A whole variety of economic, political and cultural factors determine which media are most important in different countries. It is widely claimed that the media - and particularly their role in election campaigns - has become 'Americanized'. Among other things this is generally understood to mean that television plays a dominant role as the medium of information. While this is increasingly true, it is not universally so. Also, what may be true for one section of a particular society may not be true for all. For example, those who are poorer or live in areas that are more geographically remote are less likely to have access to television than higher income or urban people.
