Abstract

The field of the communication studies reaches a turning point by the advent of the «media power». Starting from that point a reflection on the media/politics relations is carried on, through the theories of Altheide and Entman, both characterized by an interdependence approach. The analysis of the interaction among news-media, elite-sources and public proposes a scenario in which the media power does not fully prevail. A scheme of functional and symbolic convergence emerges, highlighting common purposes of the two partners, while the analysis of the public remains marginal. This cooperation is relevant when the problem of pluralism is considered, together with the connected cultural change. But the essay tries and show that it is necessary to go beyond the sources-media relationship and to open a systemic perspective. The concepts of discursive opportunity structure and the one of interaction among public arenas play a funda¬mental role, more effective than the theory of the hybrid media system.