NEW TRENDS IN FRENCH COMMUNICATION-RESEARCH

French communication and media research has been considerably develope d during the last two decades. Its development is characterised by mul tidisciplinary approaches and often original directions. This particul arly holds true for research into the genesis of communication as a so cial and political phenomenon, and the formation of social uses of mas s media. Specific to French research is also the attention paid to con troversies between intellectuals, politicians and the journalistic eli tes. Finally, communication is also the domain where historians and so ciologists of the public sphere encounter philosophers interested in t he problem of collective action.