Media Ecology – (Un)necessary Research Perspective in Communication and Media Studies

. the aim of this review and theoretical study is to determine the importance of media ecology theory for communication and media studies. Bearing in mind this research goal, the following research questions were asked: what is the media ecology theory? what approach to media and communication research does it represent? what research perspectives are proposed in the ield of media ecology? what new can media ecology bring to communication and media studies? an additional objective of the ar - ticle, and, at the same, time the intention of the authors, is to raise the interest of Polish researchers in the subject of media ecology and its various aspects, enriching research in the ield of communication and media studies.


U M C S
Harold Innis (1894Innis ( -1952) ) was an author of the so-called critical analysis of communication theory.He was interested in the social history of media, hence, he explored the subject of the media's inluence in political and economic terms, but also in the anthropological one.In his scientiic and research work, he empirically determined the media's inluence on the shaping of social relations.his inluence was demonstrated by reliable analysis of people's behaviour, while driving around Canada and performing thorough analysis, observations, and interviews (Wieczorek-Tomaszewska 2010).
When examining the media bias, its inclination towards a particular message, he irst of all asked the following three questions: 1) How do speciic communication technologies operate?; 2) What assumptions do they take from and contribute to society?; 3) What forms of power do they encourage?While exploring knowledge about media and social communication, he took into account social and cultural conditions.In his research, he showed that the stability or harmony of cultures depends on the balance and proportion of the media of these cultures.And each era can be described through the prism of its speciic form of communication or speciic means of communication.He stressed that the key to social change is the development of communication media.In their context, he emphasized that each media represents a speciic nature, directions and attitudes, bias in the organization and control of information (Innis 1950(Innis , 1951;;Christian 2015;Tremblay 2012).And the society is subject to, or almost depends on, technological change and technology.his theory of technological determinism, as well as the school relecting the views of Innis (the so-called Toronto School), gained popularity thanks to his pupil, Marshall McLuhan, because Innis started to deal with communication at the end of his academic career (Wieczorek-Tomaszewska 2010).In conclusion, it can be pointed out that Innis' work is an example of the need to reference the sciences of communication to other social sciences, especially history, sociology, economics, and political science (Tremblay 2012;Innis 1923).
Another precursor to theoretical perspectives on the understanding of technology, media, and communication is Lewis Mumford (1895Mumford ( -1990) ) -the author of the theory of urban history and technology.In his research, he analysed and studied the subject of the impact of technology on social, political, economic and, thus, civilizational changes.In the book titled Technics and Civilization (1934), he "denied the then popular technological determinism, pointing to the role of social factors in historical processes, not technological artefacts" (Wasiak 2013) Man (1944), Mumford drew attention to the nature and condition of the human body.As he emphasized, it has many possibilities, but also many limitations.hese limits of human possibilities are expressed by the term "organic humanism" (Mumford 1944). he term also expresses the fact that a person will develop well if their environment is healthy and natural, that is when there is clean air, high quality of food and water.hus, organic humanism is a brake for those who want to violate in any way the nature of man and their surroundings.It was from this perspective (of organic humanism) that he evaluated technology and the engineering understood in broad terms.It was also from this point of view that he criticized the views of Marshall McLuhan, who claimed that technology, not the natural environment, would ultimately shape human nature.Mumford was convinced that what fundamentally deines humanity and, at the same time, diferentiates people from other animals is not using tools (engineering, technology), but language.He believed that sharing information and ideas between the participants of primitive societies was completely natural to the early history of mankind, and it was the basis of a more developed society (Mumford 1934(Mumford , 1944(Mumford , 1956)).
Elizabeth Eisenstein (1923Eisenstein ( -2016) ) is an author of the theory of the history of typography.In terms of science and research, she was primarily interested in the consequences of the transition between the era of manuscript and that of print.She treats the Gutenberg era as a time of epochal changes in the information low. he invention of print, as Eisenstein notes, made it possible to signiicantly develop intellectual environments through better access to information and a more eicient exchange of ideas and communication between educated and scholarly Western Europe.he researcher also examines the results of the increase in information and accumulation of knowledge made thanks to technology which also allows it to be made available on a mass scale (Eisenstein 1979(Eisenstein , 1983)).
Jacques Ellul (1912Ellul ( -1994) ) drew from ecological terminology in relation to technology and politics (Ellul 1954(Ellul , 1965(Ellul , 1980(Ellul , 1988)).From the 1930s, he was involved in ecological activities.Apart from that, he was interested in politics and religion.He is described as a "colourful" thinker, not belonging to a speciic philosophical or religious trend (Greenman, Schuchardt, Toly 2012).He was known for his technical criticism, among other things.He believed that "in the twentieth century, technology ceased to be limited to mere mechanization, it embraced all human consciousness and gained a certain »autonomy«.his way it began to go beyond human control and became a determining factor in our lives and actions.Technology achieved sacrum status in modern societies" (Skurczyński 2016;Greenman, Schuchardt, Toly 2012).
Walter Jackson Ong (1912Ong ( -2003) ) -the author of the theory of orality and literacy, also in relation to technology (Ong 2002).His main interest in research was the impact of changing the oral tradition into the literal one on education, culture, society, politics, and economics.In his opinion, literacy is already a kind of "technology", as well as a promise of development in this ield, and orality is the original form of  (Ong 1971(Ong , 1977)).When exploring the issue of orality and literacy, Ong also wrote about the electronic processing of thoughts and words with the help of radio and television.As he noted, it was only in the era of electronic media that the diferences between orality and literacy could be clearly seen (Ong 1992).When writing about the new environment of human life (literacy), then "the technologizing of the word", he avoided the term "media".As he explained, it was due to the fact (…) that the term can give a false impression of the nature of verbal communication, and of other human communication as well.hinking of a "medium" of communication or of "media" of communication suggests that communication is a pipeline transfer of units of material called "information" from one place to another.My mind is a box.I take a unit of "information" out of it, encode the unit (that is, it it to the size and shape of the pipe it will go through), and put it into one end of the pipe (the medium, something in the middle between two other things).From the one end of the pipe the "information" proceeds to the other end, where someone decodes it (restores its proper size and shape) and puts it in his or her own box-like container called a mind.his model obviously has something to do with human communication, but, on close inspection, very little, and it distorts the act of communication beyond recognition.Hence McLuhan's wry book title: he Medium is the Massage (not quite the "message") (Ong 1992, p. 23).
Eric Alfred Havelock (1903Havelock ( -1988) -a leading representative of the theory of literacy, writing about the consequences of the transition from the oral to the literal society.In his research, he oten analysed the issue of Greek orality and literacy in the context of contemporary humanistic relection, as well as history and culture of the 20 th century (Havelock 1957(Havelock , 1963(Havelock , 1981(Havelock , 1986)).He was of the opinion that "the invention of the Greek alphabet, as opposed to all previous systems, including the Phoenician, constituted an event in the history of human culture, the importance of which has not as yet been fully grasped.Its appearance divides all pre-Greek civilizations from those that are post-Greek" (Havelock 1977).
Jack Goody (1919Goody ( -2015) ) studied literacy in relation to social organizations.In his research work, he asked the question: "What kinds of thought can people have -both in the short term and in the long term -because of pen and paper?" (Anton 2016, p. 129;Goody 1987).He also asked about human skills: How much do they change under the inluence of the development of communication forms?To what extent do other skills disappear in favour of the appearance of new ones?He provides an example of a phone with a cache containing a list of friends' phone numbers.As a result, the user no longer needs to be able to memorize long numbers becausethanks to the technical device -they have already saved them (Anton 2016, p. 129).his question and similar ones, depicting Goody's many years of research experience, are part of the questions about the new environment of human life, which is the media.McLuhan (1911McLuhan ( -1980) ) -one of the most signiicant thinkers in this ield, who attracted the attention of both academia and popular circles.He gained popularity thanks to his multiple studies and pioneering thoughts.he most well-known includes the statement that electronic media have contributed to the fact that the world is a "global village", and "the medium is the message".He also believed that the era of electronic media is the time when humanity is entering into the "Information Age".His intellectual creation, shaped, to a large extent, in Innis' school (he was his student), is the beginning and foundation of the media ecology theory (Levinson 2017).
McLuhan's research work was devoted primarily to the transformation of the media and the world, which was caused by the emergence of electronic media.Continuing with Innis' research ater his death, he expanded it even more, and especially the theory of media impact on human senses.He emphasized then that technologies are an extension and continuation of the body, mind and even consciousness.In his opinion, media and technologies are an extension of speciic parts and elements of the human body, e.g.thoughts are extended in language, feet -in a wheel, eye -in a camera, and the nervous system -in a computer (McLuhan 1964).When writing about the inluence of electronic media, he noticed the more limited signiicance of traditional media, e.g.printed media.As he noted, electronic media changed human perception, and, thus, human nature (McLuhan 1962a).he media, in his opinion, have a strong relationship with human nature and our living environment, because it is not so much a media or technical "environment" of life, but an integral element of life (McLuhan, Fiore 2001, p. 59;Marcyński 2016).his media environment has characteristic properties such as invisibility and imperceptibility, but -despite that -it attracts people's attention.According to the researcher, the contemporary ecosystem consists of electronic media and its nature, hence, he called the new environment "neo-ecology" (Marchand 1998, p. 177;Płużański 1977, p. 356).When writing about the media as a new environment of life, he listed its consequences and civilization threats, but above all, the chances of development for human and humanity.He emphasized that electronic media could contribute to large-scale communication and, thus, to the rebuilding of societies based on relationships and being in communication that existed in primitive tribal communities (McLuhan 1962b).McLuhan's research, along with the advancing "Information Age" and the development of technology, gained more and more importance, but also understanding, and continuation.
Neil Postman (1931Postman ( -2003) ) proposed and inaugurated a curriculum in the ield of media ecology at the Steinhardt School of Education at New York University in 1971.In his research work, he shared McLuhan's view of technological determinism, however, Postman was characterized by greater pessimism when it comes to the social impact of media and technology 2 .He believed that the message of electronic media largely supplanted real experiences, television images, including emotions 2 he concept of technological determinism had many opponents, including Jonathan Miller.presented, for example, on television, replacing authentic experiences.According to him, technology relieves man in basic life functions, for example, in thinking (Postman 1992).Besides, he believed that television diminishes the serious and political discourse, juxtaposing it with entertainment.Apart from that, when writing about television, he paid attention to its lack of interactivity, which means that it cannot fulil the educational function well (Postman 1985).
To determine the impact of the media and its mutual interactions, he used terminology borrowed from natural sciences.When speaking about the media ecology then, he meant the communication and media environment of man.He believed that media are present in human life to such a degree that they have become their new environment of life (Postman 1985(Postman , 1992(Postman , 2000)). he idea of media ecology was compared to a drop of red dye released into a glass of clean water.his drop does not loat by itself in a glass of clean water, but colours it, evidently changing its shade (Postman 1992(Postman , 1998)).herefore, the basic task of media ecology is "the answer to such questions as: How does individual media inluence the behaviour of the recipient?To what extent can it change their behaviour?What causes a given group of recipients to change their attitude towards certain people, ideas, values or the media themselves?" (Piasta 2001).In addition to the mentioned researchers connected with communication and media studies, communication studies, media sociology, it is worth noting that the theory of media ecology -as Casey Man Kong Lum writes -also derives from behavioural sciences (Watzlawick, Bavelas, Jackson 1967), structural anthropology (Levi-Strauss 1966), perceptual psychology (Cantril 1940), information systems theory (Shannon, Weaver 1964;Wiener 1948Wiener , 1950)), general semantics (Hayakawa, Hayakawa 1990;Korzybski 1994), cultural anthropology (Hall 1959), non-verbal communication (Birdwhistell 1952(Birdwhistell , 1970)), as well as physics and philosophy (Heisenberg 2007).Such a rich genesis of the discussed theory, its diverse intellectual framework and, thus, the interdisciplinary approach, largely afect its contemporary understanding.

The understanding of media ecology and new media ecology
According to McLuhan, the media is an environment that is diferent from the natural one, but, at the same time, having the power of inluence and constituting an important and natural element of the modern world -just like the natural one  (Rotkiewicz 1983, p. 168).In this sense, the media ecology can be understood as the science of "the functioning of the media, the impact of media on the human being, dependencies between man and the new media environment" (Marcyński 2016, p. 7).McLuhan's theory of the media ecology has its sources in the theory of systems and ecology, according to which, when "a new element is added to the old environment, one will not get an old environmental system plus a new element, but a new environment.he new environment is more than the sum of its parts" (Marcyński 2016, p. 36;Meyrowitz 1986, p. 19).
When discussing the understanding of media ecology, it is worth presenting them from Postman's perspective, who so signiicantly contributed to its popularization.Postman believed that "a medium is a technology within which a culture grows; that is to say, it gives form to a culture's politics, social organization and habitual ways of thinking", and the word "ecology" suggests that "interaction between media and human beings gives a culture its character; and one might say, helps a culture to maintain symbolic balance" (Postman 2000).According to Postman, media ecology is "the study of media as environments", meaning the study of media, technology and communication, and how they afect human life environments (Strate 1970(Strate , 2000;;Meyrowitz 2001).
According to Lance Strate, media ecology consists of media logic, mediology, medium theory, that are focused on researching the media environment.His understanding of media ecology is based on the belief in technological determinism and technological evolution.Following his masters and predecessors, he believed that media and technology played a signiicant role in human life (Strate 1999(Strate , 2006;;Postman, Nystrom, Strate 1987;Strate 2003Strate , 2007;;Strate, Lum 2000).In relation to the ecology theory of the media, he points out that "we live in a media environment that places a premium on images and immediacy, that loods us with entertainment and information that drowns us in distractions and diversions.Western culture, and the American experiment that it gave birth to, are products of an entirely diferent kind of media environment, one founded on alphabetic writing, and ampliied by the printing press with movable type" (Strate 2018).
Christine Nystrom, involved in the creation of the media ecology program at New York University; the author of the irst treatise on media ecology, a doctoral dissertation, entitled "Towards a Science of Media Ecology: he Formulation of Integrated Conceptual Paradigms for the Study of Human Communication Systems" (1973) emphasized in particular the value of interdisciplinary nature of media ecology research (Nystrom 1973).Although it is a branch of social sciences, it draws from the research tradition and methods of studying natural sciences and humanities. he main areas of research on media ecology, which the researcher most oten mentioned, are: interaction of the media, technologies and communication processes with human experiences, feelings, thoughts and behaviour, media inluence on perception, understanding and human feelings (Nystrom 1973).In conclusion, the term "media ecology" has been used in various contexts.Nevertheless, as Lum notes, McLuhan used this term as a metaphor, and Postman made it a formal deinition of media research, covering new areas of media research (Lum 2006). he tradition of media ecology theory -despite the fact that it is 60 years old -consists of a wealth of thought and research of various currents and schools, which is detailed in Lum's book entitled Perspectives on Culture, Technology and Communication: he Media Ecology (2006).However, the common denominator of these diverse interpretations of media ecology is to understand it as a science in which we study "how the form and inherent biases of communication media help create the environment in which people symbolically construct the world they come to know and understand, as well as its social, economic, political, and cultural consequences" (Lum 2006, p. 3;Jakubowicz 2011, p. 152).According to the above, the theory of media ecology allows to understand the media and various other means and forms of communication as constituting a permanent, almost natural element of everyday human life.herefore, researchers of media ecology determine the reasons for this situation, but also its consequences.By investigating the causes and results of the fact that the media is the environment of human life, they ask questions such as: How much time and space does it occupy in everyday life?How does it inluence people's decisions and actions?To what extent does it play the leading role, and to what extent is it a secondary (accompanying) role?What makes the media an increasingly common medium of information and a means of communication? hese are, therefore, research questions about sources, ways of creating coverage of the media as a living environment.Besides, these are also questions about the possibilities and risks associated with it.
In the era of Big Data, the engineering of the large data basis, or the ever new and diverse forms of communication, one can ask an additional question -about the understanding of media ecology in their context.Lev Manovich used the expression "media ater sotware" (Manovich 2013a) to describe the contemporary conditions of the media.In his opinion, this type of media are demanding a new stage of research on the theory of the media and ater modern media ecologists can be said that also it is needed in the ield of media ecology (Levinson 2012).An example of this type of work is the book entitled Sotware Takes Command written by Manovich which is the efect of his research in the area of new media ecology.In the context of the 20 th -century theory of media ecology, he discusses "sotware" and on this basis, shows the proposal to understand the new media ecology. he new media ecology is a ield of social sciences, in which, above all, the impact of new technologies and new forms of communication on society are examined.Within this framework, social media as a new environment of human life, among other things, is taken into account (Manovich 2013b)

Media ecology in communication and media studies -indings
Bearing in mind the understanding of media ecology, as well as its rich research and teaching tradition, it is safe to conclude that it can constitute a valuable contribution to communication and media studies.So what can researchers and didactics connected with the theory of media ecology propose to media researchers?According to the authors, media ecology has the following contribution to communication and media studies: 1.A new research area -the area of natural sciences, which include ecology.So far, we have determined that communication and media studies are a science of "borderland" and crossroads.hey are an intersection of diferent research perspectives, as described by Marek Jabłonowski and Tomasz Gackowski.hey are spread over three areas of social, humanistic, and technical sciences (Jabłonowski, Gackowski 2012).By introducing media ecology to communication and media studies, we introduce the fourth area: natural sciences and their methodology4 .he word "ecology" suggests studying the environments -their structures, contents, and consequences they have for people.Media ecology researchers analyse our roles played in social interactions that are forced upon us by the media.hey also investigate how the media represents the reality, how it evokes feelings and behaviours in us.hey also study how it reconstructs our lives and survival.
2. A new research problem -the one that is characteristic for the theory of media ecology.Key research issues in media ecology consist of: media as a living environment; interactions between individual media (genres); media as species; media development as an evolution; media as an extension of human nature.Of course, it can be analysed in more detail.he above-mentioned ones are only a starting point for searching for a new derivative of research issues.
3. Paying attention to the nature of the media and its understanding -knowledge of the nature of the media is a source of greater awareness in their reception and message.Especially in the age of such scandals as the Cambridge Analytica scandal, it is important to understand the medium we use or communicate with.his understanding of the media, suggested by media ecology researchers, can be a valuable scientiic and didactic supplement for those involved in media education.It can gain a lot by opening up to the theory of media ecology, including a new media education program for contemporary media audience, but also for broadcasters.he philosophy of the nature of the media in terms of media ecology focuses on showing the possibilities, but also on the constraints of a given medium, and hence, the transfer of knowledge U M C S to the audience and broadcasters on the subject of understanding the nature of the media in terms of media ecology, consequently results in the audience and broadcasters who are more media conscious.he nature of a speciic medium -in terms of the theory of media ecology -is more important than its content (Gambino 1972;Burke, 1968); it determines the message, creates a speciic environment of communication. he sender and the recipient, who are aware of this, know and understand the possibilities, but also the limitations of this medium.he possibilities of the radio, resulting from its nature, include: a rich repertoire of sound work, using the pause, expressing yourself and your message using words and music, holding an inspiring conversation, an interview, a radio drama. he limitations are: lack of visuals and, thus, no human body experience, the ability to see the speaker, what gestures they use, what their body language is. 4. A new direction of education -the theory of media ecology should be an important element of educating students of journalism in Poland.It can be treated as a single academic subject in the irst year of studies (as a compulsory course) or the ield of study -the way it looks in other countries, like the United States.his theory is very practical and, therefore, in the era of practical university education, it can easily be adopted in journalistic education.In what sense does it have a practical dimension? he knowledge of the theory enables a better understanding of the nature of particular media, leads to a detailed understanding of a speciic medium (its uses, possibilities, and limitations in the ield of creating a message for the needs of a given medium).Getting to know this nature is synonymous with a better, practical preparation for the profession of a journalist.
5. A diferent view on mediatization -taking into account the assumptions of the media ecology theory, one can propose that mediatization is simply a new edition of media ecology.Mediatization, as Gackowski points out, is (…) the process of mediating the media in learning about the world by their audience.he media is not a "window on the world" that faithfully shows reality.(…) he media is more like a convention in which they present the world around us.You can say that the audience with their daily choices (watching TV programs, suring speciic websites or buying particular newspapers) agree to this convention, and place their expectations towards the media within its limits.his would mean that the audience, when using the media, agree to its limitations in presenting the world.he convention, in which the media function, enforces the abbreviation, simpliications, and oten stereotyping, thus, lattening various phenomena, events or problems (Gackowski 2013, see also: Kopecka-Piech 2015).
his approach to mediatization helps to better understand the media ecology, as well as its new form of mediatization, and the issue of mediatization can be better studied, analysed and, thus, understood by using and learning about media ecology and its scientiic roots.
Postman and McLuhan have many continuators today, e.g.Paul Levinson from the Fordham University; Eric McLuhan from Canada; Robert K. Logan from the University of Toronto; Lance Strate from the Fordham University, a graduate in media ecology at New York University, one of the founders of the Media Ecology Association; Joshua Meyrowitz from the University of New Hampshire; Paul Soukup from the University of Santa Clara, Derrick de Kerckhove from the University of Toronto, in 1983-2008director of the McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology; Barry Wellman from the University of Toronto.