An enduring divide: revisiting the mass and family communication dichotomy and exploring paths of integration

ABSTRACT

This essay explores the dichotomy between mass and family communication and provides a status update to the mass and interpersonal communication dichotomy discussed by Reardon and Rodgers in 1988. This piece begins with an introduction to the history of and hindrance caused by this dichotomy from translational and scholarly perspectives. Next, an overview is provided of each discipline – their histories, popular paradigmatic and methodological approaches, and theoretical developments. An argument is then presented for why the integration of these two areas is so crucial in order to best serve families and conduct communication research with greater meaning. Three significant research areas wherein media and family intersect are discussed along with three long-term integration goals for the field of communication.

KEYWORDS:

• Communication disciplinary integration
• family communication theory
• mass communication

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).