The Necessary Evolution of Mass Communication Research in a Fragmenting Media Landscape
With the ongoing evolution of media channels, debates over the concept of mass communication have been reignited. When we live in a society of filter bubbles and AI-generated content, the very notion of a large uniform audience has been undermined. Indeed, the process of mass communication looks different today than in the early days of the field, which naturally affects how to define and measure media effects. In this forum, leading communication scholars provide arguments as to whether we should keep using the term “mass communication,” adapt its definition, or develop entirely new concepts that better reflect our fragmenting media environment.
Authors
- Erik P. Bucy (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4925-2244)
- Huma Rasheed (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4004-1013)
- Larissa Leonhard (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3492-8304)
- Mark Boukes (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3377-6281)
- Miriam J. Metzger (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8433-8604)
- Michael A. McDevitt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0031-5881)
- Mike Schmierbach
- R. Lance Holbert
Institutions
- Texas Tech University (US)
- Pennsylvania State University (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (DE)
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- Philadelphia University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly
- Published
- 2026-02-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1177/10776990251407083
- Primary Topic
- Media Studies and Communication
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00