Media Logic

From a very general point of view, media logic is a concept that indicates the influence of the media (considered as both a cultural technology and an organization) on the representation of the events that we consider “reality.” This representation follows the logics and the formats that are typical of media language and organizational practices, such as the ways the contents are organized and put together, the styles in which they are presented, and the grammar (syntax, semantics, and pragmatics) of mass media communication.

In this broader sense, media logic is the combination of several technological, organizational, and cultural elements. The most important element characterizing media logic is the commercial logic (which involves the commercialization both of media organizations and of society), followed by such elements as the industrial logic (the media are an important industry), the technological logic (referring to the importance of technologies in producing and reproducing contents), the cultural logic, and the political logic (the relationship between media system and political system).

The media logic involves a particular way of presenting events: according to it, media narratives and images need to focus on symbolic objects and personalities rather than abstract conceptualizations. Media narratives—both in news and entertainment products—show reality through the use of objects, persons, and characters who play a role within the story. For example, the narration of a war consists of the personalization (or the “objectification”) of the hero, the villain, and the victim. Even a natural disaster is best presented if the event is narrated as a story (with an original order, the breaking of this order, and the final recomposition), with the use of clear symbols for both the causes (including what we could call a “blaming process” of the natural or human responsible) and the victims (by interviewing the survivors or the siblings of the victims themselves). The rhetorical use of symbolization in almost every narrative pattern is quite common in most historical ages and in most cultures and societies, starting from the ancient mythological tales (which accounted for the origins of society and the reality phenomena). Within the wider context of the media narratives, the media logic patterns can be found in nearly every medium and genre, from the global media sport stars to the various “freak shows” that fill the daytime and primetime talk shows. This way of narrating reality through the media is consistent with the constraints of the “news values,” which impose a palatable “media material” for the reporting of stories and the presentation of the issues. Thus, media logic is also a journalistic style, based on the focus on characters playing a role within a narrative.

From a political communication perspective, media logic influences political institutions in different respects: people (candidates, politicians, and leaders) have become more important than parties; the attention [Page 446]has moved from the local and regional to the national (and the global); the news values influence the actions of the political parties; during the electoral campaigns, the horse race has become more important than the issues and the questions at stake.

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