MEDIA THEORY: MODERN APPROACHES
The theory of mediatization is presented as an open theoretical-research system in the field of interdisciplinary knowledge. The properties of direct (strong) and indirect (weak) mediatization are outlined in terms of reflecting the degree of media influence on society. The approaches to the use of the notion “mediatization” from the cultural, material and system points of view are put in order. In particular, materialization is understood as a study of the functioning of the media, their characteristics and communication technologies. The study of institutionalism with respect to mediatization involves the method of system analysis as the key one. The place of mediatization in the conceptual field has been determined alongside with medialogics, a teaching about the two-way interaction of society and the media, social constructivism based on social action, the meta-process as a universal method for evaluating the properties of communication and the forming media forces. It has been established how the scientific community of Western Europe interprets the degree of influence of technology, social systems and culture on media research, which in its turn leads to a different perception of their influence on mediatization. This fully reflects how culture, the level of technical equipment, literacy, and the social system of different countries and regions form significant differences in mediatization.