Media Ecology

An interdisciplinary study of media theory that cuts across a number of social and behavioral science fields, including communications, linguistics, sociology, anthropology, psychology, and rhetoric. Media ecology is best understood as an approach, rather than a strict ideology, to understanding the media as environments. Central to media ecology is the idea that media environments, such as books, radio, film, television, and the like, involve subtle, implicit, and informal dynamics and complex message systems; because people do not often think of these media forms as environments, as they would a courtroom, classroom, or workplace, they are usually not aware of their effects. Media ecology attempts to illuminate the impact these media have on people at numerous levels.

Definitions of the term are not hard and fast and can depend on both the cultural and the academic context in which it is used. Generally, the term refers to the interplay between media communication and human perception, understanding, values, and behavior. Media ecology is concerned with the contents and uses of various media as well as with the relationships between people, places, technology, and events. It borrows the word ecology from the physical sciences to imply the study of environments with regard to their structure, content, and impact on people.

The term was formally introduced by the educator and cultural critic Neil Postman, who established a program for media ecology at New York University in 1971. Marshall McLuhan, often associated with his statement “The medium is the message,” is widely regarded as the spiritual father of media ecology. The field of inquiry also draws on the work of a wide range of scholars, including Walter Benjamin, James Carey, Harold Innis, Lewis Mumford, and Walter Ong. Some scholars define media ecology as a field of inquiry, whereas others place greater emphasis on its practical applications. There exist somewhat diverging academic threads, such as the New York School and the Toronto School, as well as those who use the term in a more generic way. For further reading, see Lum (2006), McLuhan (1964), and Postman (1979).