Introduction

Abstract

Abstract Of necessity, the field of media studies no longer focuses exclusively on the conventional categories of television, film, radio, and print. Distributed digital networks, new types of hardware and software configurations, and new institutional arrangements in the media industries are disrupting existing categories and challenging theoretical and methodological approaches. How can media studies best make sense of changing media institutions, forms, and uses? How will the field keep pace with changes in media occurring in the decades to come? What will the “new media” of the future look like, and how can media studies help shape that future? Media Studies Futures highlights some of the major challenges and opportunities facing scholars, students, and advocates interested in understanding our changing media forms and working toward realizing their democratic possibilities. The main themes addressed here include: (1) media theory, methods, and pedagogy; (2) social and mobile media; (3) media industries and infrastructures; (4) journalism and media policy; (5) interactivity, affect, and media subjectivities; (6) children and youth cultures' uses of digital media; and (7) media waste and sustainability. The aim of this work is to promote a more open and inclusive discussion of the future possibilities for media and media studies, challenging rather than participating in dominant tendencies to lay claim to any particular future of media or their field of study.