<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>This article argues that the theory of social representations can give valuable contributions to media research. It offers a new theory-based approach for studying how the media and citizens socially represent societal and political issues colouring our age, or some specific time period. Two fundamental communicative mechanisms – anchoring and objectification – are posited by the theory. These mechanisms, with a set of subcategories, are presented and it is shown how they can be used as conceptual analytical tools in empirical analysis. Concrete examples are given from a study on climate change and the media.</p></abstract>

This article argues that the theory of social representations can give valuable contributions to media research. It offers a new theory-based approach for studying how the media and citizens socially represent societal and political issues colouring our age, or some specific time period. Two fundamental communicative mechanisms – anchoring and objectification – are posited by the theory. These mechanisms, with a set of subcategories, are presented and it is shown how they can be used as conceptual analytical tools in empirical analysis. Concrete examples are given from a study on climate change and the media.

Social Representations Theory

Ph.D., Professor, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Örebro University

Nordicom Review

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"subtitle":"A New Theory for Media Research","article-title":"Social Representations Theory"}

This article argues that the theory of social representations can give valuable contributions to media research. It offers a new theory-based approach for...

Social Representations Theory

Published Online: Jan 30, 2017

Page range: 3 - 16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0109

Keywords
social representations, media research, communicative mechanisms, anchoring, objectification, climate change

© 2011 Birgitta Höijer, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Social Representations Theory

Published Online: Jan 30, 2017

Page range: 3 - 16

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/nor-2017-0109

Keywordssocial representations, media research, communicative mechanisms, anchoring, objectification, climate change

© 2011 Birgitta Höijer, published by De Gruyter Open

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
social representations, media research, communicative mechanisms, anchoring, objectification, climate change