Media as an innovative fourth institution of power in the era of mass media development

In modern social knowledge, the idea of the role of the media in the self-regulation of society is urgent. There are various paradigms for considering the social significance of the media, within which they are viewed as an instrument of purposeful power influence on the social worldview, as an independent civil institution focused on the social cognition of society members, and, finally, as a mechanism for representing stable sociocultural concepts in the system of social communication. All of these approaches are united by consideration of the fundamental importance of the sphere of information relations as a factor in building social interaction. The article examines the social significance of key mass media, as well as the nature of their functioning in the context of modern technological development of communication media. The ratio of “natural” processes in the media space and the practice of targeted impact on public consciousness through key mass media is analyzed. The phenomenon of network media is investigated in the context of the general trend of shifting communication processes towards network interaction.

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