Geographic Information Systems as Media and Society: Does GIS Wear a White or Black Stetson?

Abstract

There has been much debate over the last 10 to 15 years focused on whether GIS are objective neutral tools or serve as agents of corporate or state interests. Despite the arguments, there has been no clear and decisive outcome, leading some scholars to seek different ways of contextualizing GIS development, use, and research; Daniel Sui and Michael Goodchild are two such scholars. They claim that GIS are media and that, therefore, investigations of GIS can be informed by Marshall McLuhan's theories of media. Their findings are compelling at the macro scale. This paper builds upon their work by applying this concept at the micro level in two case studies: one in India and the other in Minneapolis. The results of this analysis support those of Sui and Goodchild. Therefore, using the GIS as media tetrad (a) underscores the growing importance of GIS as modern forms of communication or media; (b) illustrates to developers, users, and critics of GIS that GIS-based decisions can and do affect specific people in both positive and negative ways; and (c) reminds society and the GIS community of the “reversals” that are possible from unquestioned adoption of GIS and GIS technologies.