A while ago I posted about a 1956 book by sociologist C Wright Mills, [amazon_link id=”0195133544″ target=”_blank” ]The Power Elite[/amazon_link]. It was the persistence of unearned banking bonuses that made it seem so relevant at the time, but recent events in the UK are a reminder that the media are – and always have been – in the nexus of power in every country.

An article by John Nichols in the current issue of The Nation considers the market power of News International in the United States, bringing to mind Timothy Wu’s excellent recent book on concentration in media markets, [amazon_link id=”B004DUMW4A” target=”_blank” ]The Master Switch[/amazon_link]. It would be interesting, too, to go back to some of the classics looking at the elite – in the UK, it would be Anthony Sampson’s [amazon_link id=”0719565669″ target=”_blank” ]Who Run’s This Place: An Anatomy of Britain in the 21st Century[/amazon_link], and Robert Peston’s [amazon_link id=”B002V0921A” target=”_blank” ]Who Runs Britain?[/amazon_link], which focuses on the financial sector.

All in all, with both the big banks and a major international media company in turmoil, not to mention the travails of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, bringing together political and media power in his own person and now at the latest epicentre of the financial crisis, it’s a fascinating time for social scientists to ponder questions of power. (I write this as both a social scientist and a minor member myself of Britain’s power elite.)

[amazon_image id=”0195133544″ link=”true” target=”_blank” size=”medium” ]The Power Elite[/amazon_image]