Media Culture as a Constitutive Force of Social Reality in the Information Society: An Ontological and Epistemological Analysis

This article examines media culture as a constitutive force shaping social reality in the information society. Moving beyond representational approaches, it argues that contemporary media culture actively constructs both social existence and epistemic authority. Based on the theoretical backgrounds of Pierre Bourdieu, Stuart Hall, Manuel Castells, and Jean Baudrillard, the research conceives of media culture as a space structured in which symbolic power, signification, and social epistemology are organized and legitimized. The study utilizes a qualitative socio-philosophical methodology grounded in conceptual analysis and theoretical interpretation, supported by a contextual application of media transition in Uzbekistan as a case of nascent information society building process. Results show that media culture operates literally both as social visibility ontology and as a credibility, relevance, and public discourse epistemological regulator. This article enriches the domain of media philosophy by synthesizing a classical theory approach with a non-Western lens and by suggesting an ontological–epistemological model of media culture in contemporary societies. This calls for a reevaluation of media culture as an active force of social change instead of a passive medium of representation.