Abstract

The ahistorical nature of academic enquiry into the media has been widely commented upon in recent years. More than a quarter of a century ago Paddy Scannell first pointed out the propensity of media and communication scholars to ‘conduct debates on media institutions (their political, economic and ideological functions), and on the sphere of culture/ideology...at a theoretical pitch not solidly underpinned by detailed, empirical historical knowledge in either field’ (1980, 1) A decade later James Curran could still claim that history was ‘the neglected grandparent of media studies’ (1991, 27), yet from the vantage point of 2007 nurtured rather than neglected appears to be a more suitable point of view.

How to Cite:

Day, D., (2017) “Editorial”, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture 4(4), 1-4. doi: https://doi.org/10.16997/wpcc.106