In comparison to other fields of study that have been evolving for centuries, media studies just really got going around the middle of the twentieth century. However, the study of media encompasses a wide range of scientific disciplines owing to the unique nature of the media and the media sector as a whole. The media as an industry is part of the social sciences that is tied to the economic sciences, but the media are also intertwined with other disciplines like linguistics, sociology, art, philosophy, history, etc. At times, the media business necessitates the study and use of a wide range of information from other fields of study and activity in order to find the best solution to a particular issue.
The notion of an economic approach to media studies is influenced by the wide range of scientific methods used to examine the media and the media business. Media economics is more often employed in nations with an Anglo-Saxon heritage, whereas media management and internet management are more common in continental Europe and elsewhere. Wirtz thinks both methods are useful, but that media management gets more attention.
Media economics
The phrase "media economics" has more in common with the positivist school of thought, with its origins in the British tradition of "empiricism." Both a macro and micro perspective are used in the study, with a focus on how best to put the media industry's resources to use. Marshall's Principles of Economics from 1890 uses the word economics often while discussing economic topics. Marshall's neoclassical method for resolving economic problems rests on a solid grasp of mathematics, which also serves as the basis for the positivist method. But Marshall departs from the established British perspective on science and philosophy. Marshal reasoned that the separation of the economic realities of human behavior from the general facts assisted the development of economic theory. The field of economics analyzes monetary and monetary-based incentives. Money isn't everything, but it's "a reasonably decent measure of the driving power of a considerable portion of the impulses by which men's lives are fashioned," as long as you take certain measures. By abandoning positivism, media economics theorists are now free to examine the media sector from a variety of theoretical perspectives.