... lower or working classes. Through diverting attention away from central issues the upper classes are able to retain their power and the established social hierarchy. 'The class which has the means of material production at its disposal has control at the same time over the means of mental production, so that thereby, generally speaking, the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production are subject to it'1. The Marxist 'mass manipulation' model also proposed the idea that the media orchestrate moral panics in order to legitimise the introduction of greater social control measures. So Marxist theorists therefore felt that the media misinforms the public with regards to the nature and extent of crime in order to secure their social position. However can we really draw such a distinct line between the media/upper class and the public/lower class? Surely it is the working class that are producing, writing and ...

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