¶ … media is undeniable; it has the power to present to millions of viewers and listeners in the United States news and entertainment. The manner in which these are presented has often been criticized by experts and laymen alike. The influence of the media on public opinion can be both positive and negative. On the positive side, the media presents its audience with information regarding world events, and entertainment to fill their free time. The media's influence is not only to entertain, but also to inform regarding world events. Ethical and unbiased reporting provides the world with an accurate view of world events.

On the negative side, it has often been speculated that the media influences public opinion according to the wishes of the government. This could particularly be the case during war. The media's influence on public opinion is uncontested; and the fact is that people often take as true whatever the media presents. Some hold that such control is dangerous.

Communism in the Soviet Union collapsed during the late 1980s and early 1990s. While many saw this as a moral victory, Russian citizens were entering a dark time in their history, with poverty and social unrest at the order of the day. Some blame the factors leading up to the fall of Communism for this. One of these factors can be seen as the basic contrast between the people's expectations of communism, and the way in which Russian leaders implemented the new paradigm. Rather than actually establishing a classless society where everybody would live in equality and peace, leaders used force, torture and murder to implement their point-of-view. In their zeal for Communism, leaders also mismanaged the natural resources and production within the country, and extreme national poverty resulted.

The above factors led to a nationwide dissatisfaction and disenchantment with Communism: there was not much left to "share," and what little there was went to the political elite. In effect this elite reimplemented the class division in Russian society.