George Gerbner clearly and comprehensively outlines the way in which the universal story-telling function of human societies has been colonized by corporate media. Making a distinction between "effect" and his own theory of "cultivation," he explains the role the media environment plays in how we think about ourselves and the way the world works. Through a concrete focus on the stories of gender, class, and race, Gerbner provides us with an analytical framework to understand what is at stake in the debates about the media.