Discipline in Crisis? The Shifting Paradigm of Mass Communication Research

Abstract

This article analyzes the Kuhnian paradigmatic status in the field of mass communication. It is suggested that the field's first paradigm, Media Effects, is in a state of crisis rather than a preparadigmatic state or a state of normal science. Finally, this article proposes a description of the current paradigm-in-crisis, suggests ways in which conceptions of the fundamental nature of what we are studying may be shifting, and proposes the elements of a new paradigm which may be emerging in the field.