Abstract

What functions can rituals fulfill in the context of media and specifically in relation to young people? What ethical implications are associated with the issues of "media - rituals - youth"? These questions were the focus of the ninth symposium on media ethics at Stuttgart Media University where three types of "media rituals" emerged: On the one hand, there are rituals mediated by the media, through which societies can reassure themselves of their values. The second is rituality in the act of communication itself, i.e., the meaning-generating reception, production, and interaction of and with media. The third characteristic refers to the rituality evoked by media. Here, the meaning of the depicted actions or events is first generated by the media's staging or structuring.