Niklas Luhmann, The Reality of the Mass Media, 1996 (2000 translation from German) --
Last but not least, in all the programme strands the mass media
do not seem to be aiming to generate a consensual construction of
reality - or, if they are, to no avail. Their world contains and reproduces
differences of opinion in plenty. This does not only happen
when conflicts are being reported, when suspicions of manipulation
come to the fore or when purely private views of reality are
presented 'live'. The mass media are always also working continuously
at discrediting themselves. They comment, they dispute, they
correct themselves. Topics, not opinions, are decisive. There is so
much talk of the 'dying of the forests' that in the end we know that
we do not know what the causes are, but we do know that there
are a variety of opinions about it.
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