L&C Chapter 15: Holding Up a Mirror to a Classless Society

This piece by Suarez revolved around the importance of the media in reinforcing class-rooted images. Suarez speaks of how we are so ingrained with such images that they become natural to us, like a language that does not need to be decoded. This shows how mediums of communication such as the television play a fundamental role in normalizing ideas such as the distaste for poverty, and assumptions between race, class and crime that subtly reinforces the psychological barriers to equality.

Also, Suarez argues that structural inequality comes into play in the media as only the powerful have the means and resources to exert control over what is being seen. On the other hand, those who belong to the lower ranks are not sought for their opinions or expertise.

Through these two ways, it is argued that American television is “elite media” that perpetuate the “realities of class”, which is “woven into the DNA of the news”. I feel that indeed, ‘standard’ media practices in reinforcing particular media images have perhaps become much of a tradition. Because this tradition proves to be a successful formula that drives viewership and profit, it is hard for the media to provide new interpretations of class and go against the very stakeholders (ie. the rich), the source of profits. Thus we can see how the media also serves to perpetuate existing inequalities, be it in measurable terms or psychologically.