As American researchers Lazarsfeld and Merton established in their more-than-half-a-century-old study Mass information, popular taste and organized social functioning, the influence of media on their audiences "is not manifest only through what they say, but, more importantly, through what they don't say" (Lazarsfeld, Merton, 1999:28).
Kakor ugotavljata ameriška raziskovalca Lazarsfeld in Merton v več kot pol stoletja stari študiji Množično sporočanje, popularni okus in organizirano družbeno delovanje, se vpliv, ki ga imajo mediji na svoje občinstvo, ne kaže le v tem, kaj povedo, ampak, pomembneje, v tistem, česar ne omenjajo (Lazarsfeld, Merton, 1999:28).