On A Critique of Media Critique

In a society in which weltanschauung and ways of experiencing the world are formed by the media, a public media critique is an essential medium of social communication and self-reflection. What do media critiques accomplish for this communication? What can they accomplish? This study dealt with these questions in three ways:

(1) An analysis of the content achievements of media critiques explored the forms of programmes and broadcasts accompanying television critiques from a broad spectrum of print media. It looked at questions related to discussions of the programme offerings, from which the critique acquired its arguments and in which the underlying rules of programme evaluation can be found.

(2) The analysis of the structures of media critique looked at the editorial contexts in which the production of programme and media critiques are embedded, the options for action and the dependencies that come with it, the "environments" that the media critics observe, the orientation of actors and events critics, the relationships critics form with actors from media providers in politics and science, and so forth. This way, institutional structures and "networks" become transparent, which constitute a "system" of media critique.

(3) Content analysis and communicator surveys show the different functions that television-related journalism is taking on: besides coverage, which is based on the criteria of news journalism, forms of commentary can be found which follow the tradition of art critique. Critical reflections conforming to the requirements of professional standards of (political) journalism stand alongside forms of entertainment journalism and (disguised) programme promotion.

The picture of the achievements and the possibilities of public critiques of the media, and that within the media itself, is ambiguous. On the basis of a critical discussion of the results about the content achievements of media critique, the existing forms of their institutionalisation are finally being debated. Thus, the self-reflection of the "media society" can be facilitated.

Cooperating partners: K. Hickethier (University of Hamburg); O. Jarren, S. Zielmann (University of Zurich)