ABSTRACT
Just as the economist focuses his antenna on exchange relations (ei ther in the particular institution, the market, where such relations are most active or, alternatively, as a way of conceptualizing any or all of social life), and just as the political scientist focuses his antenna on power relations (either solely in the state or as a way of conceptualiz ing any or all of social life), so too the student of communication may use the exchange of messages either as an index by which to describe institutions (such as the press) that are specifically set up for the pur pose of message dissemination or may use the universal social act of communicating as a powerful index for describing any and all aspects of social life. The domain of the study of communication can thus le gitimately be the entire domain of the social sciences.
