mass-communication-theory

media to advance high culture and provide a broad array of other public service
content. Broadcasts of symphony concerts and Shakespearean drama were intended
to enlighten the masses. Media were supposed to give people what they
needed rather than what they wanted. This earned the BBC the nickname “Auntie
Beebe.”
This debate over mass versus high culture is now becoming a worldwide debate
about the corrupting influence of American media content as it reaches every
corner of the globe. The people of many nations find troubling the norms and values
inherent in U.S. content. American media entrepreneurs advocate opening
worldwide media markets to the inflow of inexpensive American-produced entertainment.
Why should poor and developing nations waste resources producing domestic
media fare when U.S. content is easily and readily accessible? Educated elites
in those nations worry about the power of this content to undermine their national
cultures. What Americans see as content extolling the freedom to pursue the American
Dream, these elites see as propaganda for the irresponsible American pursuit of selfish
and materialistic goals. But the United States makes no pretense of being a civilizing
force in the world—or does it? We don’t claim to have a political agenda when we
produce and distribute movies or use satellites to distribute television programs. And
after all, it’s only entertainment, isn’t it?
EARLY EXAMPLES OF MASS SOCIETY THEORY
Chapter 3 The Rise of Media Industries and Mass Society Theory 63
Now we’ll summarize a few of the early examples of mass society theory. This set
of theories is by no means complete. Rather, these perspectives combine ideas developed
by others and represent how people in a given culture at a particular point
in time thought about their social world. The examples we describe and discuss
were influential at the time they were written and provided important reference
points for later theorists. It is important to remember, too, that even where not specifically
mentioned, the emerging mass media were clearly implicated in most
examples.
In subsequent chapters, we will deal with the development of later theories that
grew out of mass society theory. These continued to gain popularity until late in
the 1950s. By 1965, however, mass society theory, in its classic formulation, was
collapsing—inherent flaws had become obvious even to adamant supporters. Fear
of totalitarianism had ebbed (at least within academia), and if mass culture was going
to cause the end of civilization, it was already too late (at least in the United
States).
In the last chapters of this book, we will consider important new theories that
articulate innovative thinking about popular culture—including ideas about the influence
of U.S.-style mass entertainment in other nations. These inevitably draw on
older notions about mass society and mass culture, but most reject the simplistic
assumptions and criticisms of earlier eras. These newer theories no longer accept
elite high culture as the standard against which all others must be measured. Totalitarianism
is no longer feared as inevitable, but censorship of media by authoritarian
regimes is widespread. Current criticism tends to focus on the inherent biases of
media when it comes to developing new forms of culture. Media are no longer seen
as corrupting and degrading high culture. Rather, they are viewed as limiting or
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