Media studies

Media studies is an academic area of study about mass media and its history and effects. It mostly focuses on newspapers, radio, television, and internet. Media studies take some ideas from other areas of study, such as humanities and the social sciences.

Most production and journalism courses use media studies content, but academic institutions such as universities often start separate departments. Media studies students may see themselves as observers of media, not creators or practitioners. These distinctions are different depending on the country where students live.

The development of media studies was sparked by the growth of new media in the post-Second World War period. A typical source was Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. This book set out to connect changes in media with changes in society. His most famour phrase was "The medium is the message".McCluhan, Marshall 1964. Understanding media: the extensions of man. New York: McGraw-Hill & London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

 References 

 Other websites 

 Media Studies. Discuss - BBC News, 18 August 2005. 

Category:Mass media
Category:Humanities
Category:Social sciences
Category:Interdisciplinary fields