Page 99 - Myths for the Masses An Essay on Mass Communication

Mass Communication and the Promise of Democracy

industry, politics, or even the general public. Critical attacks on the
media are most frequently met with indifference, such as that of the
post-World War II Commission on Freedom of the Press report
mentioned earlier, which dealt intelligently and thoroughly with
media performance and expectations for a democratic system of
mass communication. Also, unlike other governments, such as those
of Canada or the United Kingdom, that of the United States has
never established an official press (or media) commission to report
on the state of mass communication in a democratic society at a
time of commercial threats to the integrity of the means of mass
communication as an instrument of political discourse. Instead,
economic interests have determined relations between politics and
media policies.
These interests are not necessarily identified solely with specific
branches of the media industry, but more typically – and increas-
ingly – represent broader and more powerful organizations, such as
General Electric or Walt Disney, with far-reaching business agendas.
Media property is often maintained for revenue purposes, and with
no vested interest in the quality of journalism or the role of mass
communication in a democracy – but with the added advantage of
providing an outlet for products and an instrument for persuasion
and manipulation.
But even organizations which have only media holdings, such as
Gannett or Murdoch, are first and foremost for-profit corporations
whose strategies are aimed less at living up to the principles of
democratic mass communication than at expanding revenue growth.
More importantly, however, media ownership vis-à-vis political
interests, located in political parties, representatives, or government,
represents in itself considerable political power focused on the exe-
cution of commercial agendas and on political decisions regarding
regulatory issues pertaining to mass communication.
The influence and control of economic interests is not restricted
to the information function of the media, however, but extends over
the cultural realm, in general, as it shapes the form and content of
the popular culture industry. The latter is based on exploiting mass
appeal and mass behavior and dedicated to the merchandizing func-
tion of mass communication, in which it absorbs and exhausts the
cultural resources of society. There is no sustainable creative career

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