Media adequacy
Media adequacy refers to specific ( i.e. media) aspects that are important for a successful information transfer. This implies that not all information can be reproduced in an equally adequate manner with every medium. The term was coined by Hans Giessen .
Demarcation
The successful transfer of information depends on various aspects. An important aspect is of course the content itself. Depending on the goal, purpose and method, the question of whether and why an information transfer is successful can depend on a more or less successful preparation of the content. Further decisive factors can lie in the general reception situation, i.e. in the individual situation of the recipient (which is examined in recipient research, learning research, etc.), such as the social situation, which in turn depends on various aspects, such as gender , culture, etc. . a. However, it is often underestimated that the channel via which the information is transferred can also be of decisive importance. The question then is which medium makes it possible to convey a specific content as well as possible (and which medium is more of a hindrance).
Because not all content can be transmitted equally well with every medium. One example is the Watergate affair , which at least led to the overthrow of a US president. It was uncovered by a daily newspaper that is read by relatively few (albeit influential and opinion-forming) people - but not by television, which is seen by many more viewers. The main reason is that television reports only work if they can be illustrated; this was hardly possible with the television reports about illegal wiretapping. In contrast, it was possible to describe in the newspaper how the information from a (anonymous, i.e. not visually illustrative) source was verified. The medium and its production constraints therefore (also) decide whether and how content can be presented or how effective the information transfer is.
Research topics and fields
As a rule, the respective research is normative , and one examines what influences (promotes or hinders) successful information transfer. If the researcher's gaze is not based on the recipient or the content, but on the medium, then media adequacy is the central category. "Only what can be meaningfully and efficiently implemented in a certain medium should also be implemented in this medium."
The term “ medium” refers not only to the means of communication, but also partly to different genres (types of communication). In the example of the Watergate affair , for example, the transfer of information with the help of television was only successful and useful in the form of secondary reporting. However, this did not mean that visual communication is fundamentally not possible or not well possible. A preparation in the genre of the feature film was again very successful and powerful ( Die Unbrechlichen - "All the President's Men" ). The question of media adequacy therefore relates more to genres (in the area of print media: text types ) and not just to primary media.
In addition to the production constraints, the media-dependent reception conditions also play a role. Content on a website has a different effect when it is received on a tablet or a stationary computer . Using one and the same content via the Internet is more successful or less successful than working with the same content on a DVD , depending on the learner group (social learner type, introspective learner type) . Ultimately, it is a question of complex interactions between content, medium and reception process.
In contrast to content analysis and reception and learning research, the scientific engagement with the topic of media adequacy is relatively new, as the view of the mentioned problems from the medium has only recently become relevant. Only since the triumphant advance of microelectronics have not only specialists been able to publish with their medium (writers who write, television journalists, etc.). In the meantime, there is the possibility (and opportunity, but often also the compulsion) to work in a cross-media manner in many areas , so that the question of the appropriate media-appropriate processing in each case becomes urgent.
literature
- Hans Giessen, Media Appropriate Publishing . Heidelberg, Berlin: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag / Elsevier, 2003, ISBN 978-3-8274-1125-9
- Hans Giessen, Thomas Berrang, Angelina Müller, Jürgen Müller-Ney, Sabine Penth, media-adequate learning. Saarbrücken: AGRAF 2018, ISBN 978-3-945327-06-7
- Jörg Roche, professional, technical and scientific languages . Munich: Multilingua Academy
Individual evidence
- ↑ https://www.lexikon-mla.de/lexikon/medienadaequat
- ↑ Michael Workman, Performance in Computer-based and Computer-aided Education: Do Cognitive Styles Make a Difference? In: Journal of Computers in Human Behavior, Vol. 20, 2014, 517-534.