... state, "the many events that make up the history of our mass media cannot be interpreted in a theoretical vacuum." In order to understand why mass media functions as it does, and why it has developed as it has, it is imperative to examine the cultural and social context that surround its history. Mass media and its respective society are engaged in a symbiotic and ever changing relationship. Like many other operations in society, mass media is constantly operating according to a certain social contract that is being continuously renegotiated. DeFleur and Ball-Rokeach point this out in their discussion of social paradigms and their application to mass media. Although the various paradigms differ somewhat in their emphasis either upon equilibrium or upon change, the key issue seems to remain that these paradigms see behaviors developing as a result of the perpetuation of the collective, and of meeting its various needs. ...

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