Television and culture: theories and research methods

Many scholars consider the television industry as a compartment, a means of communication, like many others, dedicated to churning out cultural products and events in order to be sold into the market. Not paying so much attention to the contents (whose very often differ only for costs, durability and performance in terms of advertising), in this context the phenomenon is analyzed mainly as an engine of development. But while a new holistic paradigm appears now, both in media and in television studies, this dispersion of the television in the jungle of immaterial sphere and everyday-life could delay the benefits of the change of style and even lose altogether. It is important now to escape from the anxiousness of an analysis that lingers on the individuals or small groups. An analysis that puts its focus on target, niches and output, behavior and personality, trying instead to address social actions, communities, holes opened into the social fabric and civic culture as well as in the enjoyment of rights and participation.