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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Harold Innis’S Concept Of Bias: Its Intellectual Origins And Misused, Edward Comor
Harold Innis’S Concept Of Bias: Its Intellectual Origins And Misused, Edward Comor
FIMS Publications
Harold Innis is one of the foundational theorists of media and communications studies. In the mid-20th century, he developed his concept of media bias (also called the bias of communication). It remains Innis’s most cited concept, but it is also significantly misunderstood. For example, since his death in 1952, bias has often been applied in ways that are akin to a form of technological or media determinism. This has been an ongoing problem despite the fact that Innis developed his concept as a means of compelling analysts to reject such mechanistic formulations. Indeed, his goal was to promote more self-reflective …
Harold Innis And The Greek Tradition: An Essay Concerning His Ontological Transformation, Edward Comor
Harold Innis And The Greek Tradition: An Essay Concerning His Ontological Transformation, Edward Comor
FIMS Publications
The transition of Harold Innis’ work from staples research to communications studies commonly is understood to have been an extension of his earlier research rather than a dramatic break from it. While in agreement, we argue that a significant transformation in Innis’s ontology (but not his epistemology) also took place. This can be understood by referencing his concerns about the fate of civilization and his views on the prospectively strategic role of what he called the Greek tradition. To explain this, herein we concentrate on Innis’ largely forgotten book Political Economy in the Modern State, initiated in 1943 and …
Harold Innis And 'The Bias Of Communication', Edward Comor
Harold Innis And 'The Bias Of Communication', Edward Comor
FIMS Publications
Fifty years after his death, Harold Innis remains one of the most widely cited but least understood of communication theorists. This is particularly true in relation to his concept of ‘bias’. This paper reconstructs this concept and places it in the context of Innis’ uniquely non-Marxist dialectical materialist methodology. In so doing, the author emphasizes ongoing debates concerning Innis’ work and demonstrates its utility in relation to contemporary analyses of the Internet and related developments.