Heuristic Perspective of Using Actor-Network Theory for Media Communication as Political Science and Practice

At the present stage, in the context of the ontological turn of humanitarian knowledge, the study of the methodological foundations of ontological theories and the integration of methods into political and media communication is of particular importance. The ontological turn emphasizes the need to understand the actor-network nature of reality and how network relations shape our understanding of various fields, including political and media communication. Learning the methodological underpinnings of ontological theories and incorporating these methods into communicative practice allows us to understand the underlying structures and meanings due to network relations that implicitly influence our social and political interactions. This knowledge can be used to make political and media communication more effective and ethical in today's increasingly complex world. Media communication as political theory and practice within an ontological framework involves understanding the role of media as material actors in shaping political discourse and influencing political decision-making. It explores how media institutions, technologies and content contribute to the construction of social reality and the exercise of power. It also examines the ways in which media representations and narratives, initiated by the dispositives and relational networks of human and non-human actors, shape the understanding of political problems, which ultimately affects the functioning of democratic societies on new, post-anthropocentric grounds. The author considers ontological characteristics of communication, methodological principles of actor network theory relevant for media communication. Based on the results of the study, the structural stages of the political decision-making process and the corresponding network actors stabilizing communication were identified. It was found that media as material actors of political communication optimize problem-solving mechanisms, help the passage and stabilization of each stage of communication, facilitate the involvement of new actors by collecting data, which previously were perceived as special cases of social action, but now become markers of the involvement of new technologies for governance.