Stories Without End: Media Narratives in the Age of Networks

This article theorises 'the new paradigm of mass communication 1 ' and ‘the media scenario 2 ' and develops the concept of the media narrative as a central analytical framework for understanding communication in the digital age. Drawing on Peter Ayolov’s theoretical work and engaging with Snezhana Popova’s Media Narrative (2017), it argues that contemporary mass communication can no longer be adequately described as the transmission of information, but must be understood as a process of interpretation, narrative construction, and identity formation. In an environment characterised by informational abundance, interactivity, and networked participation, communication increasingly loses its reciprocal dimension and is replaced by fragmented interpretative practices. Media narratives function as mechanisms through which societies organise experience, produce meaning, and stabilise collective and personal identities amid informational overload. The article examines how narrative operates across different levels —micro, meso, and macro—linking individual media fragments to broader symbolic structures that shape public perception and collective memory. It further analyses the transformation of authorship, the blurring of boundaries between sender and audience, and the role of interactivity in turning narrative into a shared, processual, and often contested space. Particular attention is given to the power of news narratives to construct social reality, emotional climates, and collective fate, especially under conditions of crisis, war, and political polarisation. Rather than treating narrative as a neutral form, the article conceptualises it as a structuring force that mediates between fact and meaning, truth and interpretation, history and lived experience. It concludes that media narrative remains indispensable for preserving the human dimension of communication, even as it becomes increasingly vulnerable to manipulation, spectacle, and the erosion of trust. Understanding media narratives is therefore essential for rethinking journalism, public discourse, and the ethical responsibility of communication in the twenty-first century.