Commonly called new media theory or media-centered theory of composition, stems from the rise of computers as word processing tools. Media theorists now also examine the rhetorical strengths and weakness of different media, and the implications these have for literacy, author, and reader.
New media defined The meaning of the term 'new media' can be confusing and debated over. At times extended to mean any sort of media that is not purely written-text-based, it generally refers to any medium that is technologically 'advanced' from pure text. The broadness of the term is useful in that it allows for the multiple modes that can be encompassed by this definition, instead of being focused on the technical aspect that the term 'digital' would invite. With this in mind, though, terms like 'digital', 'hyper-textual', 'interactive', 'simulated', 'virtual', and 'networked' can often be helpful when thinking about what constitutes new media.Liser, Martin; Dovey, Jon; Giddons, Seth; Grant, Iaian; & Kelly, Kieran. New Media: A Critical Introduction, Second Ed. London: Routledge, 2008. Print. However, there is often a false dichotomy drawn between the 'analogue' media and the 'new' media; media theory invites re-mediation of texts, which often result in a mix of mediums.Bolter, Jay David and Grusin, Richard. Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge: MIT, 2002. Gunther Kress remarks on the new responsibilities of writers: "In the new theory of representation, in the present technological context of electronic, multimodal, multimedia textual production, the task of text-makers is that of complex orchestration. Further, individuals are now seen as remakers, transformers, of sets of representational resources... ."Kress, Gunther. "Visual and Verbal Modes of Representation in Electronically Mediated Communication: The Potentials of New Forms of Text." Page to Screen: Taking Literacy into the Electronic Age. Ed Ilana Snyder. London: Routledge, 1998.
Theoretical construct Noted scholar in the field, Cynthia Selfe, has frequently commented on the exigency of incorporating new media in the writing classroom, noting its ability to make students rhetorically aware of the arguments that they commonly take for granted based on medium. She states, "Composition teachers, language arts teachers, and other literacy specialists need to recognize that the relevance of technology in the English studies disciplines is not simply a matter of helping students work effectively with communication software and hardware, but, rather, also a matter of helping them to understand and to be able to assess – to pay attention to – the social, economic, and pedagogical implications of new communication technologies and technological initiatives that affect their lives."Selfe, Cynthia L. (1999) "Technology and literacy: A story about the perils of not paying attention" College Composition and Communication, 50(3).
Richard Ohmann extends this argument, saying, "Adults ignorant of computers will soon be as restricted as those who today are unable to read. Software will become the language of the future, and the dominant intellectual asset of the human race, so that an understanding of software will be a primary component of literacy in the electronic age".Ohmann, Richard. "Literacy, Technology, and Monopoly Capital" Cross Talk In Comp Theory: A Reader. Ed. Victor Villanueva & Kristin L. Arola. Urbana: NCTE, 2011. 699–716. Print.
Holding intersections with rhetorical theory, new media theory focuses on how different mediums work rhetorically within various contexts. It subscribes to Marshall McLuhan's coined phrase "the medium is the message", or rather, that a message's content is just as important as the medium that delivers it in affecting how the message is received. A large amount of new media theory's focus is also on how different mediums generate different thinking; the theory proposes that new mediums produce specific (often unique) rhetorical moves like multi-threaded thought processes through the use of interactive texts.Johnson, Stephen. "Everything Bad Is Good for You: How Today's Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter." New York City: Riverhead Trade, 2005. Print. Related to this, patterns of organization and production are topics of emphasis for new media theory, especially when thinking about the commonly non-sequential or thinking and writing of new media, particularly through the use of hyperlinks. Gunther Kress says about the complexity of new media composition, "But this one person now has to understand the semiotic potentials of each mode–sound, visual, speech–and orchestrate them to accord with his or her design. Multimedia production requires high levels of competence based on knowledge of the operation of different modes, and highly developed design abilities to produce complex semiotic "texts."Kress, Gunther. "Visual and Verbal Modes of Representation in Electronically Mediated Communication: The Potentials of New Forms of Text." Page to Screen: Taking Literacy into the Electronic Age. Ed Ilana Snyder. London: Routledge, 1998.
Media theory focuses on the effects that can come from utilizing new media, like new textual experiences and new ways of representing the world. One effect is the changing relationship between subjects and technologies, especially in relation to identity and community.Liser, Martin; Dovey, Jon; Giddons, Seth; Grant, Iaian; & Kelly, Kieran. New Media: A Critical Introduction, Second Ed. London: Routledge, 2008. Print.
Research The earliest research that can be considered part of media theory involved the use of computers as word processors. However, with the advent of applications like HyperCard for the Apple Macintosh, the focus in media research shifted to hypertext's implications in the writing classroom.
Much research has been done regarding technological literacy, and questions of literacy in general. Richard Ohmann,Ohmann, R. (2008). Literacy, technology, and monopoly capital. In R. Morris, E. Overman-Smith, & M. Sidler (Eds.), Computers in the Composition Classroom: A Critical Sourcebook (pp. 20–34). Boston, MA: Bedford / St. Martin's. as early as 1985, questions the focus on technological literacy appearing in schools at the time. Insisting that technological literacy is tied to socioeconomic class, Ohmann, and others like him began to research the possibility for educational ostracism because of a lack of access to technological tools. This contrasts starkly with much of the utopian visions of the technological classroom that others exhibited.
Current research is being conducted multimodal composition, broadening composition to encompass video, video games, music, and other interactive media Digital Media.
Authorship Identity and the construction of such is an area of particular focus for new media theory.Penrod, Dianne. "Composition in convergence: the impact of new media on writing assessment." Boca Raton: Taylor and Francis Publishing, 2005. Print. Individuals can control how they are represented online through personalized avatars and profiles, and the rhetorical moves behind this are often explored. Identity is an important aspect of authorship in many new media writings in this manner, then, especially in situations like Internet forums.
Many instances of new media have difficulty controlling authorship, though, and new media theory does not always view this as a bad thing. Digital medias are in a constant state of flux (versus the relative fixity of traditional text) because several transformations may occur. For instance, in the case of email, messages may be replied to or forwarded several times, during which times previous messages may be revised or edited by various parties.Rice, Jeff. "The rhetoric of cool: composition studies and new media". Carbondale: Southern Illinois University, 2007. Print. Technologies that allow for simultaneous authoring of texts also produce this effect.
Authorship is further complicated by the refashioning of analogue texts or the "remixing" of several new media texts. Jay Bolter says, "In the new theory of representation, in the present technological context of electronic, multimodal, multimedia textual production, the task of text-makers is that of complex orchestration. Further, individuals are now seen as remakers, transformers, of sets of representational resources."Bolter, Jay David and Grusin, Richard. Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge: MIT, 2002.
Those involved in new media theories have often needed to redefine "author" in the context of new media. Some theorists draw a difference between the authors of analogue texts as people who produce texts that readers interpret; in contrast, those who produce new media texts are seen as being in better alignment with the term "experience designers", because they create spaces within which readers make their own paths.Liser, Martin; Dovey, Jon; Giddons, Seth; Grant, Iaian; & Kelly, Kieran. New Media: A Critical Introduction, Second Ed. London: Routledge, 2008. Print. This is particularly true for interactive and immersive texts. This produces even more debate over who is seen as an author, because in many new media texts, the reader plays a dual role of consumer and producer.
Teaching methods and pedagogical basis Media theory focuses on the agency that composing in new media can give writers. It is important not to simply add in new media as a problematic addendum to analogue writing; instead,George, Diana. "From Analysis to Design: Visual Communication in the Teaching of Writing." CCC 54:1 September 2002, 11–39. teachers can take advantage of these "new" means by calling students to become both consumers or critics of new media as well as producers, as technology's role in society becomes ever more prominent. Giving students the resources to take part in discourses around and through new media gives them the power and agency to act in this digital world.
The agency gained through new media composition also provides a basis for social change. Gunther Kress remarks on the potential for teaching design via new media composition in the classroom: Design takes for granted competence in the use of resources, but beyond that it requires the orchestration and remaking of these resources in the services of frameworks and models that express the maker's intentions in shaping the social and cultural environment. While critique looks at the present through the means of past production, design shapes the future through deliberate deployment of representational resources in the designer's interest.Kress, Gunther. "Visual and Verbal Modes of Representation in Electronically Mediated Communication: The Potentials of New Forms of Text." Page to Screen: Taking Literacy into the Electronic Age. Ed Ilana Snyder. London: Routledge, 1998.
Teachers cite the ease of which students pick up on the techniques of composition and analysis of new media. The visually saturated and technologically heavy society of today means that students and writers will need to question the communications and compositions around them as rhetorical moves integral to the culture students live in.George, Diana. "From Analysis to Design: Visual Communication in the Teaching of Writing." CCC 54:1 September 2002, 11–39. Their familiarity with and knowledge of new media often results in positive, conscious appropriation of media, and opens the door for discussions of repurposing within culture. Jay Bolter and Richard Grusin say: No medium today, and certainly no single media event, seems to do its cultural work in isolation from other social and economic forces. What is new about new media comes from the particular ways in which they refashion older media and the ways in which older media refashion themselves to answer the challenges of new media.Bolter, Jay David and Grusin, Richard. Remediation: Understanding New Media. Cambridge: MIT, 2002.