Audience members and mass media

Do audience members have the power to subvert messages brought to them by the mass media?

I believe audience members have the power to subvert messages from mass media sources, but it will be difficult because not everyone will be on the same page in regards to challenging all media sources.  The increase in technology and gadgets has made the expansion of mass media greater than it has ever been.  I do not believe that the public will try to challenge the messages that are being displayed to them anytime soon. This generation is more excepting of the images that are appearing on television and on the internet than future generations would have allowed.  The government will not censor or regulate the messages because they greatly profit from the advertisers and media sources.