From the last paragraph, the ruling class may influence popular thinking and create certain impression and even direct the course of social discussions by simply buying and/or controlling the media.

Read the Passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.Mass communication occurs when information is disseminated to a relatively large number of people in different places. It should not be seen as the same thing as talking face to face with someone else. In the one-way mass communication described here, the sender does not get an immediate answer, smile, laugh or look of surprise from the audience. The people who receive the message are as far away from the source of the message as far away as you are from the announcers on the radio or from the newscasters on television, or from the writer of a column in the local newspaper.There are three identifiable means of mass communication. There is one done through the printed words, books, magazines and newspapers. The other is primarily radio, but also records and tape recordings. Also, it can be done through a combination of sound and pictures as in television, films and the more recently popular video tape.Together, they are referred to as the mass media.All media can be used to inform and entertain. However, there are other roles played. It may be to educate as in school broadcasts. Again, the aim may be to persuade as when the media are used by advertisers or for political broadcasts. The media are often in a strong position to influence public opinion because they select the topics to be presented and can stress the importance of one issue over the other.The mass media have, in recent times, come under acerbic criticism. Many presenters have become not only conscientized but also immensely concerned about the possible effects that scenes of violence and bad behavior may have on their children. More worrisome are the potential dangers of political and commercial propaganda.<hr/>  Which choice names the commercial activity that the writer links to persuasion through advertisers, rather than a political gathering or a broadcasting method?

Earlier discussion