The Media Mindsets Research Cluster at Kent State University fosters interdisciplinary investigations of media usage, based on the following four premises:

1. CHANGES in the media environment are accelerating, unpredictable, and sometimes almost accidental.  While in the past technological change was driven by industry, change is now controlled by individuals with their unique set of preferences.
2. Individuals are faced with an unprecedented array of media CHOICES.
3. Users now CONTROL media use.  They can choose not only the kind of technology they wish to use, but the kind of content to be distributed by that technology.
4. Media use is facilitating the development of new kinds of COMMUNITIES that are connected through technological means.

Newspaper and other types of media companies must adapt to the 4 C's, not by managing them, but by predicting and reacting to them.  Thus, the focus of the Media Mindsets Research Cluster is on techniques and strategies to foster predictive capability about media use.  It is facilitating interdisciplinary research that engages industry, influences the way we think about the nature of media, and improves the quality of information for decision making, allowing communication industries to respond appropriately to the technological needs and information demands of consumers.

 

If you are interested in becoming a participant in the Media Mindsets Research Cluster, please contact the Institute for CyberInformation (ICI):

Rosemary Du Mont     rdumont@kent.edu
Pearle Bower             pbower@kent.edu

203 Moulton Hall
KentCampus
Kent  OH  44242

330.672.5330
330.672.5371 Fax