Page 110 - Myths for the Masses An Essay on Mass Communication

Mass Communication and the Meaning of Self in Society

Mass communication is closely involved in the social construc-
tion of meaning; this was discussed in the 1920s by Walter Lipp-
mann in his Public Opinion, but it reappeared in traditional mass
communication research, particularly in cultivation theory and
agenda-setting. Lippmann suggested that individuals act on “pictures
in their heads” that have been constructed by the media (the press)
and contribute to their understanding of reality. Meanings are
shaped by the politics of media and become realities when they are
exposed through the “unique perspective” of television coverage,
for instance. Also, a mediated reality may influence conduct, since
television cultivates people’s beliefs. And then there is the power of
the press (in political reporting, for instance) to set agendas for the
public discussion of specific issues, thus creating the meaning of
events and their importance for public life.
Most recently, however, cultural studies has focused on meaning
and meaning-making as a culturally shared practice, which differ-
entiates and empowers individuals and enables interaction within
the larger environment of mass communication practices.This inter-
vention of cultural studies in the traditional approach to media
studies, and mass communication research in particular, signals a turn
to a critical cultural perspective which discards models of direct
influence and implements an approach that addresses the ideologi-
cal role of mass communication. It also reintroduces the individual
as a credible and forceful participant in the shaping of the social
environment. Cultural studies locates mass communication practices
within “ a complex expressive totality,” that is, in human practice,
and provides and selectively constructs social knowledge and a
complex, acknowledged order, according to Stuart Hall. The indi-
vidual appears in this setting as resisting the power of media by
engaging in “preferred readings” of mass communication that
produce a view of the intellectually interested, empowered individ-
ual, who is able to circumvent the intent of mass communication
through “excorporation.”
This view provides the basis for identifying cultural studies with
strengthening and perpetuating democratic practices. Beyond the
idea of culture as an appropriate site for explaining mass commu-
nication lies the interest in a social and political critique of society
with an emphasis on questions of ideology, power, and domination

98