David Gauntlett’s Media Studies 2.0 theory

David Gauntlett is a British sociologist and media theorist. He specializes in the study of contemporary media audiences, the everyday making and sharing of digital media, and the role of such media in self-identity and self-expression.

Gauntlett’s Media Studies 1.0

This traditional approach to Media Studies, which is still dominant in a lot (but not all) of school and university teaching, and textbooks, is characterised by:

-          Expert fetish

-          Classics and canons

-          Traditional media focus

-          Critical resistance to big media

-          Teaching students to read critically

-          ‘Conventional’ research methods

-          Division between audience receivers and expert producers

-          ‘Sit back and be told’