External pressure on media tightens precisely where the social order is questioned.

Evidence

The most sensitive area precisely arises where the social order itself is called into question. Where issues of “public order,” “national security,” “law and order,” or “overriding national interest” are concerned, especially if linked with tactics defined as “violent,” “confrontationist,” or “illegal,” the constraints on broadcasting operate more tightly. … Broadcasting here is no different from other institutions in the state where open social control and repressive action is taken only as a last resort, when the institutionalized mechanisms for containing and restraining conflict have broken down. — Hall, Stuart, Essential Essays, Volume 1, 860

Categorization

• XREF: Overlaps with the Frankfurt School account of ideology critique — media accommodating itself to the power-ideology nexus without being fully prescribed.