Earth Observation And Signal Territories: Studying U.S. Broadcast Infrastructure Through Historical Network Maps, Google Earth, And Fieldwork

This article engages with three different modes of Earth observation-historical network maps, Google Earth interfaces, and fieldwork-to develop the concept of "signal territories" and elucidate a critical approach for studying U.S. broadcast infrastructure. This approach: 1) highlights physical infrastructures-technological hardware and processes in dispersed geographic locations-as important sites for historical and critical analysis in media and communication studies; 2) explores multiple modes of infrastructure representation-ranging from cartography to phenomenology, from hand-drawn maps to digital interfaces, from circuit diagrams to site visits; and 3) foregrounds the biotechnical aspects and resource requirements of broadcast infrastructures, probing their dynamic operations and complex materialisms. Engaging with what Richard Maxwell and Toby Miller call a "materialist ecology" of media, the article explores what is at stake in understanding media infrastructures from up close and afar.