1 Why Media Researchers Don’t Care About Teletext Hilde Van den Bulck & Hallvard Moe Abstract This chapter tackles the paradoxical observation that teletext in Europe can look back on a long and successful history but has attracted very little academic interest. The chapter suggests and discusses reasons why media and commu- nications researchers have paid so little attention to teletext and argue why we should not ignore it. To this end, it dissects the features of teletext, its history, and contextualizes these in a discussion of media research as a field. It first discusses institutional (sender) aspects of teletext, focusing on the perceived lack of attention to teletext from a political economic and policy analysis perspective. Next, the chapter looks at the characteristics of teletext content (message) and reasons why this failed to attract the attention of scholars from a journalism studies and a methodological perspective. Finally, it discusses issues relating to the uses of teletext (receivers), reflecting on the discrepancy between the large numbers of teletext users and the lack of scholarly attention from traditions such as effect research and audience studies. Throughout, the chapter points to instances in the development of teletext that constitute so- called pre-echoes of debates that are considered pressing today. These issues are illustrated throughout with the case of the first (est.1974) and, for a long time, leading teletext service Ceefax of the BBC and the wider development of teletext in the UK. Keywords: teletext, communication studies, research gaps, media history, Ceefax, BBC Introduction When we first started thinking about a book on teletext, a medium that has been very much part of people’s everyday lives across Europe for over forty years, we were surprised by the lack of scholarly attention or even interest. We could find very few studies or even general reflections on the medium, and asking colleagues about their knowledge of work on teletext not only confirmed the lack of interest but created disbelief (and even laughter) at our interest in 15 Contesting the Frontiers Contesting the Frontiers Media and Dimensions of Identity . I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D . I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D . I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. I.D. 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