Media Influence in the construction of Social reality

Abstract

The configuration of social reality in contemporary societies is inseparable from the action of media ecosystems, which are undergoing an ontological transformation driven by the transition to the digital paradigm. This article examines the mechanisms through which collective perceptions are shaped, grounding its analysis in the theories of agenda setting, framing, and cultivation, reinterpreted under the aegis of artificial intelligence and mass self-communication. It argues that the media function as agents of symbolic production that determine the salience of phenomena and their respective interpretive frameworks, thereby implying a reconfiguration of the public sphere and necessitating the implementation of critical literacy strategies to mitigate factual fragmentation and the erosion of democratic consensus.