From its onset, communication has been a diverse and complex area of investigation, influenced by many fields (sociology, politics, economics, technology, and semiotics). In this context, the field theory (supported by Pierre Bourdieu) offers different possibilities for organization and autonomy as a way to reduce that diversity. However, at this point, the heteronomy of the field has led to a situation where communication (as with art or other disciplines) is being influenced by global, interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and intermedial (or transmedial) contexts. Hence, it is gnoseological diversity that is the object of investigation, not the mass media itself. These theoretical aspects are discussed in this article and weighed against an initial comparative study on investigation in communication in Spain, Brazil and Chile, which are three of the countries with the most development in the last few years.