With particular reference to television news, assess the role that the mass media have in shaping "reality".

"The mass media serve as a system for communicating messages and symbols to the general populace." (Herman and Chomsky, 1994: 1). From surfing the worldwide web to picking up a newspaper in the morning, from watching the nighttime news to switching on our mobile phones mass media is all around us, in everything we do and we can't escape it. We are in a period of media saturation. Television is the best media example to use because, "…showed first 75 words of 1702 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1702 total…Mass Communication Symbolic Goods and Media Products by Thompson, J.B. from "Sociology: Introductory Readings" Cambridge: Polity Press Keane, J. "Media and Democracy" Cambridge: Polity Press Kellner D. "Media Culture" London: Routledge Macionis, J. and Plummer, K. (1998) "Sociology a Global Introduction" London: Prentice Hall Marsh, I et al. (2000) " Sociology Making Sense of Society" London: Prentice Hall Zurbrugg, N. (ed) (1997) This is Not a War by Patton, P. from "Jean Baudrillard Art and Artefact" Sage Publishers