Beyond Media Logic

Mediatization and media logic are concepts that enjoy a growing academic popularity. At the same time, the phenomena that they cover and the empirical proof of their existence and growing presence are at best ambiguous. This article firstly dissects and problematizes these concepts and, secondly, it discusses the likelihood of other logics, notably ones in which the vox populi has a more central, albeit contested, place. The conclusion is that, as audience and as voters, the public is increasingly powerful in relation to politics and media, but at the same time it is fragmented and volatile. This begs the question whether it is helpful to speak of a logic of the public in explaining the present changes in Europe of the character, composition and driving force of political communication or that we just would coin another misnomer.