Media studies is an academic discipline and field of study that deals with the content, history and effects of various media; in particular, the 'mass media'. Media studies may draw on traditions from both the social sciences and the humanities, but mostly from its core disciplines of mass communication, communication, communication sciences and communication studies. Researchers may also develop and employ theories and methods from disciplines including cultural studies, rhetoric, philosophy, literary theory, psychology, political science, political economy, economics, sociology, anthropology, social theory, art history and criticism, film theory, feminist theory, and information theory.

In addition to the interdisciplinary nature of the academic field, popular understandings of media studies encompass:

Foundational Media theories include: Media effects theory; Agenda Setting, Priming, Framing, political economy, discourse analysis,content analysis,Hyperpersonal theory,representation theory, imagined community,public sphere, theories of persuasion, attention, and control, etc.

Jonathan Holmes is a British-born Australian television journalist and producer who has been, since 2008, the presenter of the ABC1 weekly programme Media Watch.

His television career began in 1971 at the current affairs department of the BBC in Britain, until he was hired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1982 to become the executive producer of Four Corners, the ABC's flagship current affairs programme. He was executive producer of Four Corners from 1982 to 1985, of Foreign Correspondent (1992–93), and The 7.30 Report (2001–02). From 1998 to 2000, he was the ABC's foreign correspondent in Washington, D.C.. He returned to Four Corners as a reporter in January 2003.

In 1988, he wrote, produced and narrated the documentary film Hoddle Street, about the 1987 Hoddle Street massacre, which won the top prize at the Banff Mountain Film Festival that year.

Holmes won a 1998 Logie Award for a Foreign Correspondent TV special report on the Balibo Five (with assistant producer Jill Jolliffe).

David Duke Carr (born July 21, 1979) is an American football quarterback for the New York Giants of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Houston Texans first overall in the 2002 NFL Draft. He played college football at Fresno State.

Carr has also played for the Carolina Panthers and San Francisco 49ers.

Carr attended Stockdale High School in Bakersfield.

Carr began as the starting quarterback at Fresno State during the 2000 and 2001 seasons after redshirting in 1999. While he was quarterback, the Bulldogs went 7-5 and 11-3. In his senior season the team beat Colorado, Oregon State, and Wisconsin, all members of BCS conferences. There was speculation about whether the Bulldogs would qualify for a BCS bid, something then unprecedented for a 'Mid Major' conference team. They climbed to as high as number 8 in the polls, and Carr was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. During his collegiate career Carr completed 587 of 934 passes for 7,849 yards. He threw 70 touchdowns versus 23 interceptions. Carr collected the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award during his senior year.

Anita Sarkeesian is feminist video blogger and activist who focuses on women in popular culture and their associations with tropes. She maintains a YouTube channel, which has had more than one million views. She also blogs for Bitch Magazine under the name of FeministFrequency and also has her own website. Her videos have been part of university Women's Studies' courses.

Sarkeesian earned a bachelors degree in Communication Studies from California State University-Northridge in 2007 and a Master’s degree in Social and Political Thought from York University in 2010.

Stephen Tyrone Colbert ( /koʊlˈbɛər/ or /ˈkoʊlbərt/; born May 13, 1964) is an American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor. He is the host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, a satirical news show in which Colbert portrays a caricatured version of conservative political pundits.

Colbert originally studied to be an actor, but became interested in improvisational theatre when he met famed Second City director Del Close while attending Northwestern University. He first performed professionally as an understudy for Steve Carell at Second City Chicago; among his troupe mates were comedians Paul Dinello and Amy Sedaris, with whom he developed the critically acclaimed sketch comedy series Exit 57.

Colbert also wrote and performed on the short-lived Dana Carvey Show before collaborating with Sedaris and Dinello again on the cult television series Strangers with Candy. He gained considerable attention for his role on the latter as closeted gay history teacher Chuck Noblet. It was his work as a correspondent on Comedy Central's news-parody series The Daily Show, however, that first introduced him to a wide audience.