Parole e immagini. La comunicazione e i media

[Autom. eng. transl.] The contemporary one is a communication society, increasingly saturated, almost submerged, by the mass media. The media are everywhere and the opportunities to communicate, which they constantly offer us, are now part of our daily life. For at least a century, the media have been the subject of analysis, but also of widespread concerns about their use and their effects. In the course of their history, the media have often been denigrated as possible generators of damage for individuals and communities, or exalted as agents destined to revolutionize consolidated ways of life in a short time. The media are, in reality, harbingers of great opportunities and risks. This depends on how and by whom they are employed, with what purpose, in what social and cultural context. Before reflecting on opportunities and risks, it is necessary to follow a path of knowledge: it is necessary to understand what communication is and how it works; and what the media is and what the story is. To live submerged in the media, as it happens today, but with a greater awareness of their use and the risks to be avoided.