Media Geographies

The interaction between media studies and geography has until now been felt primarily in the realm of textual analysis, prompting scholars to ask how films or other media represent place; how the specificity of particular places (some cities for example) have influenced media aesthetics; or how media images have functioned in the promotion of place.

Kate Bowles and I are preparing a book on Media Geographies that aims to look over the usual horizon of the media text. We are interested in the ways in which the methodologies and knowledges that geographers work with might assist us in expanding our understanding of what it is media studies itself aims to study. What are the benefits and limitations of using GIS in undertaking cinema research for example? How do audiences in different locations engage with media (or not)? In what ways do the physical spaces in which media is consumed matter? What impact does topography have on media diffusion and consumption?

Image: Stand-in locations as depicted by Australian film agencies.