“Because those who have economic power own the newspapers, endow the universities, finance the publication of books and journals, and (in our own time) control television, radio and other electronic media, they have a prevailing say in what is heard, thought, and believe by the millions who get their ideas—their picture of reality—from these sources. This does not mean that the controllers of the 'means of mental production' consciously deceive or manipulate those who receive their message. What it means is that the picture of reality held by these controllers—believed by them, no doubt sincerely, to be an accurate representation of reality—will be largely the picture of reality that fills the heads of the readers and viewers of the mass media. Recognizing this involves no disrespect of the so-called common person. It is simply a matter of facing reality.”

—Jeffrey Reiman