Page 124 - Myths for the Masses An Essay on Mass Communication

Mass Communication and the Meaning of Self in Society

However, the narratives of mass communication – and of film or
television, specifically – reinforce the desire for identity by con-
necting with traditional, if not archaic, forms of identity, such as
names, images, or roles, and by confirming their external origins, or
the fact that identity is attributed rather than inherent in the subject.
In other words, mass communication assures the individual of being
perceived or recognized by addressing these desires for identity in
a performative practice that shifts subjectivity into the realm of eco-
nomic considerations, where identity, or the sense of belonging, is
tied to consumption or collective notions of political participation
that range from ideas of “audience” or “consumer” to “people” or
“nation,” respectively.The ultimate goal remains an identity of (con-
sumerist) consensus through an assignment of subjective identity in
the process of mass communication that offers ideologically consis-
tent choices – in the realm of popular culture – to fit the need for
conformity and acquiescence.
Beyond its distinctive role in the search for individual identity,
mass communication serves the process of identification of social,
political, and economic actors and their respective environments.
Knowledge about the concrete as well as the imagined world is
crucial not only for understanding one’s own identity – and its social
or political consequences – but also for recognizing the (constructed
or fabricated) condition of the other as friend, neighbor, rival,
or enemy. It is the mapping of a cultural landscape of needs and
desires, of ideas and practices, that makes mass communication indis-
pensable, and therefore also ambiguous as a dependable process of
identification. Yet most individuals must rely on traditional media
for the surveillance of the environment, the characterization of
essential social and political actors, and the chronicling of practices
or events.
Mass communication engages in the process of identification as
a way of reporting or describing the details of an event with claims
that range from accuracy and fairness to perfection and truth, often
disregarding subjective biases or institutional ideologies that must
influence the reconstruction of reality.This process refers to the life
experience of individuals, including the past world of media repre-
sentations, in order to solicit understanding or cooperation.After all,
the social order depends on shared meanings. The result is an

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