The reality of the mass media
By: Niklas Luhmann ; translated by Kathleen Cross.
Series: Cultural memory in the present
Publisher: Stanford University Press
Published: 2000
Place of publication: Stanford, Calif
Language: eng
Number of pages: 154
Subjects: Mass media -- Social aspects; Mass media -- Audiences; Communication -- Social aspects
Description: "In The Reality of the Mass Media, Luhmann extends his theory of social systems to an examination of the role of mass media in the constitution of social reality.".

"Luhmann argues that the system of mass media is a set of recursive, self-referential programs of communication, whose functions are not determined by the external values of truthfulness, objectivity, or knowledge, nor by specific social interests or political directives.

Rather, he contends that the system of mass media is regulated by the internal code information/noninformation, which enables the system to select its information (news) from its own environment and to communicate this information in accordance with its own reflexive criteria."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [123]-149) and index.
"First published in German as Die Realität der Massenmedien, Westdeutscher Verlag, 1996 (second, enlarged edition)"--T.p. verso.