ABSTRACT
This chapter calls for the movement of research on the creation of mass media materials to a more central position within mass communication scholarship. It argues that the study of mass media industries is critical for disentangling a variety of fundamental issues relating to communication and contemporary life, including questions of media consequences. The chapter proposes a definition of mass communication that emphasizes the process of creation and its social potential. It examines theoretical and methodological issues that grow out of the concept, and presents a case study to show how research on the considerations that shape one medium’s fare —television’s —is critical to suggesting long-term implications of the medium’s cultural products.
