Page 77 - Myths for the Masses An Essay on Mass Communication

Mass Communication and the Promise of Democracy

Better yet, the conceptualization of an information society as a
logical consequence of technological developments also removed
the uncertainty or ambiguity of the older concept (communication)
– problematized and applied during an earlier period of progressive
thought by members of the Chicago school – and allowed for a
scientific construction of social and cultural uses of media tech-
nologies. Such an understanding of communication as information
was reinforced by the research practices of journalism and mass
communication studies and provided the grounding for a instru-
mentalist perspective on modern communication processes that
became part of the reigning ideology of mass communication
research.
The increasing need for identification, definition, and explanation
of information phenomena contributed to its success and legiti-
mated its claims as a field of inquiry; it also fostered professional ties
to commercial and political interests and, therefore, links to the pro-
duction of knowledge and the exercise of power, as issues of mass
communication became socially and politically relevant with rising
social problems, ranging from illiteracy to violence, in American
society.
In fact, the presence of mass communication research reflects an
era of certainty that appeared with the development of a sophisti-
cated social scientific apparatus, including research methodologies.
It is the outcome of an accelerated postwar development in science
and technology and complements the political-military success of
the United States in world affairs. Its reliance on the reign of facts
reveals an irresistible bias towards the production of tangible social
and political information.The emergence of public opinion polling,
with its confidence in methodology and its faith in prediction,
reflects the endless possibilities of an applied science that serves the
goals of commercial and political interests. It also legitimizes the
ahistorical and decontextualized nature of such practices – which
focus on information rather than knowledge – to seek solutions in
immediate response rather than delayed explanation. Such activities
are reproduced prominently in the journalism and advertising of the
day as manifestations of social or political events.They perpetuate a
theory of society whose notions of truth and reality are imminently
discoverable versions of the dominant ideology.

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