Mass Media in a Mass Society - Richard Hoggart

Advantages: Curmudgeonly cultural commentator criticises crass commercialism
Disadvantages: Can be crusty and cranky

...and loan sharks. The commercial mass media has a self-serving interest in keeping us on the ‘carousel’, rather than the ‘escalator’ of rising standards and expectations. In response, Hoggart calls for true public-service broadcasting, where programmes are made with quality, rather than audience figures, in mind. You feel here he is attempting to turn back an unstoppable tide: he clings to BBC4 and the Channel 4 News like a drowning man. But I couldn't ...
...people. Look at the success of writers like Lynne Truss and Michael Moore. That suggests we do want standards in language and politics. There is more hope than Hoggart realises: he may be pushing at an open door. Some of his other concerns may be unfounded too. For example, I don’t think all Sun readers take the paper seriously as a source of news. Sadly or not, there’ll always be a market for such ‘entertainment’. Just the evidence of the broad ... Read review