Mass Media as Agencies of Socialization: their contribution to the construction of new social representations

The mass media, today more than yesterday, take on the role of a socialization agency and as such contribute to the construction of new social representations. In particular, they contribute to produce and perpetuate stereotypes that tend to crystallize in the individual and public imagination. The individual and public imagination is determined by the cultural industry. There is an important aspect that should not be overlooked, namely that social representation, which undergoes a sort of labeling process on the part of the mass media, revolves around three main social actors: migrants, social fabric of arrival and the media. Having stated this, the present paper intends to explore the role of the mass media as a socializing agency according to two different but complementary lines. On the one hand, the more the viewer belonging to the social fabric of arrival feels that the representations produced by the media conform to his/her common sense, the more he or she will perceive them as reassuring, accepted and shared. On the other hand, the media influence the construction of the migrant’s worldview even before he or she reaches the country of destination. However, the media lose their authority in the long run, that is, when the integration process reaches a more advanced stage.