THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA ETHNOGRAFY IN ADVERTISING STUDIES: MULTI-SITED ETHNOGRAPHY

The ethnographic studies of media emerged just a few decades ago as a new terrain of academic studies. however, most of these studies in the field media and communication tend to focus either on production or reception, but seldom on both. in this paper, with reference to specific works, i review the primary approaches to media anthropology and critically discuss the most productive approaches to the ethnography of media production, media reception, and the ethnographic study of the relationship between the two. i focus on the significant gaps and consider possible approaches to empirical study and theoretical framework to address these gaps. specifically, ethnography of advertising studies, as a more industry-oriented approach, and multi-sited ethnography are put forward as new opportunities to meet the current challenges of media studies. by emphasizing shifting paradigms from media reception to multi-sited ethnographies, i frame media ethnography in the broader context of communication studies from an anthropological point of view. key concepts such as foreign other and pierre bourdieu’s concept of field are highlighted to provide a framework in which to offer productive approaches to the ethnography of media. this article provides a conceptual framework for scholars and students interested in media ethnographies.