The irrational relationship between facts and meanings in modern media

Abstract

Interpretation and relationship of the concepts ‘fact’ and ‘meaning’ throughout the 20–21st centuries has always been in the area of interest of sociologists, philosophers, cultural experts, linguists, lawyers, as well as writers and journalists. At the same time, this connection, outwardly understandable and logical, was perceived as an increasingly complex composition, depending both on the characteristics of human perception and on the targeted modeling of various kinds of messages to target audiences. This article examines the development of these ideas, associated, on the one hand, with the constant difference between facts and meanings; and on the other hand, with the increasing ambivalence in the perception of media content in the conditions of digitalization and mediatization of the information space. The author analyses the prerequisites and modern practice of creating and subsequent application of factual and semantic elements in the composition of content, and explores the dynamic change in the goals and roles of these elements in influencing target audiences. It is stated that, even with the development of fact checking technologies for accuracy and identifying the intentions of the authors of messages, the priority is still the formation of stereotypical attitudes, corresponding to legal norms and ethical standards of the relevant community.