ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews research on the three-way relationship of culture, communication, and media. The field of media and communication is a prime candidate for culturally comparative research. Whereas studies of media and their uses in cultural contexts have been comparatively few, more reference works have become available for further research in the area. References to the contexts as well as the outcomes of communication as ‘communities’ have been widespread long before the more notions of internet, online, or virtual communities. Research interest in communities and subcultures dates has been in evidence from the beginning of modern social sciences. A common premise of work on intercultural communication is that the culturally variable codes of communication will get in the way of people understanding and coexisting with others of different national or ethnic origins. A great deal of research on communication across national borders has performed a critique of ‘cultural imperialism’ – the extension of physical or economic force by cultural means.
