WHOEVER CONTROLS THE MEDIA, CONTROLS THE MIND: AN INVESTIGATION OF LINGUISTIC AND VISUAL STRATEGIES OF CONTROL IN MEDIA
Keywords:
Algorithms, Discourse, Framing, Ideology, PropagandaAbstract
The saying “whoever controls the media, controls the mind” highlights media’s powerful influence on public thought. This study explores media’s linguistic and visual techniques involved in constructing meaning while sustaining dominant ideologies. It draws from classical media theorists, as well as from Critical Discourse theorists. It also integrates insights from Thurlow & Mroczek’s study on digital discourse and Jason Stanley’s research on how propaganda works. It explores how framing, propaganda, and interface design function as tools for ideological regulation. The study concludes that in the Age of algorithms, media’s role is pervasive in shaping audience beliefs and perception through management of attention, emotion and meaning.
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Copyright (c) 2026 Saira Fehmi Khan (Author)

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