This paper presents an in-depth look at semantics and how it has been and continues to be studied in mass communication. The paper notes that modern communication scholars have largely ignored the importance of semantics to mass media research. The paper examines the historical roots of semantics, noting that the 1930s saw the intellectual blossoming of semantics. The paper briefly examines how semantics plays a role in 11 areas of mass communication research. The paper then summarizes semantic themes in both Eastern and Western philosophy, and discusses three general conceptions of meaning which serve as a basis for linguistic research in semantics and which are widely accepted among linguistic scholars. The paper then discusses a few of the important research projects that have been conducted in the area of semantics and how they relate to mass communication, noting that there should be more interdisciplinary experimentation if semantic research is to progress in mass communication. Contains 28 references. (RS)