Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction : communication : the very idea -- Erro, ergo sum : communication and pragmatism in the history of ideas -- Differences that make a difference : the art and science of media and communication research -- Media matters : the material conditions of communication -- Media meanings : the discourses, genres, and modalities of communication -- Media institutions : between agency and structure -- Media of science : doing communication research -- The future of communication : pragmatism between modernism and postmodernism.