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Media studies is a discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history, and effects of various media; in particular, the mass media. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but it mostly draws from its core disciplines of mass communication, communication, communication sciences, and communication studies.
Researchers may also develop and employ theories and methods from disciplines including cultural studies, rhetoric (including eRhetoric), philosophy, literary theory, psychology, political science, political economy, economics, sociology, anthropology, social theory, art history and art criticism, film theory, and information theory. (1992). 9780674559561, Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674559561
McLuhan says that the "technique of fragmentation that is the essence of machine technology" shaped the restructuring of human work and association and "the essence of automation technology is the opposite". He uses an example of the electric light to make this connection and to explain how "the medium is the message". The electric light is pure information and it is a medium without a message, unless it is used to spell out some verbal ad or a name. The characteristic of all media means the "content" of any medium is always another medium. For example, the content of writing is speech, the written word is the content of print, and print is the content of the telegraph. The change that the medium or technology introduces into human affairs is the "message". If the electric light is used for a Friday night football game or to light up a desk, it could be argued that the content of the electric light is these activities. The fact that it is the medium that shapes and controls the form of human association and action makes it the message. The electric light is overlooked as a communication medium because it does not have any content. It is not until the electric light is used to spell a brand name that it is recognized as medium. Similar to radio and other mass media, electric light eliminates time and space factors in human association, creating deeper involvement. McLuhan compared the "content" to a juicy piece of meat being carried by a burglar to distract the "watchdog of the mind". The effect of the medium is made strong because it is given another media "content". The content of a movie is a book, play, or maybe even an opera.
McLuhan talks about media being "hot" or "cold" and touches on the principle that distinguishes them from one another. A hot medium (i.e., radio or a movie) extends a single sense in "high definition". High definition refers to the state of being well filled with data. A cool medium (i.e., a telephone or television) is considered "low definition" because a small amount of data/information is given and has to be filled in. Hot media are low in participation, because they give one most of the information while excluding certain information. Meanwhile, cool media are high in participation, because inclusively provides information but relies on the viewer to fill in the blanks. McLuhan used lecturing as an example for hot media and seminars as an example for low media. Using a hot medium in a hot or cool culture makes a difference.
In his book, Empire and Communications, University of Toronto professor Harold Innis highlighted media technologies as a powerful contributor to the rise and collapse of empires. Innis’ theory of media bias utilizes historical evidence to argue that a medium will be biased towards either time or space. He claims that this inherent bias will reveal a medium’s significance to the development of its civilization. Innis identifies media biased towards time as a medium durable in character like clay, stone, or parchment. Time biased media are heavy and difficult to relocate, which keeps their message centralized and thus maintains economic and social control within the hands of a hierarchical authority structure. He defines media in favor of space as a lighter, more transferable medium like papyrus. Opposite to media in favor of time, Innis explains that the transferable quality of media biased towards space permits civilizations to expand more quickly across vast areas, thus benefiting the growth of sectors like trade. Space biased media influences an empire to decentralize its power and widen its reach of influence. Though these biases are in competition with each other, Innis argued that an empire requires the presence of both time and space biased media to succeed as a lasting civilization.
Bourdieu is also remembered in the discipline for his theory of the habitus. In his written work Outline of a Theory of Practice (Bourdieu, 1977), Bourdieu claims an audience's preference in media is shaped by their social context. How an individual interprets and engages with their surroundings, or their habitus, is defined by the lasting and transferable elements of character which structure their consumer preferences. Bourdieu explains that, though durable, the habitus is not set in stone; it instead acts as a “strategy-generating principle” allowing individuals to navigate new and unfamiliar situations.
Bourdieu expanded on the theory of the habitus, introducing his famous term, cultural capital. According to the French sociologist, cultural capital signifies an individual’s socially or culturally valuable skills and knowledge. He claims that these competencies are developed through one’s upbringing and access to education resources, and can be unconsciously shaped by their social environment. Bourdieu highlights this accumulation of competencies as a determining factor in one’s life chances. One’s cultural capital, such as a university degree, can lead them to be offered more opportunities, thus linking the concept to both economic and social capital. Bourdieu explains that it is through the content of the different capitals that the habitus will structure an individual's consumer taste.
The first major branch of media theory has its roots in the humanities and cultural studies, such as film studies ("Filmwissenschaft"), theater studies ("Theaterwissenschaft"), German studies ("Germanistik"), and Comparative Literature Studies ("Komparatistik"). This branch has broadened out substantially since the 1990s, causing a culturally-based media studies (often emphasized more recently through the disciplinary title Medienkulturwissenschaft) in Germany to be developed and established.
This plurality of perspectives make it difficult to single out one particular site where the branch of Medienwissenschaft originated. While the Frankfurt-based theatre scholar Hans-Theis Lehmanns' term "post dramatic theater" points directly to the increased blending of co-presence and mediatized material in the German theater (and elsewhere) since the 1970s, the field of theater studies from the 1990s onwards at the Freie Universität Berlin, led in particular by Erika Fischer-Lichte, showed particular interest in the ways in which theatricality influenced notions of performativity in aesthetic events. Within the field of Film Studies, again, both Frankfurt and Berlin were dominant in the development of new perspectives on moving image media. Heide Schlüpman in Frankfurt and , first in Bochum then in Berlin, were key theorists contributing to an aesthetic theory of the cinema (Schlüpmann) as dispositif and the moving image as a medium, particularly in the context of illusion (Koch). Many scholars who became known as media scholars in Germany were originally scholars of German, such as Friedrich Kittler, who taught at the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin and completed both his dissertation and habilitation in the context of Germanistik. One of the early publications in this branch of media studies was a volume edited by Helmut Kreuzer entitled Literature Studies - Media Studies ( Literaturwissenschaft – Medienwissenschaft), which summarizes the presentations given at the Düsseldorfer Germanistentag in 1976.
The second branch of media studies in Germany is comparable to Communication Studies. Pioneered by Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann in the 1940s, this branch studies mass media, its institutions, and its effects on society and individuals. The German Institute for Media and Communication Policy, founded in 2005 by media scholar Lutz Hachmeister, is one of the few independent research institutions that is dedicated to issues surrounding media and communications policies.
The term Wissenschaft cannot be directly translated to studies, as it invokes both scientific methods and the humanities. Accordingly, German media theory combines philosophy, psychoanalysis, history, and scientific studies with media-specific research.
Stuart Hall, a Jamaican-born social scientist, also contributed to the field of media studies through his writings on cultural studies, separate but similar to media studies. Hall's main viewpoint was that the mainstream media as a whole served the beliefs of the rich and powerful within society, an idea that was heavily influenced by Karl Marx and Antonio Gramsci in his writings. By naming his theory "cultural studies", Hall was able to bring in the cultural element of media studies that he felt was often left out by academics in the field.
A newer theory from the 2010s comes from danah boyd and Alice Marwick when they studied how media eliminates borders between contexts. In their joint article, they refer to this as part of a process called ‘context collapse’. Context collapse refers to how a media platform can flatten multiple audiences into one and allow information intended for one audience to reach another unintended audience. An individual may present themselves to multiple audiences in various ways, but through context collapse, they are put in front of every audience at the same time and must choose which identity to assume. (2025). 9781410618771, Routledge. ISBN 9781410618771
In the United States, there is a rise in research surrounding social media and its use as a media form for communication. As the amount of social media research is on the rise, many researchers are calling on social media corporations to release data about their services to the general public.
Today, almost all Australian universities teach media studies. According to the Government of Australia's "Excellence in Research for Australia" report, the leading universities in the country for media studies (which were ranked well above world standards by the report's scoring methodology) are Monash University, QUT, RMIT University, University of Melbourne, University of Queensland, and UTS. Excellence in Research for Australia, "Section 2: Results by Field of Research Code", Australian Research Council (Government of Australia) Excellence in Research for Australia, "Section 4: Institutional Report" (20. Languages, Communication and Culture), Australian Research Council (Government of Australia), p286
In secondary schools, an early film studies course was first introduced as a part of the Victorian junior secondary curriculum during the mid 1960s. By the early 1970s, an expanded media studies course was being taught. The course became part of the senior secondary curriculum (later known as the Victorian Certificate of Education or "VCE") in the 1980s. It has since become, and continues to be, a strong component of the VCE. Notable figures in the development of the Victorian secondary school curriculum were the long time Rusden College media teacher Peter Greenaway, Trevor Barr (who authored one of the first media text books Reflections of Reality) and later John Murray (who authored The Box in the Corner, In Focus, and 10 Lessons in Film Appreciation).
Today, Australian states and territories that teach media studies at a secondary level are Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, and Western Australia. Media studies does not appear to be taught in the state of New South Wales at a secondary level.
In Victoria, the VCE media studies course is structured as: Unit 1 – Representation, Technologies of Representation, and New Media; Unit 2 – Media Production, Australian Media Organisations; Unit 3 – Narrative Texts, Production Planning; and Unit 4 – Media Process, Social Values, and Media Influence. Media studies also forms a major part of the Primary school and junior secondary curriculum, and includes areas such as photography, print media, and television.
Victoria also hosts the peak media teaching body known as ATOM which publishes Metro and Screen Education magazines.
In 1945 and 1946, Carleton University and the University of Western Ontario (respectively) created journalism specific programs or schools. A journalism specific program was also created at Ryerson in 1950. The first communication programs in Canada were started at Ryerson and Concordia Universities. The Radio and Television Arts program at Ryerson was started in the 1950s, while the Film, Media Studies/Media Arts, and Photography programs also originated from programs started in the 1950s. The Communication studies department at Concordia was created in the late 1960s. Ryerson's Radio and Television, Film, Media and Photography programs were renowned by the mid 1970s, and its programs were being copied by other colleges and universities nationally and internationally. Western University later followed suit, establishing The Faculty of Information and Media Studies. Carleton later expanded upon its school of journalism, introducing the mass communication and media studies program in 1978.
Today, most universities offer undergraduate degrees in Media and Communication Studies, and many Canadian scholars actively contribute to the field, among which: Brian Massumi (philosophy, cultural studies), Kim Sawchuk (cultural studies, feminist, ageing studies), Carrie Rentschler (feminist theory), and François Cooren (organizational communication).
Communication sciences (or a derivative thereof) can be studied at Erasmus University Rotterdam, Radboud University, Tilburg University, University of Amsterdam, University of Groningen, University of Twente, Roosevelt Academy, University of Utrecht, VU University Amsterdam, and Wageningen University and Research Centre.
Media studies (or something similar) can be studied at the University of Amsterdam, VU University Amsterdam, Erasmus University Rotterdam, University of Groningen, University of Maastricht, and the University of Utrecht.
Nine Dutch universities collaborate in the overarching Netherlands Research school for Media Studies (RMeS), which acts as a platform for graduate students to build connections within the media studies discipline and to represent Dutch media scholars on an international level.
/ref> 229 New Zealand schools offered Media Studies as a subject in 2016, representing more than 14,000 students.
When Joseph Trenaman left the BBC's Further Education Unit to become the first holder of the Granada Research Fellowship in Television at Leeds University. Soon after in 1966, the Centre for Mass Communication Research was founded at Leicester University, and degree programs in media studies began to sprout at polytechnics and other universities during the 1970s and 1980s.
James Halloran at the University of Leicester is credited for his influence in the development of media studies and communication studies, as the head of the university's Centre for Mass Communication Research and founder of the International Association for Media and Communication Research. Media Studies is now taught all over the UK. It is taught at Key Stages 1– 3, Entry Level, GCSE and at A level; the Scottish Qualifications Authority also offers formal qualifications at a number of different levels. It is offered through a large area of exam boards, including AQA and WJEC.
As mentioned earlier, much research in the field of news media studies has been led by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, which is one of the leaders in news media research for the United Kingdom. The Institute focuses on journalism and news media as topics of study.
In 1999, the MIT Comparative Media Studies program started under the leadership of Henry Jenkins. The program has since grown to include a graduate program; it is MIT's largest humanities major, and, following a 2012 merger with the Writing and Humanistic Studies program, now has a roster of twenty faculty, including Pulitzer Prize-winning author Junot Díaz, science fiction writer Joe Haldeman, games scholar T. L. Taylor, and media scholars William Uricchio (a CMS co-founder), Edward Schiappa, and Heather Hendershot. Now named Comparative Media Studies/Writing, the department places an emphasis on what Jenkins and colleagues have termed "applied humanities": it hosts several research groups for civic media, digital humanities, games, computational media, documentary, and mobile design, and these groups are used to provide graduate students with research assistantships to cover the cost of tuition and living expenses. The incorporation of Writing and Humanistic Studies also placed MIT's Science Writing program, Writing Across the Curriculum, and Writing and Communications Center under the same roof.
In 2000, the Department of Media Studies was officially established in 2000 at the University of Virginia; the interdisciplinary major has rapidly grown and doubled in size in 2011. This is partly thanks to the acquisition of Professor Siva Vaidhyanathan, a cultural historian and media scholar, as well as the Inaugural Verklin Media Policy and Ethics Conference, endowed by the CEO of Canoe Ventures and UVA alumnus David Verklin.
University of California, Irvine had professor Mark Poster, who was one of the first and foremost theorists of media culture in the US and boasted a strong Department of Film & Media Studies. University of California, Berkeley has three institutional structures within media studies that take place in the department of Film and Media (formerly Film Studies Program), including famous theorists as Mary Ann Doane and Linda Williams, the Center for New Media, and a long established interdisciplinary program formerly titled Mass Communications, which recently changed its name to Media Studies. This change eliminated any connotations that may have accompanied the term “mass” in the former title. Until recently, Radford University in Virginia used the title "media studies" for a department that taught practitioner-oriented major concentrations in journalism, advertising, broadcast production, and web design. In 2008, those programs were combined with a previous department of communication (speech and public relations) to create a School of Communication. (A media studies major at Radford still means someone concentrating on journalism, broadcasting, advertising or Web production.)
Brooklyn College has collaborated with City University of New York to offer graduate studies in television and media since 2015. Currently, the Department of Television and Radio administers an MS in Media Studies, and hosts the Center for the Study of World Television.
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