Marek Jabłonowski, Tomasz Gackowski - The identity of media studies. Fields, perspectives, postulates
Maciej Mrozowski - The identity of media studies. Contribution to the discussion

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Media studies discipline is formally one of the youngest academic disciplines in Poland where social studies, humanities and technical sciences interconnect. In general, it is also perceived as a relatively young area of education. The discussion on the status and identity of media studies has started and will gain dynamics. Research centers with didactic ambitions are sprouting, conferences are being annually held, more and more publications and periodicals dedicated to mass media and their influence on reality are being published. All these aspects make it necessary for media scholars to state the bare rudiments of – the identity – of this new “old” discipline – media studies: establishing its goals, terms, theoretical foundations and research methodology. A structure of the discipline must be built based on, in its eclecticism and interdisciplinarity, three pillars – social studies, humanities and sciences. It should play a crucial role in the process of discovering and understanding the reality, which surrounds us and seems to be all the more mediatized, mediated and dependant on the ever-present mass media. Before the annual June conference of the Institute of Journalism of the University of Warsaw, the year 2012 being dedicated to the identity of media studies, the editorial board of “Media Studies” presents an article by Marek Jabłonowski and Tomasz Gackowski dedicated to this topic, with the voice of Maciej Mrozowski initiating the discussion.

KEYWORDS

academic discipline, media studies, terminology, methodology, research field