In Focus Introduction: Media Study beyond Media Studies: Pandemic Lessons for an Evolving Field

When the world went into lockdown in March 2020, we compressed and uploaded much of our lives onto screens and into networked technologies. Mediated modes of interaction once regarded as exceptions—from telehealth to online learning to mail-in voting—became the rule. Teachers suddenly became production designers, cinematographers, and video editors.1 Chefs learned to style their culinary creations for social media and cultivated new Instagram-based networks of local distribution.2 Dancers, comedians, and musicians adapted their performances for bedroom audiences engaged