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Up to now the scientific discussion on media and Europe
has mainly focused on questions related with media coverage. So far little
attention has been paid to the way people select and use Europe-related
content. Therefore this paper suggests an approach that highlights the
relevance of media selection and usage of different social groups for the
formation of their attitude towards Europe.
At the moment parts of the population do not feel
comfortable with the idea of a Unified Europe. Münch stresses that
identification with Europe increases with income,
education and professional status and decreases with age. Socially
disadvantaged groups rather regard this topic with fears and scepticism
(European Commission).
As the agreement of the broader public is regarded as
constitutive for the further political success of the European unification,
it is important to have a close look at these particular sceptical groups
and the way they build their attitudes towards Europe.
Media play a central role in this context, because attitudes towards Europe
are formed in the context of a specific selection of information. Therefore
this paper focuses on how people in precarious living conditions generate
their attitudes towards Europe by means of their
specific media usage patterns. It sets out to develop a theoretical and
methodological perspective which is able to understand the
interconnectedness of different media and the concrete patterns in which
they are built into people’s everyday life.
Both the attitudes towards Europe
and the patterns of media use are rooted in every day culture. So the links
between these two spheres should be traced back into their common basis
which is the construction of meaning within the context of everyday
practises. Taking this perspective, we refer to the concept of
‘practical meaning’ of media communication developed by Ralph
Weiss with reference to Habermas and Bourdieu. According to this approach
media related action can be understood as a process of transformation and
acquisition of the intended meaning of symbolic material against the
background of everyday orientations. Individuals select different media
offers and make sense of the single messages and their media repertoire as
a whole to construct their overall view on Europe.
Finally the question how social groups with low
socioeconomic status generate their attitudes towards Europe
within their special media use requires the methodological consideration of
two levels of media communication. It is necessary to take into account the
content and structure of the media most commonly used by socially
disadvantaged groups as well as their specific way to deal with these media
offers in an active process of reception and attribution of meaning. In
order to meet this challenge we will present an empirical approach –
based on the methodological concept of triangulation (Denzin) – which
consists of seven empirical modules that refer to different levels of
investigation.
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