Social Stereotypes in Television News and Public Opinion Management

How television turns images into habits of mind—and habits into power.

The monograph investigates how modern mass media—above all television—shape and lock in social stereotypes that guide what societies notice, believe, and do. Building on theories of opinion manipulation, Sergey Konyashin traces the mechanisms by which repeated frames, symbols, and story formats migrate from screens into collective consciousness, where they stabilize attitudes and organize political behavior. The book explains why the seemingly personal act of watching the news produces audience-level effects—and how communicators leverage those effects to steer public sentiment with surprising efficiency.

Focusing empirically on television’s audiovisual grammar, Konyashin dissects presentation choices (from the sequencing of facts to visuals and sound) that make stereotypes “stick.” The result is a clear framework for analyzing news output and a practical map of the feedback loop between media narratives, mass perceptions, and opinion control. Essential reading for scholars of political communication, journalism, sociology, propaganda studies, and anyone interested in how televised information quietly becomes social common sense.

Nonfiction — Political, Social & Media Science. First published by URSS (Moscow), 2017.