indoctrinate the elites, to make sure they have the right ideas and know how to serve power. In fact, typically the elites are the most indoctrinated segment of a society, because they are the ones who are exposed to the most propaganda and actually take part in the decision-making process. For them you have the New York Times, and the Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal, and so on. But there's also a mass media, whose main function is just to get rid of the rest of the population -- to marginalize and eliminate them, so they don't interfere with decision-making. And the press that's designed for that purpose isn't the New York Times and the Washington Post, it's sitcoms on television, and the National Enquirer, and sex and violence, and babies with three heads, and football, all that kind of stuff.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Media indoctrinates elites to serve power and marginalizes the masses through entertainment to prevent interference.
- In plain terms
- Elite media ensures correct ideas; mass media distracts people so they don't interfere.
- What can you take from it?
- Understand how different media serve different social classes.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who benefits from mass media?
- Is elite media propaganda?
Another view
This oversimplifies the diverse roles of media.
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