Investigating The Relation Between Amount Of The Social Capital and Tehran Citizen's Media Consumption

Media have strong presence among people as significant socialization factors in the current era. The results of studies show that there is a critical relationship between the amount of TV& newspaper consumption and social assets of citizens. These mentioned media can be very influential in changing the amount of social capital.In this paper the relation between amount of social capital and media consumption of Tehran citizens is investigated. The main issue of this study is to understand whether watching television and reading news paper cause any changes in the level of social capital? Referring to media effects theories such as agenda setting, cultivation and Putnam and Stone social capital theory and by using survey method this relation was studied among 600 literate Tehran citizens who were selected by the usage of random sampling method. Results show that television gathers individuals together and is a factor for reinforcing the relations and interactions between members of a family. Trust in television and newspaper is a factor for attracting audiences to these media and being influenced by their messages. Findings indicate that there is a relation between media consumption and social capital. In another words as the amount of media consumption increases, the amount of social capital promotes. Finally television as the main media of Iran with its widespread coverage can have positive influences on social capital and its elements through various outlets and programs.