INTERPRETATIVE TENSIONS AROUND THE "MEDIATIZATION" PHENOMENON": ?THE MASS MEDIA SOCIETY OR THE MASS MEDIA OF THE SOCIETY?

In search of a sufficiently comprehensive reflective reading of the multiplicity of factors involved in the relationship between mass media and society in general, and politics in particular, the discussion presented takes as significant north the structural framework of relationships in which the media are involved at the macro and micro social levels, as well as long-term processes associated with their power and influence as key players of contemporary institutional world. From this perspective, first it is distinguished and discussed a number of conceptual contributions to the current understanding of the phenomenon, and then it is analyzed specific empirical information about the mediatization process of politics in the South American context. The integration of theoretical aspects with situated interpretation of empirical data converge on the idea of a necessary complementarity of approaches and analytical levels in order to achieve a consistent approach to the economical, political and cultural complexity that mediatizated social communication shows today.