Political EconomyOur society is strongly influenced by all sources of media. The media shows us what is happening in the world: news, fashion and much more. Media is our connection to the world and what is happening around us. The political economy approach examines the influence that ownership control, advertising, and public spending have on the mass media and mediated messages we receive on a daily basis. Political economy believes that everything about media products is created through structural characteristics (ownership, advertising, and audience spending). The industries and businesses the media work for and for are organized through the economic and political factors of our economy. Political economy emphasizes that private ownership has a great influence on the content and structure of the media. There are three views of ownership control that Kevin Williams discusses in Understanding Media Theory. First, Marxist political economy believes that there is a direct link between ownership and control. It is the owner who determines who, what facts and what ideas the public actually sees. Second, structuralists argue that it is impossible to have a direct relationship between ownership and control. Structuralists believe that an owner is physically unable to keep up with the mediated message operations performed on a daily basis. There are too many messages created for an owner to review and give consent before production. Structuralists, on the other hand, believe they have alloc...