--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The commercial media … help citizens feel…" description: "\"“The commercial media … help citizens feel as if they are successful and have met these aspirations, even if they have not. They tend to neglect realit..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/chris-hedges-2131_corporate-culture_the-commercial-media-help-citizens-feel_1165551.png" --- # The commercial media … help citizens feel as if they are… ![“The commercial media … help citizens feel as if they are successful and have met these aspirations, even if they have not. They tend to neglect reality (they don't run stories about how life is hard, fame and fortune elusive, hopes disappointed) and instead celebrate idealized identities – those…” quote by Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/chris-hedges-2131_corporate-culture_the-commercial-media-help-citizens-feel_1165551.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/chris-hedges-2131_corporate-culture_the-commercial-media-help-citizens-feel_1165551.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/30c/chris-hedges-2131_corporate-culture_the-commercial-media-help-citizens-feel_1165551.png) > ““The commercial media … help citizens feel as if they are successful and have met these aspirations, even if they have not. They tend to neglect reality (they don't run stories about how life is hard, fame and fortune elusive, hopes disappointed) and instead celebrate idealized identities – those that, in a commodity culture, revolve around the acquisition of status, money, fame and power, or at least the illusion of these things. The media, in other words, assist the commercial culture in “need creation”, prompting consumers to want things they don't need or have never really considered wanting. And catering to these needs, largely implanted by advertisers and the corporate culture, is a very profitable business. A major part of the commercial media revolves around selling consumers images and techniques to “actualize” themselves, or offering seductive forms of escape through entertainment and spectacle. News is filtered into the mix, but actual news is not the predominant concern of the commercial media.”” [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Commercial media shapes desires by promoting idealized success, creating unnecessary needs and diverting focus from reality. **In simple terms:** Media sells false aspirations. Key Takeaway Critically evaluate media messages. Themes media influence consumerism illusion Mood critical informed Type analytical educational When to use this quote - advertising - social media - political messaging - personal finance Key Concepts cultural critique psychology of desire Questions to Reflect On - How do you distinguish genuine information? - What steps can reduce media-driven pressure? A Different Perspective Media can also inform and empower; not all content is manipulative. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Corporate culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporate-culture/) [Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dreams/) [Fame and fortune](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fame-and-fortune/) [Journalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journalism/) ## Related quotes > [I'm sad to say that stardom is a commodity in our culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christine-baranski/i-m-sad-to-say-that-stardom-is-a-commodity-in-our-culture/) [Christine Baranski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christine-baranski/) > [I'm also looking for the psychological elements that fuel commodity culture. For example, if we imbue girls with deep insecurity about their bodies through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-greenfield/i-m-also-looking-for-the-psychological-elements-that-fuel-commodity/) [Lauren Greenfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-greenfield/) > [“He knows how to market himself well. Nowadays, that's all that seems to count. He's rebellious in a way that appeals to people with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-c-scott-2/he-knows-how-to-market-himself-well-nowadays-that-s-all-that-seems-to/) [Jess C. Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-c-scott-2/) > [Also, the commercial media in a superior position, really, to any other corporate lobby, because where would people hear about commercial media or corporate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/also-the-commercial-media-in-a-superior-position-really-to-any-other/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The commercial media are to the mental environment what factories are to the physical environment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalle-lasn/the-commercial-media-are-to-the-mental-environment-what-factories-are/) [Kalle Lasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalle-lasn/) > [Even non-commercial media rely on transferring cost to users through licence fees, donations from listeners, viewers, or readers, or grants from companies and foundations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-g-picard/even-non-commercial-media-rely-on-transferring-cost-to-users-through/) [Robert G. Picard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-g-picard/) > [“For Seabrook this 'nobrow' state - where the old brow distinctions no longer seem to apply - is not only a dumbing down of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-foster/for-seabrook-this-nobrow-state-where-the-old-brow-distinctions-no/) Hal Foster > [Mainstream media would convince you that there's commercial culture and that's all - but this other music is still here.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-shocked/mainstream-media-would-convince-you-that-there-s-commercial-culture/) [Michelle Shocked](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-shocked/) > [It's becoming increasingly difficult to find kids to hang out with that don't consume a lot of commercial culture.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caterina-fake/it-s-becoming-increasingly-difficult-to-find-kids-to-hang-out-with/) [Caterina Fake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caterina-fake/) > [“In a relentlessly commercial culture, the communication of our private meanings has been vaguely corrupted around the edges by the toxic idioms of merchandising.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baxter/in-a-relentlessly-commercial-culture-the-communication-of-our-private/) [Charles Baxter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baxter/) > [All of us somehow felt that the next battleground was going to be culture. We all felt somehow that our culture had been stolen…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalle-lasn/all-of-us-somehow-felt-that-the-next-battleground-was-going-to-be/) [Kalle Lasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalle-lasn/) > [As I've indicated, most books go out of print within one year. The same is true of music and film. Commercial culture is sharklike.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-lessig/as-i-ve-indicated-most-books-go-out-of-print-within-one-year-the-same/) [Lawrence Lessig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-lessig/) > [... I try ... to use my own voice in a way that shows caring, respect, appreciation, and patience. Your voice, your language, help…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hesselbein/i-try-to-use-my-own-voice-in-a-way-that-shows-caring-respect/) [Frances Hesselbein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hesselbein/) > [I read the Steve Jobs book, and that kind of changed everything. I've been, like, an Apple geek my whole life and have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-eazy/i-read-the-steve-jobs-book-and-that-kind-of-changed-everything-i-ve/) [G-Eazy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-eazy/) > [“Strange is the ordinary way in which Corporate America expects us to shrink from our full potential to get along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julieanne-o-connor/strange-is-the-ordinary-way-in-which-corporate-america-expects-us-to/) [Julieanne O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julieanne-o-connor/) ## More by Chris Hedges > [“the property that grounded the self in Romanticism was sincerity, and in modernism was authenticity, then in postmod ernism it is visibility.10”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-property-that-grounded-the-self-in-romanticism-was-sincerity-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Revolutionists who took part in uprisings in one part of the globe would often migrate to take part in uprisings in another. Francisco de…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/revolutionists-who-took-part-in-uprisings-in-one-part-of-the-globe/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Those captivated by the cult of celebrity do not examine voting records or compare verbal claims with written and published facts and reports. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/those-captivated-by-the-cult-of-celebrity-do-not-examine-voting/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Positive psychology is to the corporate state what eugenics was to the Nazis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/positive-psychology-is-to-the-corporate-state-what-eugenics-was-to/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Hope has a cost. Hope is not comfortable or easy. Hope requires personal risk. It is not about the right attitude. Hope is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/hope-has-a-cost-hope-is-not-comfortable-or-easy-hope-requires/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [This too is a jihad. Yet we Americans find ourselves in the dangerous position of going to war not against a state but against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/this-too-is-a-jihad-yet-we-americans-find-ourselves-in-the-dangerous/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Human beings can be redeemed. Empires cannot. Our refusal to face the truth about empire, our refusal to defy the multitudinous crimes and atrocities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/human-beings-can-be-redeemed-empires-cannot-our-refusal-to-face-the/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [I have seen children shot in El Salvador, Algeria, Guatemala, Sarajevo, but I have never before watched soldiers entice children like mice into a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/i-have-seen-children-shot-in-el-salvador-algeria-guatemala-sarajevo/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [A democracy survives when its citizens have access to trustworthy and impartial sources of information, when it can discern lies from truth. Take this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/a-democracy-survives-when-its-citizens-have-access-to-trustworthy-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [It is the cult of self that is killing the United States. This cult has within it the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/it-is-the-cult-of-self-that-is-killing-the-united-states-this-cult/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Our march toward self-annihilation has already obliterated ninety percent of the large fish in the oceans and wiped out half of the mature tropical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/our-march-toward-self-annihilation-has-already-obliterated-ninety/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [No real journalist makes $5 million a year... Those in power fear and dislike real journalists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/no-real-journalist-makes-5-million-a-year-those-in-power-fear-and/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [“Just remember,' a Marine Corps lieutenant colonel told me as he strapped his pistol belt under his arm before we crossed into Kuwait, 'that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/just-remember-a-marine-corps-lieutenant-colonel-told-me-as-he/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [Most of these who are thrust into combat soon find it impossible to maintain the mythic perception of war.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/most-of-these-who-are-thrust-into-combat-soon-find-it-impossible-to/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) > [The imperial projects will continue, Wall Street will be unimpeded in its malfeasance and criminal activity, social programs will continue to be cut, maybe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hedges/the-imperial-projects-will-continue-wall-street-will-be-unimpeded-in/) [Chris Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) [Explore all 183 Chris Hedges quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hedges/) ## More Corporate culture quotes > [“Strange is the ordinary way in which Corporate America expects us to shrink from our full potential to get along.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julieanne-o-connor/strange-is-the-ordinary-way-in-which-corporate-america-expects-us-to/) [Julieanne O'Connor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julieanne-o-connor/) > [I read the Steve Jobs book, and that kind of changed everything. 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Their bonding power often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-james/nostalgia-is-also-a-trait-of-the-organizations-that-i-call-lodges/) [Jennifer James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-james/) > [“The social organization of Heart of Darkness – captured in the corporate culture of the ‘Company’ – is a metonym for modernity. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-ross/the-social-organization-of-heart-of-darkness-captured-in-the/) Stephen Ross > [“Corporate social responsibility is only a PR stunt. Business with warmth lasts forever in people’s heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/corporate-social-responsibility-is-only-a-pr-stunt-business-with/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [ Companies have to nurture \[creativity and motivation\]-and have to do it by building a compassionate yet performance-driven corporate culture. In the knowledge economy the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gay-mitchell/companies-have-to-nurture-creativity-and-motivation-and-have-to-do-it/) Gay Mitchell > [While a lot of management development books try to teach you a lesson or give you a scenario of what corporate culture and work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-subramanian/while-a-lot-of-management-development-books-try-to-teach-you-a-lesson/) [Ravi Subramanian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-subramanian/) > [Corporate culture matters. How management chooses to treat its people impacts everything - for better or for worse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-sinek/corporate-culture-matters-how-management-chooses-to-treat-its-people/) [Simon Sinek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-sinek/) > [“Success in an enterprise can be brought about, through effective leadership, which educes open communication, which in turn would contribute towards bringing down conflict…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrietta-newton-martin-author-industrial-relations-today/success-in-an-enterprise-can-be-brought-about-through-effective/) Henrietta Newton Martin- Author Industrial Relations Today > [“Corporate alchemy isn’t just dark magic; it’s a tragic comedy, a satire as I imagine being written by Kafka on a bad day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rove-monteux/corporate-alchemy-isn-t-just-dark-magic-it-s-a-tragic-comedy-a-satire/) Rove Monteux > [In corporate culture efficient managers are successful in dealing with difficult people and situations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-corporate-culture-efficient-managers-are-successful-in-dealing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [At D.O.J., we don't want to go after the corporate wrongdoers simply as an end unto itself; we want to decrease the amount of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-yates/at-d-o-j-we-don-t-want-to-go-after-the-corporate-wrongdoers-simply-as/) [Sally Yates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-yates/) > [“How can even the idea of rebellion against corporate culture stay meaningful when Chrysler Inc. advertises trucks by invoking “The Dodge Rebellion”? How is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/how-can-even-the-idea-of-rebellion-against-corporate-culture-stay/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) [Browse all 95 Corporate culture quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corporate-culture/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The commercial media … help citizens feel as if they are successful and have met these aspirations, even if they have not. They tend to neglect reality (they don't run stories about how life is hard, fame and fortune elusive, hopes disappointed) and instead celebrate idealized identities – those that, in a commodity culture, revolve around the acquisition of status, money, fame and power, or at least the illusion of these things. The media, in other words, assist the commercial culture in “need creation”, prompting consumers to want things they don't need or have never really considered wanting. 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