Abstract
What is media logic or media logics? The editors of Media Logic(s): Modelling the Interplay between Media Institutions, Media Technology and Societal Change start the book by reminding their readers of the history of this term. Originally developed by David Altheide and Robert Show, the concept media logic aimed at providing a theoretical framework for explaining the media’s ‘impact on institutions and social behavior’ by focusing on ‘the mass media system of television, radio, and newspapers and its power to influence and even transform society’ (p. 1). Altheide (2011) emphasised that there was an ‘underlying media logic that dominates our increasingly mediated (or mediatized) social order’ (p. 119). Caja Thimm, Mario Anastasiadis and Jessica Einspänner-Pflock argue that the concept is very useful in explaining changes in societal fields as a result of the rules of a media logic. In their view, however, the emergence of new technologies and their powerful impact necessitate ‘a reconsideration of the media logic concept’ (p. 2). They question the extent to which in the age of fragmentation, we can actually talk about ‘a single mass media logic’ (p. 3). They claim that what we evidence is a variety of media logics. Their edited volume represents an attempt to rethink the concept in light of the technological changes. The book includes the contributions made to a conference on media logics that took place at the University of Bonn in September 2015. Part I, ‘Theorizing Media Logics’, consists of six chapters. Chapter 2 by David L. Altheide focuses on the concept of the media syndrome, which he conceptualises as individual personas and identities, social issues, and political actions that are modeled on media personalities and characters that are situated in entertainment oriented public and popular culture scenarios that are depicted and constituted through media logic, including information technology and communication formats. (p. 12)
Chapter 3 by Friedrich Krotz then explores the relationship between media logic and mediatization. Chapter 4 by Stig Hjarvard continues with this focus on mediatization by discussing the relationship between the logics of the media and the mediatized conditions of social interaction. Chapter 5 by Mikkel Fugl Eskjær also focuses on mediatization by conceptualising it as structural groupings. Chapter 6 by Caja Thimm offers a media grammar approach to the study of media technology and media logics. The final theoretical chapter by Katrin Döveling also presents an interesting way of looking at media logic in relation to a range of interdependencies and with a focus on interactivity. Part II, ‘Media Logic in Context: Politics, Journalism and Institutions’, consists of six chapters offering both theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of media logics. Chapter 8 by Jens Schröter explores the media logic of the state by placing a heavy emphasis on the concept of mediality. Chapter 9 by Evelien D’heer analyses electoral candidates’ use of Facebook and Twitter during the 2014 federal elections in Belgium. Chapter 10 by Daniel Nölleke and Andreas M. Scheu draws upon 36 qualitative interviews with experts from different areas to develop the concept of perceived media logic and conceptualise mediatization as a pull process. Chapter 11 by Maria Karidi includes content analysis of German newspapers, TV programmes and websites in an attempt to demonstrate the implications of the changes in media structures for opinion formation. Chapter 12 by Mirco Liefke is also focused on Germany, but this time more specifically on TV coverage of the conflict in Ukraine. The final chapter by Talez Tomas uses a techno-philosophical framework to explain digital media logics. All in all, this is an insightful volume that makes a substantial theoretical contribution to the study of the concept of media logic(s).