Valori e mass media: un modello di analisi per lo studio dei processi di comunicazione

The aim of this article is to explain the importance of mass media in the study of values and social representations; mass media can be investigated by using instruments of analysis such as quantitative content analysis. We have summarized the main contributions coming from literature about the concept of value and the mass media as driver of the process of making sense: mass media contribute to build-up values and social representation. We have presented a study in which the methodology and the results explain how mass media contribute to build-up and maintain shared values. To this aim we have pointed-out some social representations related to the phenomenon of abandoning children, and the values associated to them in mass-media communications.