Influence of mass media

In psychology, communication theory and sociology, media influence or media effects refers to the theories about the ways the mass media affect how their audiences, think and behave.

The shift of media and media industry over the past few years into new forms, such as DVD and the internet, changes the modalities available for audiences to (consumption)(economics)(consume) and receive media. The change has caused some media theorists to call into question the influence that the media have over (attitude) (psychology)(attitude)s and (belief)s.

Urbanization, industrialization and modernization created social conditions in which the mass media developed. The bulk of the content of the mass media is not designed to challenge or modify the social and political structure of a nation, either in a one party state or in a democratic society. The mass media play a crucial role in forming and reflecting public opinion: the media communicate the world to individuals and reproduce the self-image of society. Critiques in the early-to-mid twentieth century suggested that the media weaken or delimit the individual's capacity to act autonomously - sometimes being ascribed an influence reminiscent of the telescreens of the dystopian novel 1984. Mid twentieth-century empirical studies, however, suggested more limited effects of the media. Current scholarship presents a more complex interaction between the media and society, with the media generating information from a network of relations and influences and with the individual interpreting and evaluating the information provided, as well as generating information outside of media contexts. The consequences and ramifications of the mass media relate not merely to the way newsworthy events are perceived (and which are reported at all), but also to a multitude of cultural influences that operate through the media.

Passive audience theories

The most common theories of media effects and influence are direct effect or passive audience theories. While not widely held by many academics in the field of communications theory, many of their predictions are assumed by politicians and the public at large.

== The hypodermic needle model is a theory that has been held by media theorists since the early 19th century and suggests that the media can be seen as an 'intravenous injection' of message. In other words, any message conveyed by the media is willingly and unquestioningly accepted for its preferred reading by the audience. Certain events support this theory, such as the 1938 radio play of The War of the Worlds by Orson Welles that was broadcast in the United States, its realistic tone and execution inciting panic within the audience and causing riots in towns. However, this theory is discredited by common sense observation. If this theory is nomothetic as it suggests, then we would all respond immediately to any media text we consume. Therefore, the theory's flaw lies in the vast number of intervening variables that alter a person's perception of media messages. =='Italic text''Italic text'

Another example of a passive audience theory is the Inoculation model which is a long term effect model. This states that upon being exposed to a media message, the audience becomes immediately 'immune' to them. So, for example, long term exposure to a violent message will result in a desensitization to that degree of violence. This theory was used to explain the case of James Bulger, in which two boys murdered a child. This invoked a moral panic that saw the film Child's Play 3 being blamed for the violent behaviour. However, there was no evidence that the Inoculation effect had led to this. In fact, there was little to suggest that boys had even seen the film. However, this theory suffers from the same shortfalls as the Hypodermic syringe effect. It sees the audience as entirely passive and impressionable. Therefore, it is commonly discredited by media theorists.

Violence

Media effects theory is the sociological or media studies theory that exposure to representations of violence in any of various media causes (or tends to cause) increased aggression or violence in the audience / consumer. It appears in 'folk wisdom' and newspaper editorials as the claim that x or y media product must be banned in order to avoid the violence it depicts being acted out in society, notably by young people.

Some argue that it is not really a theory, as it lacks a meaningful theoretical grounding; instead it is more like a hypothesis.

The most influential studies on the debate around media studies have usually been headline-grabbing 'proofs' of Effects theory. Subsequent attempts to replicate, modify, refine or reject these headline studies have proven of less interest to the mass media.

Examples of direct effect theories on violence in the mass media

Bobo Doll

This classic study (Bandura et al, 1961) exposed two groups of nursery children to a new play area, containing a selection of toys with which they were unfamiliar. One of the toys was a threefoot inflatable Bobo Clown with a weighted base, designed as a self-righting 'punchbag' toy. As they played, the non-aggression (control) set observed an adult playing quietly with certain toys and ignoring Bobo. In the aggression set, the adult 'model' performed a distinctive set of violent moves on Bobo, such as sitting on its head and punching its nose, striking it with a toy mallet, and kicking it into the air, while uttering aggressive phrases such as Punch him in the nose!. Independent observers later scored children's behaviour for aggression when left alone to play with these toys. Those exposed to the 'aggressive' adult demonstrably imitated many of the adult's moves.

Rock 'n Roll

On August 9 1969 Charles Manson and his cult killed several people, inspired by songs of The Beatles (Piggies, Helter Skelter). This was not the first time a possible negative influence of rock 'n roll was discussed, but it was the first serious case.

In 1980 former Beatle John Lennon was shot. His killer, Mark David Chapman was inspired by Lennon's music and the book The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.

In the eighties criticism of rock and especially heavy metal increased. Several cases where fans of metal, gothic or other extreme rock committed murder or suicide were held up by Christian and other pression groups to censor these acts or their music.

In 1985 hearings of this case started and several pop artists came to prevent censorship of the PMRC. It was pointed out that many of these cases were marginal deeds and that the numerous normal fans of this music proved that listening to metal or other sorts of music with controversial topics didn't necessarily end in copycat behavior. Also by preventing children from hearing this music adult listeners were prevented from hearing these songs and albums too.

One of the most vocal rock musicians to speak out against government censorship in the music industry was Frank Zappa who stated that according to the theories about media influence on people one might say that "everyone who ever listened to The Beatles or The Beach Boys is a potential murderer, because those were the favorite groups of Charles Manson. Most songs are about love, so if people were really influenced by music: we would all love each other."

In the end the Parental Advisory stickers were established.

When Nirvana singer Kurt Cobain committed suicide in 1994 this resulted in several copy cat suicides by fans, which again raised the question if certain rock music should be prevented from release.

Comedian Bill Hicks made a well known conference about rock music influencing suicidal tendencies.

A Clockwork Orange

Stanley Kubrick's film A Clockwork Orange (1971) caused controversy on its release due to the violent content. Alex, the main character, rapes women and beats up beggars. The film tells the story through Alex's eyes and therefore he is represented as a hero while the caricatural people who surround him seem less attractive by comparison. The controversy about the film increased when some gangs and youths started to copycat the violence and rape. The media focused heavily on these cases of copy cat violence and even Kubrick himself started regretting he directed the film. He censored the film in England until after his death (in 1999) to avoid further violence and because of death threats against him and his family.

Cartoon censorship

In the seventies several classic cartoons were censored when broadcast on television because they were considered a bad influence on children. Some of them because of racist or stereotypical references, but others for their violent content. Especially Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry were singled out because the cartoons often showcased explosions, gunshots, physical deformations and weapons. Cartoon characters however always survive these actions which, in the eyes of critics, is an unrealistic message to children who might believe when you hurt or kill someone he will remain unharmed.

Many classic cartoons were showed in a censored way where all the violent actions were cut out. Animation fans and the animators themselves criticized this censorship because the pictures became increasingly short and dull, due to the missing of many funny gags. They pointed out that since the 1940s nearly everyone in the country had grown up watching these cartoons without any negative effects while growing up. Also, the censorship didn't consider the entertainment value of the cartoons.

In the early '90s a boy was assumed to have set fire to his little sisters' bed because he saw a similar scene in an episode of Beavis & Butthead. Controversy arose, but it turned out the boy didn't have cable. MTV did however schedule the program on a later hour.

The Simpsons episode "Itchy and Scratchy and Marge" satirized the censorship of violent cartoons. Itchy & Scratchy themselves are a parody of violence in child oriented media and it's influence on children.

John Hinckley Jr.

In 1981 president Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley Jr.. The president survived and Hinckley was arrested. Just like Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman he had J.D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye with him. Hinckley claimed to have committed his crime to impress actress Jodie Foster, like he had seen in the movie Taxi Driver by Martin Scorsese.

The Hungerford massacre

On August 19, 1987 the British village of Hungerford fell victim to a man, dressed as Rambo, who shot 16 people and wounded 15 others. Afterwards he committed suicide. Although later investigations concluded that he had never seen the film, he did have a collection of other violent movies, which may have inspired the killings. (See Hungerford massacre)

The Jamie Bulger Case

There has been a long running argument as to whether or not films have influenced people to head out and commit acts of violence and murder. One of the major front runners in this issue is the Jamie Bulger story. On February 12, 1993 in Merseyside, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables (both aged 10) kidnapped, abused and murdered the young toddler Jamie Bulger. The two boys were arrested and instantly the story gained mass media coverage, soon after, it was alleged that the two boys had recently seen the film Child's Play 3, the media instantly took hold of this and the film was seen as the cause of the murder of Jamie Bulger. During the trial, the judge suggested that the film was to blame for the two boys' actions. The media scare at this time was used by UK Prime Minister John Major as propaganda to try to steer children away from glue sniffing and mischief.^{[citation needed]}

The BBC called it a "landmark case"^{[citation needed]} as it was a moral panic about children the threat of other's, and the defenselessness of our own.^{[clarification needed]} After the image of a small figure being taken away by two slightly larger figures was all over the tabloids,^{[clarification needed]} sales of toddler reins shot up, and in a survey of parents by the children's organization, Kidscape, 97% of respondents put abduction as their biggest worry, ahead of traffic accidents, glue-sniffing and AIDS.

The Columbine Killings

In 1999 two boys shot several students to death in Columbine High School in Colorado. Afterwards they committed suicide. Accusations were made that they were influenced by violent videogames and/or films or goth music. (See Columbine High School Massacre)

In Michael Moore's documentary about these killings, Bowling for Columbine (2002), he examines the possible inspirations for these horrible deeds. He interviews two persons who are frequently criticized for their supposed negative influence on society: rock musician Marilyn Manson and Matt Stone of South Park. Moore comes to the conclusion that these and other media influences do not necessarily lead to copycat cases. He states that the two murderers committed the massacre while the Kosovo War was occurring and that they went bowling before the massacre. The war in Kosovo was a real deed of violence, but virtually no one accused Bill Clinton or the US military of inspiring the murders. If television programs, computer games and rock music are considered possible inspirations why couldn't bowling be the cause? This ridiculous claim shows Moore's point. If you can connect the massacre to rock being listened to days ago, why can't you connect bowling played directly beforehand? This is a classic case of correlation vs. causation.

It is shown that guns are relatively easy to buy in stores and American news broadcasts tend to be so sensational and often scaring in their delivery of events that mass hysteria erupts. People get so frightened and/or disturbed that they overreact to certain things and feel so unsafe they want to buy weapons for protection.

Congressional Hearings, 1981

These hearings were called in response to rising awareness of crime, and the widespread belief that television was at least partly responsible. The National Institute of Mental Health argued forcefully that a broad review of the then-existing literature confirmed Effects theory. Other organizations, eg CBS, submitted contrary position papers - CBS's was entitled "Research on Television Violence: The Fact of Dissent"

Memory

Media can also influence the way people talk. Certain movies ave quotes that can be embedded into the minds of the audience. However, these quotes can be either appropriate or nonappropriate. Most of the time they tend to fall into the nonappropriate section.

In justice

Many famous trials about celebrities such as '''Roscoe Arbuckle''' and Michael Jackson have, whatever the outcome of the trials, ended in such bad publicity and negative depictions of the people involved that their reputation was damaged sincerely forever. The general public had already formed their opinion even before the trials were held. Even if the celebrity remained out of jail or was proven not guilty his career or popularity could have turned out for the worse due to this.

In politics

Joseph McCarthy's hunt for communist infiltrations in the US was broadcast frequently on television and other media. Therefore influencing the negative attitude of Americans towards communism, without a neutral viewpoint.

The election of many politicians since the 1960s, most notably John F. Kennedy in the US have been influenced enormously by media exposure, such as television. Kennedy's victory in the presidential race of 1960 against Richard Nixon has been described as the result of his more handsome and good looking appearance on television, especially when compared with Nixon.

Also Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger whose fame as actors helped them to gain more media attention and eventually the victory in their elections as governor or president. This trend however, can be seen internationally.

Primary, secondary and tertiary involvement

It has been suggested that the extent to which an audience engages with a media text can be roughly split into three degrees. The first of these is primary involvement, in which the audience is solely concentrating on consuming the media text. For example, they are sitting down solely to watch their favorite program on television. Secondary involvement is when an audience's concentration is split between the media text and another distraction. For example, working on the computer while watching television. Tertiary involvement is when the media text is merely in the background, with no real concentration upon it at all. For example, glancing at a newspaper on a crowded train. While this theory is somewhat simplistic, it provides a clear and probable explanation as to the changes in audience reception.

Perhaps the most widely accepted theory on audience reception is Denis McQuail's Uses and Gratifications model. This places emphasis on why audiences consume media. The first reason outlined in the model are the need to reinforce your own behaviour by identifying with roles and values presented in the media. Secondly, we need to feel some kind of interaction with other people; this is offered by text such as soap operas and lifestyle magazines. The third reason is the need for security in our lifes. Media offer us a window to the world that allows education and the acquisition of information. The final reason is the need for entertainment through both escapism and the need for emotional release, such as laughter. A strength of this theory is the emphasis on the audience as active in the reception of media. However, this would suggest no passivity within the audience whatsoever. A person may, for example, be too lazy to turn off their television and so consume any media that is available. This theory also pays little attention to the short term and long term effects of media on the audience.

Criticism

Criticism of effects theory takes three broad strands.

Methodological criticisms focus on hidden assumptions, flawed experimental design, and prejudicial interpretation of results of studies claimed to support effects theory.

Historical criticisms situate the 'meta-narrative' of effects theory within a long history of distrust of new forms of media, dating as far back as Socrates's objections to the deleterious effects due to the written alphabet.

Political criticisms pose an alternative conception of humans as rational, critical subjects, who are alert to genre norms and adept at interpreting and critiquing media representations, not passively absorbing them.

Supporters of effects theory contend that commercials, advertising and voter campaigns prove that the media influences people's behavior. In the 20th century aggressive media attention and negative depictions of trials revolving around celebrities as Roscoe Fatty Arbuckle or Michael Jackson have influenced the general public's opinion, before the trials effectively started. However, these critics do point out that while the media could have an effect on people's behaviour this isn't necessarily always the case.

Critics of the media effects theory point out that many copycat murders, suicides and other violent acts nearly always happen in abnormal upbringings. They were raised in a violent, emotionally neglected or aggressive environment which influenced their behaviour more rather than watching certain programs, films or listening to certain music. Most people who carry out these acts are also mentally unstable to begin with.

Critics also point out that just because an audience sees acts of violence on TV, etc, this does not mean they will actually do it themselves. Of the millions of people who watch violent films, only a small number have caried out acts of violence as a direct result. People regularly exposed to violent media usually grow up to be completely normal people. If there are any effects from media, they only affect a very small amount of people.

Political

Certain groups tend to argue for media effects in an effort to promote a political cause. Demands for the banning of certain songs or the labeling of obscene albums came specifically from conservative political groups in the United States. They argued — without evidence — that such material had simple and identifiable effects on children, and this should be banned/labeled.

Priming and Framing

The agenda setting process is partly one which is an almost unavoidable function of the process involved in newsgathering by the large organisations which make up much of the mass media. (Just four main news agencies - AP, UPI, Reuters and Agence-France-Presse - claim together to provide 90% of the total news output of the world’s press, radio and television.) Stuart Hall points out that because some of the media produce material which often is good, impartial, and serious, they are accorded a high degree of respect and authority. But in practice the ethic of the press and television is closely related to that of the homogeneous establishment, providing a vital support for the existing order. But independence (eg of the BBC) is not “a mere cover, it is central to the way power and ideology are mediated in societies like ours.” The public are bribed with good radio, television and newspapers into an acceptance of the biased, the misleading, and the status quo. The media are not, according to this approach, crude agents of propaganda. They organise public understanding. However, the overall interpretations they provide in the long run are those which are most preferred by, and least challenging to, those with economic power. Greg Philo demonstrates this in his 1991 article, “Seeing is Believing”, in which he showed that recollections of the 1984 miners’ strike were strongly correlated with the media’s original presentation of the event, including the perception of the picketing as largely violent (violence was rare), and the use of phrases which had appeared originally in the media of the time.

McCombs and Shaw (1972) demonstrate the agenda-setting effect at work in a study conducted in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA during the 1968 presidential elections. Having selected a representative sample of un-decided voters, they were asked to outline the key issues of the election as they perceived them. Concurrently, the mass media serving these subjects were collected and analysed as regards their content. The results showed a definite correlation between the two accounts of predominant issues. "The evidence in this study that voters tend to share the media's composite definition of what is important strongly suggests an agenda-setting function of the mass media." (McCombs and Shaw).

New media

Theorists such as Louis Wirth and Talcott Parsons have emphasised the importance of mass media as instruments of social control. In the twenty-first century, with the rise of the internet, the two-way relationship between mass media and public opinion is beginning to change, with the advent of new technologies such as blogging.

Mander’s theory is related to Jean Baudrillard’s concept of ‘hyperreality’. We can take the 1994 O.J. Simpson trial as an example, where the reality reported on was merely the catalyst for the simulacra (images) created, which defined the trial as a global event and made the trial more than it was. Essentially, hyperreality is the concept that the media is not merely a window on to the world (as if a visiting alien were watching TV), but is itself part of the reality it describes. Hence (although additionally there is the question of navel-gazing) the media’s obsession with media-created events. It is this which lead Marshall McLuhan in the 1960s to say that "the medium is the message", and to suggest that mass media was increasingly creating a "global village". Thus, for example, there is evidence that Western media influences in Asia are the driving force behind rapid social change: “it is as if the 1960s and the 1990s were compressed together.” A notable example is the recent introduction of television to Bhutan, with dramatic effects in terms of very rapid Westernization. This raises questions of ‘cultural imperialism’ (Schiller) - the de facto imposition, through economic and political power and through the media, of Western (and in particular US) culture.

An instrument for social control

Social scientists have made efforts to integrate the study of the mass media as instrument of control with the study of political and economic developments in the Afro-Asian countries. David Lerner(1958) has emphasised the general pattern of increase in standard of living, urbanization , literacy and expsore to the mass media during the process of transition from traditional to modern society. According to Lerner, while there is a heavy emphasis on the expanding of the mass media in developing societies, the penetration of the central authority into the daily consciousness of the mass has to overcome profound resistance.

Government and Mass Media

The commission on Freedom of the press(1947) has listed most political and legal controls that have commonly been applied to the media. They include licensing in advance;censorship of offending material before publication;seizure of offending material;injunctions against publication of a newspaper or book or of specified content;requirement of surety bonds against libel or other offense;compulsory disclosure of ownership and authority;post publication criminal penalties for objectionable matter;post publication collection of damages in a civil action;post publication correction of libel and other misstatements;discrimination in granting access to news source and facilities;discrimination and denial in the use of communications facilities for distribution;taxes;discriminatory subsidies;and interference with buying, reading and listening.

The public sphere

Structural transformation

Habermas believed that society becomes increasingly polarised into spheres of "public authority" - referring to the emergence of the state and associated political activity - and the "private" - the intimate domain of private relationships and the family. Jürgen Habermas believed that the development of mass media was a crucial factor in the transition from an absolutist regime to liberal-democratic society. With the invention of the printing press and then the availability of newspapers and other forms of printed literature, Habermas claimed the emergence of an intermediate sphere which according to him is the bourgeois public sphere. This space will provide individuals with a chance to gather together to critically access, discuss and evaluate important contemporary issues of utmost importance for the people. He claimed that this will resemble the Greek agora. Habermas claims that this public use of reason not only acts as a regulatory mechanism over the state, which is now highly visible, but also as a catalyst for the replacement of the absolutist regime with a liberal democratic government.

Frankfurt School

The Frankfurt School came into existence in order to explain the success of Nazism in Weimar Germany. It sees the loss of individuality through decline of privacy as the main cause of dependence on great mass organisations. Habermas to a certain extent depends on some early critiques of the media from the ‘Frankfurt School’, such as that of Max Horkheimer, Theodor Adorno and Herbert Marcuse. For these three, media was a 'culture industry' which was creating an impact on passive individuals. These individuals merely absorb any information they are exposed to. (A clear influence of Karl Marx can be seen here, with links to the theory of alienation.) According to Thompson, the cause of this is the commodification of art and culture, which allows the possibility of "manipulation by demagogues".Emile Durkheim claimed that the interdependence of highly specialised individuals, or what is known as ‘organic solidarity’, is seen as being succeeded by a new and barbarous homogeneity. Due to this, only a ‘mechanical’ cohesion is possible, dependent on similarity and standardisation. Horkheimer thus argued that, paradoxically, individuality was impaired by the decline in the impulse for collective action. According to him, ‘As the ordinary man withdraws from participating in political affairs, society tends to revert to the law of the jungle, which crushes all vestiges of individuality.’ In this analysis the Frankfurt school saw totalitarianism emerging as a result of corrupt social institutions and the decline of liberal principles. Thus Horkheimer claimed that: “Just as the slogans of rugged individualism are politically useful to large trusts in society seeking exemption from social control, so in mass culture the rhetoric of individuality, by imposing patterns for collective imitation, subverts the very principle to which it gives lip service.” Adorno in The Jargon of Authenticity claimed that “mass media can create an aura which makes the spectator seem to experience a non-existent actuality”. Thus a mass-produced, artificial culture replaces what went before.

Mass media and modern public sphere

In political behaviour, opinion leading tends to correlate positively with status, whereas this is not the case in consumer behaviour . So for political behaviour, the general conclusion that the media merely fixes (confirms) people’s opinion is not supported. Hovland, using experimental psychology, found significant effects of information on longer-term behaviour and attitudes, particularly in areas where most people have little direct experience (e.g. politics) and have a high degree of trust in the source (e.g. broadcasting). Since class has become a less reliable indicator of party (since the surveys of the 40s and 50s) the floating voter today is no longer the apathetic voter, but likely to be more well-informed than the consistent voter — and this mainly through the media.

There is also some very persuasive and empirical evidence suggesting that it is ‘personal contact, not media persuasiveness’ which counts. For example, Trenaman and McQuail (1961) found that ‘don’t knows’ were less well informed than consistent voters, appearing uninterested, showing a general lack of information, and not just ignorance of particular policies or policies of one particular party. During the 1940 presidential election, a similar view was expressed by Katz and Lazarsfeld's theory of the two-step flow of communication, based on a study of electoral practices of the citizens of Erie County, Ohio. This examined the political propaganda prevalent in the media at the time during the campaign period to see whether it plays an integral role in influencing people's voting. (In terms of generalising their results, one should note that there are questions about short term versus long term influence). The results contradict this: Lazarsfeld et al (1944) find evidence for the Weberian theory of party, and identify certain factors, such as socio-economic circumstances, religious affiliation and area of residence, which together determine political orientation. The study claims that political propaganda serves to re-affirm the individual's pre-disposed orientation rather than to influence or change one's voting behaviour.

Thompson does not see ‘mediated quasi-interaction’ (the monological, mainly one-way communication of the mass media) as dominant, but rather as intermingling with traditional face-to-face interactions and mediated interactions (such as telephone conversations). Contrary to Habermas’ pessimistic view, this allows both more information and discussion to come into the public domain (of mediated quasi-interaction) and more to be discussed within the private domain (since the media provides information individuals would not otherwise have access to).

Mass Media in a free enterprise society

Although a sizeable portion of mass media offerings-particularly news, commentaries, documentaries, and other informational programmes- deal with highly controversial subjects, the major portion of mass media offerings are designed to serve an entertainment function. These programmes tend to avoid controversial issues and reflect beliefs and values sanctified by mass audience. This course is followed by Television networks, whose investment and production costs are high. Jerry Mander’s work has highlighted this particular outlook. According to him, the atomised individuals of mass society lose their souls to the phantom delights of the film, the soap opera, and the variety show. They fall into a stupor; an apathetic hypnosis Lazarsfeld was to call the ‘narcotizing dysfunction’ of exposure to mass media. Individuals become ‘irrational victims of false wants’ - the wants which corporations have thrust upon them, and continue to thrust upon them, through both the advertising in the media (with its continual exhortation to consume) and through the individualist consumption culture it promulgates. Thus, according to the Frankfurt School, leisure has been industrialised. The production of culture had become standardised and dominated by the profit motive as in other industries. In a mass society leisure is constantly used to induce the appropriate values and motives in the public. The modern media train the young for consumption. ‘Leisure had ceased to be the opposite of work, and had become a preparation for it.’

Mass media, mass culture and elite

The relation of the mass media to contemporary popular culture is commonly conceived in terms of dissemination from the elite to the mass. There are periods when this process is reversed. During the 18th century it was the utmost chic for the aristocrats of the French Court to assume the guise of shepherds and peasants in their restive outings.

The long-term consequences of this are significant in conjunction with the continuing concentration of ownership and control of the media, leading to accusations of a 'media elite' having a form of 'cultural dictatorship'. Thus the continuing debate about the influence of 'media barons' such as Conrad Black and Rupert Murdoch. For example, the UK Observer (March 1st 1998) reported the Murdoch-owned HarperCollins' refusal to publish Chris Patten's East and West, because of the former Hong Kong Governor's description of the Chinese leadership as "faceless Stalinists" possibly being damaging to Murdoch's Chinese broadcasting interests. In this case, the author was able to have the book accepted by another publisher, but this kind of censorship may point the way to the future. A related, but more insidious, form is that of self-censorship by members of the media in the interests of the owner, in the interests of their careers.