The media is the latest agent of socialization. As such, its pervasiveness has
raised a lot of concern. The media has been variously used as a power tool by the
elite in society from time immemorial. Whilst Gutenberg's invention brought the
masses into the previously exclusive world of enlightenment, it did not reverse the
balance of power. Whereas knowledge was officially a preserve of a few people and
guarded jealously before the advent of mass media, now it is generated by a few
people and sometimes with the purpose of misinformation'. It has had both negative
and positive effects on society.