Understanding media in context: the renewed relevance of multilevel, multichannel communication research

In this paper, the author places into context the use of communicative media as observed within the boundaries of a residential college in New Zealand. The purpose of the paper is to argue for the relevance of conducting longer-term observation and analysis of a diversity of media as used by bona fide groups in their natural settings. It is argued that the contribution such research makes may not be limited to media studies but may also hold the promise of extending and solidifying communication-centric communication theory. The report presented here supports the claim that in order to understand any one medium, analysts must also take stock of the relationships and/or conflicts held with other media encountered within a research site. Moreover, it is argued that communication must be accounted for with reference to the historically contextualised social behaviours encountered or expected there. In sum, the paper suggests that the artificially drawn boundaries between Interpersonal and Mediated Communication be reconfigured according to the tenets of general theories of communication such as the Coordinated Management of Meaning, Social Communication Theory and the Ethnography of Communication. '...we are no closer to integrating mass and human communication than we were twelve years ago.' (Stacks, 2009