Clarifying mediatization: Sorting through a current debate

Having been used in various guises and debates for quite some time the notion of mediatization (and related concepts such as mediation or medialization) promises to expand the horizon of media and communication research. Casting the role of the media in and for current western societies as ever more central employing a range of theoretical approaches, mediatization could help to further advance our knowledge of the role of mediated communication for the creation of social realities today. Still, the recent interest in the conceptual framework has also caused confusion as to which approaches are compatible, to which methodological scope the concept extends and what its theoretical and ideational roots are. This article tries to sort through the wealth of conceptual propositions in order to clarify a research approach that might help to reunite social, cultural and communication theory in the face of today's media culture.