communication as a social force cm1009 | ibcom ba year I - term III (2019-2020) [by gycc]
COMMUNICATION AS A SOCIAL FORCE
(summary + reading notes)
compulsory literature;
multiple articles by multiple authors
The Mediatization of Society: a theory of the Media as Agents of Social and Cultural Change by Stig
Hjarvard (week I)
This article uses mediatization as the key concept and presents a theory of the influence of media
exert on society and culture. This article takes its point of departure from sociology of the media,
namely how the media affect society and culture. However, media used to be conceived of as separate
from society and culture, which led to researchers focusing on the effects certain mediated messages
had on individuals and institutions. Contemporary society is permeated by the media and its ubiquity
has changed social institutions and cultural processes. Therefore, we should focus on the importance
of media in modern society and culture can no longer be examined on models that conceive of media
as being as separate.
→ Mediatization is to be considered a double-sided process of high modernity in which the media on
the one hand emerge as an independent institution with a logic of its own that other social institutions
have to take into account. On the other hand, media simultaneously become an integrated part of
other institutions like politics, work or family, as these activities are performed through both
interactive and mass media.
→ Media logic refers to the institutional and technological structure in which media operate,
including the ways in which media distribute material and symbolic resources + make use of formal
and informal rules.
The Concept of Mediatization
Mediatization has been used in numerous contexts to characterise the influence media exert on a
variety of phenomena and it has been given various meanings:
❖ To explain media’s impact on political communication and other effects of political life;
➢ Swedish Kent Asp first conceptualised the mediatization of political life as “the
process whereby a political system to a high degree is influenced by and adjusted to
the demands of the mass media in their coverage of politics”.
➢ Norwegian Gudmund Hernes’ perspective was broader as he didn’t use the term
mediatization, but his concept of ‘media-twisted society’ which he used to argue that
media had a fundamental impact on all social institutions and their relations with one
another. Hernes developed his perspective only in relatively brief analysis of media
influence over politics and the education, sectors which used media to regulate access
to knowledge and to set political agendas. // One point Hernes makes is that the
media have transformed society from a situation of information scarcity to one of
information abundance.
➢ Mazzoleni and Schulz demonstrated the increasing influence of mass media on the
exercise of political power through the analysis of political leaders in Brazil, Italy and
England. They characterise mediatization as “the problematic consequences of the
development of modern mass media”. As to its effects, they comment that
“mediatized politics is politics that has lost its autonomy, has become dependent on
1
,communication as a social force cm1009 | ibcom ba year I - term III (2019-2020) [by gycc]
its central functions on mass media, and is continuously shaped by interactions with
mass media”.
➢ Altheide & Snow instead are characterised with a rather contemporary and fairly
parallel notion - they want to show how the logic of the media forms the fund of
knowledge that is generated and circulated in society. They state that form is primary
over content, where media logic for the most part appears to consist of a formatting
logic that determines how material is categorised, the choice of presentation form,
and the selection and portrayal of topics in the media. // Their prime interest is a
desire to explore the extent to which and how technology affects communication
formats, so that broader institutional change remains little more than just a mere
incidental interest.
❖ To cast light on the growing role played by marketing and consumer role;
➢ Jansson describes the general mediatization of contemporary culture as “the process
through which mediated cultural products have gained importance as cultural
referents and hence contribute to the development and maintenance of cultural
communities” → the mediatization of culture is the process that reinforces and
expands the realm of media culture
❖ To describe media’s influence over research;
➢ Valiverronen considers mediatization an ambiguous term which refers to the
increasing cultural and social significance of the mass media and other forms of
technically mediated communication. Thus, the media play an important role in the
production and circulation of knowledge of various phases in the history of evolution
❖ Besides describing how media influence areas like politics, consumers culture or science,
some researchers also related it to a broader theory of modernity;
➢ John B. Thompson sees the media’s development as an integral part of the
development of modern society. Thompson speaks of a “mediatization of modern
culture” as a consequence of media influence. For instance, mass media helped to
transform an agrarian and feudal society and to create modern institutions such as the
state, the public sphere and science. The subsequent development of other media, like
radio, television and the internet have further emphasized this modernization process.
➢ Schulz and Kortz use mediatization as well to specify the role of media in social
change in a broader sense;
Schulz identifies four kinds of processes whereby the media change human
communication and interaction:
1. They extend human communication abilities in both time and space
2. The media substitute social activities that previously took place face-to-face
a. e.g. internet banking replaced the physical meeting at banks
3. Media instigate a combination of activities; face-to-face communication
combines with mediated communication, and media infiltrate into everyday
life (multitasking)
4. Actors in many different sectors have to adapt their behaviour to
accommodate the media’s valuations, formats and routines (get used to)
a. e.g. politicians learn to express themselves in ‘sound-bites’
Krotz treats mediatization as an ongoing process whereby the media change human
relations and behaviour and thus change society and culture. It’s a process that is in
line with individualization and globalization.
2
, communication as a social force cm1009 | ibcom ba year I - term III (2019-2020) [by gycc]
Both Schulz and Krotz point out similarities between mediatization theory and the
medium theory. The two theories both choose to view the impact of media in an
overall perspective and focus on other aspects than media content and media use.
The mediatization concept in this article shares several of Schulz and Krotz perspectives;
● Extension, substitution and accommodation are important processes in mediatization //
moreover empirical validation through historical, cultural and sociological analysis is required
● However, this article deviates from these perspectives in two principal respects:
I. The present theory applies an institutional perspective to the media and their
interaction with culture and society, which makes it possible to specify the elements
compromising ‘media logic’ and to better analyse the interplay between media and
other spheres
II. The mediatization concept is applied exclusively to the historical situation in which
the media at once have attained autonomy as a social institution and are crucially
intertwined with the functioning of other institutions. Thus, mediatization in this
perspective will not refer to every process by which the media exert influence on
society and culture
Mediatization in Postmodern Theory
The most radical linkage between mediatization and postmodernism is found in the work of
Baudrillard (1994), who perceives the symbols or sign of media culture (images, sounds), to form
semblances of reality that not only seem more real than the physical and social reality, but also
replace it. Thus, the media constitute a ‘hyperreality’. The media are guided by a kind of semiotic
logic that subjects all communication to one dominant code, which is that what is mediatized is not
what the audience perceives on the different forms of media, but what is reinterpreted by its signs and
symbolic meaning (simulacrum theory). This led to Baudrillard to conclude that the symbolic world
of media has replaced the ‘real’ world; media representations of reality have assumed such dominance
in our society that both our perceptions and constructions of reality and our behaviour take their point
of departure in mediated representations and are steered by the media. Indeed, mediatization has
complicated and blurred the distinctions between reality and media representations of reality, and
between fact and fiction, but Hjarvard finds the postmodern theory of mediatization too simple and
too grand. It’s difficult to imagine how social institutions would be able to continue to function when
reality has disappeared and distinctions as disintegrated, which are fundamental in society. Besides,
Baudrillard’s claim regarding the disappearance of reality lacks empirical confirmation.
The prime characteristics of the process of mediatization, at least here, is rather an expansion of the
opportunities for interaction in virtual spaces and a differentiation of what people perceive to be real.
The media’s construction of a new reality and its relation to the old non-mediated reality is
more complicated and nuanced than Baudrillard suggests. It’s not like the one replaces the other; non-
mediated reality and forms of interaction still exist, but mediatization means that they, too, are
affected by the presence of media. Also, mediated forms of interaction tend to stimulate and extend
aspects of face-to-face interaction.
Definition (see introduction)
‘Mediatization’ is used as the central concept in a theory of the both intensified and changing
importance of the media in culture and society;
3
COMMUNICATION AS A SOCIAL FORCE
(summary + reading notes)
compulsory literature;
multiple articles by multiple authors
The Mediatization of Society: a theory of the Media as Agents of Social and Cultural Change by Stig
Hjarvard (week I)
This article uses mediatization as the key concept and presents a theory of the influence of media
exert on society and culture. This article takes its point of departure from sociology of the media,
namely how the media affect society and culture. However, media used to be conceived of as separate
from society and culture, which led to researchers focusing on the effects certain mediated messages
had on individuals and institutions. Contemporary society is permeated by the media and its ubiquity
has changed social institutions and cultural processes. Therefore, we should focus on the importance
of media in modern society and culture can no longer be examined on models that conceive of media
as being as separate.
→ Mediatization is to be considered a double-sided process of high modernity in which the media on
the one hand emerge as an independent institution with a logic of its own that other social institutions
have to take into account. On the other hand, media simultaneously become an integrated part of
other institutions like politics, work or family, as these activities are performed through both
interactive and mass media.
→ Media logic refers to the institutional and technological structure in which media operate,
including the ways in which media distribute material and symbolic resources + make use of formal
and informal rules.
The Concept of Mediatization
Mediatization has been used in numerous contexts to characterise the influence media exert on a
variety of phenomena and it has been given various meanings:
❖ To explain media’s impact on political communication and other effects of political life;
➢ Swedish Kent Asp first conceptualised the mediatization of political life as “the
process whereby a political system to a high degree is influenced by and adjusted to
the demands of the mass media in their coverage of politics”.
➢ Norwegian Gudmund Hernes’ perspective was broader as he didn’t use the term
mediatization, but his concept of ‘media-twisted society’ which he used to argue that
media had a fundamental impact on all social institutions and their relations with one
another. Hernes developed his perspective only in relatively brief analysis of media
influence over politics and the education, sectors which used media to regulate access
to knowledge and to set political agendas. // One point Hernes makes is that the
media have transformed society from a situation of information scarcity to one of
information abundance.
➢ Mazzoleni and Schulz demonstrated the increasing influence of mass media on the
exercise of political power through the analysis of political leaders in Brazil, Italy and
England. They characterise mediatization as “the problematic consequences of the
development of modern mass media”. As to its effects, they comment that
“mediatized politics is politics that has lost its autonomy, has become dependent on
1
,communication as a social force cm1009 | ibcom ba year I - term III (2019-2020) [by gycc]
its central functions on mass media, and is continuously shaped by interactions with
mass media”.
➢ Altheide & Snow instead are characterised with a rather contemporary and fairly
parallel notion - they want to show how the logic of the media forms the fund of
knowledge that is generated and circulated in society. They state that form is primary
over content, where media logic for the most part appears to consist of a formatting
logic that determines how material is categorised, the choice of presentation form,
and the selection and portrayal of topics in the media. // Their prime interest is a
desire to explore the extent to which and how technology affects communication
formats, so that broader institutional change remains little more than just a mere
incidental interest.
❖ To cast light on the growing role played by marketing and consumer role;
➢ Jansson describes the general mediatization of contemporary culture as “the process
through which mediated cultural products have gained importance as cultural
referents and hence contribute to the development and maintenance of cultural
communities” → the mediatization of culture is the process that reinforces and
expands the realm of media culture
❖ To describe media’s influence over research;
➢ Valiverronen considers mediatization an ambiguous term which refers to the
increasing cultural and social significance of the mass media and other forms of
technically mediated communication. Thus, the media play an important role in the
production and circulation of knowledge of various phases in the history of evolution
❖ Besides describing how media influence areas like politics, consumers culture or science,
some researchers also related it to a broader theory of modernity;
➢ John B. Thompson sees the media’s development as an integral part of the
development of modern society. Thompson speaks of a “mediatization of modern
culture” as a consequence of media influence. For instance, mass media helped to
transform an agrarian and feudal society and to create modern institutions such as the
state, the public sphere and science. The subsequent development of other media, like
radio, television and the internet have further emphasized this modernization process.
➢ Schulz and Kortz use mediatization as well to specify the role of media in social
change in a broader sense;
Schulz identifies four kinds of processes whereby the media change human
communication and interaction:
1. They extend human communication abilities in both time and space
2. The media substitute social activities that previously took place face-to-face
a. e.g. internet banking replaced the physical meeting at banks
3. Media instigate a combination of activities; face-to-face communication
combines with mediated communication, and media infiltrate into everyday
life (multitasking)
4. Actors in many different sectors have to adapt their behaviour to
accommodate the media’s valuations, formats and routines (get used to)
a. e.g. politicians learn to express themselves in ‘sound-bites’
Krotz treats mediatization as an ongoing process whereby the media change human
relations and behaviour and thus change society and culture. It’s a process that is in
line with individualization and globalization.
2
, communication as a social force cm1009 | ibcom ba year I - term III (2019-2020) [by gycc]
Both Schulz and Krotz point out similarities between mediatization theory and the
medium theory. The two theories both choose to view the impact of media in an
overall perspective and focus on other aspects than media content and media use.
The mediatization concept in this article shares several of Schulz and Krotz perspectives;
● Extension, substitution and accommodation are important processes in mediatization //
moreover empirical validation through historical, cultural and sociological analysis is required
● However, this article deviates from these perspectives in two principal respects:
I. The present theory applies an institutional perspective to the media and their
interaction with culture and society, which makes it possible to specify the elements
compromising ‘media logic’ and to better analyse the interplay between media and
other spheres
II. The mediatization concept is applied exclusively to the historical situation in which
the media at once have attained autonomy as a social institution and are crucially
intertwined with the functioning of other institutions. Thus, mediatization in this
perspective will not refer to every process by which the media exert influence on
society and culture
Mediatization in Postmodern Theory
The most radical linkage between mediatization and postmodernism is found in the work of
Baudrillard (1994), who perceives the symbols or sign of media culture (images, sounds), to form
semblances of reality that not only seem more real than the physical and social reality, but also
replace it. Thus, the media constitute a ‘hyperreality’. The media are guided by a kind of semiotic
logic that subjects all communication to one dominant code, which is that what is mediatized is not
what the audience perceives on the different forms of media, but what is reinterpreted by its signs and
symbolic meaning (simulacrum theory). This led to Baudrillard to conclude that the symbolic world
of media has replaced the ‘real’ world; media representations of reality have assumed such dominance
in our society that both our perceptions and constructions of reality and our behaviour take their point
of departure in mediated representations and are steered by the media. Indeed, mediatization has
complicated and blurred the distinctions between reality and media representations of reality, and
between fact and fiction, but Hjarvard finds the postmodern theory of mediatization too simple and
too grand. It’s difficult to imagine how social institutions would be able to continue to function when
reality has disappeared and distinctions as disintegrated, which are fundamental in society. Besides,
Baudrillard’s claim regarding the disappearance of reality lacks empirical confirmation.
The prime characteristics of the process of mediatization, at least here, is rather an expansion of the
opportunities for interaction in virtual spaces and a differentiation of what people perceive to be real.
The media’s construction of a new reality and its relation to the old non-mediated reality is
more complicated and nuanced than Baudrillard suggests. It’s not like the one replaces the other; non-
mediated reality and forms of interaction still exist, but mediatization means that they, too, are
affected by the presence of media. Also, mediated forms of interaction tend to stimulate and extend
aspects of face-to-face interaction.
Definition (see introduction)
‘Mediatization’ is used as the central concept in a theory of the both intensified and changing
importance of the media in culture and society;
3
