Adorno (1954), "How to Look at Television"

Adorno's (1954) "How to Look at Television" bemoans what he sees as the standardization of dominant ideology across all forms of media.

1. As all types of media (Adorno cites jazz and the detective novel) are being produced by an increasingly narrow group of producers, ideologies are becoming standardized across all formats. Though some of these messages are not new (Adorno cites the subjugation of women, for example), in a context of media standardization, these messages become a priori arguments that must be acknowledged implicitly before media content become intelligible.

2. Since we are getting the same message from all of these different areas, the message gets woven all throughout culture. Therefore, we are less likely to see the message as a message at all.  Instead, it just becomes ingrained in our culture.

3. Adorno (1954) believed that this dominant ideology tamped down resistance and prevented consumers from protesting against unfair treatment.