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Whither Mass Media and Power? Evidence for a Critical Elite Theory Alternative

City University, London, a.g.davis{at}city.ac.uk

This article makes the case that critical research in media studies needs to devote more attention to the part played by media and culture in elite decision-making. It argues that the mass media/mass influence paradigm is, of itself, no longer adequate to explain the utility of communications in the sustenance of unequal power relations in society. Instead, evidence presented here observes that a major function of news media is to act as a communications forum for elites in their daily conflicts and negotiations. With elites acting as sources, targets and major recipients of news texts, inter-elite, rather than elite-mass, communications seems to be a key feature of the political process. These findings are based on a series of 98 semi-structured interviews with political and corporate news sources, and senior journalists in the UK.

Key Words: communication • elites • news • politics • sources

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