The
Address:
Ph.: (032) 2394-222
E-mail: boryslav@yahoo.com
Professor
Potyatynyk B. - Director
E-mail:
boryslav@yahoo.com
Habor N. – researcher, PH.D.
E-mail: nat.gabor@gmail.com
Beelous O. - researcher
About us
The
Institute of Media Ecology was established according to the decision of the
Learned Council of the Ivan Franko National
University of L’viv in June 1999. It is worth
mentioning here that emphasis is laid on non-traditional ecology, its object of
investigation being the informational environment created by mass media. The
Institute focuses on the problem of the noosphere
pollution, description, comparative analysis, and the elaboration
of the ways of neutralization of pathogenic information flows, screen violence,
pornography, hyper advertisement, and propaganda. The
Institute treats media ecology as
the synthesis of philosophical, academic, and purely
applied trends connected with the neutralization of pathogenic information
flows. That is why the
Institute, from the first days
of its activity,
follows three research trends:
·
media philosophical
(philosophical contemplation
of the influence
of mass media,
in particular, media technology, upon our psyche
and culture);
· media critical (the analysis of
media discourse for professionals);
· media ecological (media ecology differs
from journalist education in that
it is aimed
not only at media business
training, but also at the
stimulation of “psychological immunity” of public against
those media threats which are
connected with propaganda and falsification, pornography and screen violence.
Media education is something
like an instruction
manual on how to use
media).
Since such
research themes require an interdisciplinary
approach, during the first year
of its existence,
the Institute collected the publications
in the volume
“Avoiding the Apocalypses,” which offer the wide
vision of media ecology problems.
During the
two following years such round
tables and seminars with participation
of university lecturers, students, and journalists were conducted:
·
“Free and responsible press” (June 1999);
·
“The Internet: new opportunities and possible dangers”
(September 1999);
·
“Legal and ethical aspects of the formation
of balanced media environment” (October 1999);
·
“Use of black PR in elections
technologies” (October
2000);
·
“Psychological Consequences
of Screen Violence” (November 2000, together with the
Theological Academy);
·
“Violence actual and virtual” (March
2001);
·
“Pornography in mass communication and its psychological
consequences” (October
2001);
·
“The Internet in journalist training
programs” (February 2002, together with the
representatives of the School of
Journalism, Uzhgorod University, and the Department of Electronic Publications,
Academy of Printing, L’viv).
The themes
of the seminars
were reflected on the pages
of the following
newsletters:
·
“Media Ecology
¹1,”
·
“Media Ecology
¹2.”
Together with the colleagues
from the Institute of Political
Technologies, we prepared before the elections the
following editions:
the volume
“Kingdom of Distorting Mirrors” on the use
of “black” PR in pre-elections technologies;
the chapter
“Media ecology” in the volume
of papers of the department
of Ukrainian Press (5 authors);
the special
issue of the “Media Education”
journal, New Ways of Communication,
parts 4-5.
Since the
elaboration of a research theme
envisages its propaganda outside the institution, the articles in
press (4) and a series of
TV programs “Media-resonance”
on the 12th L’viv TV channel conducted during two years (2000-2002) by the Institute
Director, Borys Potyatynyk, were of particular importance.
On the Institute’s
initiative and with the Institute’s
participation, ten TV programs were prepared:
“Violence in mass communication,” “Criminal journalism,” “Media and terror,”
“Globalization and media,” etc.
On the
initiative of the Institute of
Media Ecology, the round table
discussion “Introduction of media education
in Ukraine” was organized in
March 2002. The main idea of
the discussion was that the
danger for the psyche of
Ukrainian citizens brought by media
might be reduced. There exists an appropriate
and already tested methodology―media education, which is now actively
developing not only before the
western, but also after the
eastern borders of Ukraine. The
round table discussion declared a new stage
in the development
of media education in Ukraine.
It was decided
to start the realization of a pilot
project on the basis of
the Ivan Franko National University of L’viv
and several secondary L’viv schools. Today, the most successful joint project of the
Institute and schools is the
Program of Media Education on the basis
of the L’viv
school ¹77 (compiled by O. Didchuk). In addition
to the initiator―the
Institute of Media Ecology― the project was
supported at this stage by
the Departments of Psychology and
Education and by the Educational
Administration of L’viv.
Institute is conducting research on two topics:
Violence in media: psychology of influence and
pedagogical methods of neutralization. This research is
financed from the state budget
and is to
be conducted from 2004 to 2006. Professors of the
Psychology and Pedagogy departments contributed a lot
to it. Director
of the topic
is Doctor of Philology B. V. Potiatynyk.
Media: the correlation between freedom and accountability.
This research is conducted during
the working time of the
workers of Institute. Director of the topic
is Candidate of Philology, Docent
Habor N. B.
The Institute
of Media Ecology published the analytical popular scholarly magazine Mediacrytyca NN9.
Our editorial staff includes experienced young scholars, teachers, journalists and several students.