Mediated Political Realities

In Mediated Political Realities (1983, 1990), Dan Nimmo and James E. Combs discuss the role of fantasy, defined as a credible story containing actors, plots, scenes, acts, styles, motives, and sanctioning agents, in the construction of political realities. The authors argue political realities are rarely the result of direct, firsthand experiences with political events. Instead, what people know about politics is mediated, that is, the result of indirect, secondhand information constructed through the media logic of fantasy.

The book emphasizes the social aspects of fantasy building. Individuals have their own fantasies about how the world works, but humans, as social beings, share these fantasies with others. These fantasies are either rejected and die or are accepted and confirmed by others. Acceptance and confirmation lead to larger ...