'Anthropology of media' (also 'anthropology of mass media', 'media anthropology') is an area of study within
social or
cultural anthropology that emphasizes
ethnographic studies as a means of understanding producers, audiences, and other cultural and social aspects of
mass media.
Methodology
What is distinctive about anthropology of media is the use of
ethnography. Within
media studies, media ethnographies have been of increasing interest. However these have often not followed anthropological approaches to ethnography like
participant observation and long term fieldwork. These differences mean that anthropologists who take an interest in the media see themselves as a subfield distinct from ethnographic approaches in
media studies and
cultural studies.
Theory
The anthropology of media is a fairly inter-disciplinary area, with a wide range of other influences. The theories used in the anthropology of media range from practice approaches, attributable to theorists such as
Pierre Bourdieu, as well as discussions of the appropriation and adaptation of new technologies and practices. Theoretical approaches have also been picked up from
visual anthropology and from
film theory as well as from studies of ritual and performance studies (e.g. dance and theatre). Theoretical discussions have also been picked up from studies of
consumption, audience reception in media studies,
new media and network theories, theories of
globalisation, theories of international
civil society, and discussions of participatory communications, and
governance from
development studies.
Ethnographic contexts
The types of ethnographic contexts explored in the anthropology of media range from the production of media: ethnographies of newsrooms in newspapers,
journalists in the field, film production and so on, as well as reception studies, following audiences in their responses to media. Other types include
cyber anthropology - a relatively new area of
internet research, as well as ethnographies of other contexts which happen to include media, such as development work,
social movements, health education. This is in addition to many classic ethnographic contexts, where media such as
radio,
the press,
new media and
television have started to make their presences felt.
Links
★
Open Directory Project (ODP) entry on the Anthropology of Media
★
European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) Media Anthropology Network
★
Programme in the Anthropology of Media at SOAS
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