“Rating the Rankings” by Wendy Espeland and Micheal Sauder analyzes the U.S. News & World Report’s use of public college rankings and how these rankings affect the staff, students and overall structure of the institution. The strong influence of these rankings creates a hierarchy, in which the U.S. News & World report monopolizes and professionalizes this type of public media by granting them autonomy and prestige. This hierarchy resembles those professions portrayed in the “Golden Age” which was characterized by autonomy, expert knowledge and prestige. The U.S. News & World Report monopoly mirrored the monopoly established by the Benevolent Pilot Society in Mark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi. Also, the U.S. News & World Report school ranking