Media adequacy refers to specific (i.e. media) aspects that are important for a successful transfer of information. This implies that not all information can be reproduced in an equally adequate way with every medium.

The successful transfer of information depends on various aspects. An important aspect is of course the content itself. Depending on the goal, purpose and methods, the question of whether and why an information transfer is successful can depend on a more or less successful content preparation. Further decisive factors can lie in the reception and the user's specific situation in its context (which is examined in recipient research, learner research, etc.), as well as in the social situation, which in turn depends on a variety of aspects, such as gender, culture, learning style etc. It is however often underestimated that the channel via which information is transferred can also be of decisive importance. Question then is which medium makes it possible to convey a specific content as well as possible (and which medium is more of a hindrance).

In general, it can be said that not all content can be transmitted equally well with every medium. One example is the Watergate Affair, which after all led to the fall of a US president. It was uncovered by a daily newspaper that is read by relatively few (though certainly influential and opinion-forming) people - but not by television, which is seen by many more viewers. The main reason is that television reports are only effective if they can be illustrated; this was hardly possible in the case of television reports about an illegal wiretapping. In the newspaper, on the other hand, it was possible to describe how the information from an (anonymous, i.e. not visually known) source was verified. The medium and its production constraints thus (partly) decide whether and how content can be presented or how effective the transfer of information is.

As a rule, the respective research is normative and it is investigated what influences (promotes or hinders) a successful transfer of information: Only what can be realised sensibly and efficiently in a particular medium should also be realised in that medium. If the researcher's perspective is not based on the recipient or the content, but on the medium, media adequacy is the central category. Only what can be realised sensibly and efficiently in a particular medium should also be realised in that medium.

The term “medium” refers not only to the means of communication, but also to different genres. In the case of the Watergate Affair, for example, the transfer of information with the help of television was only successful in the form of secondary reporting. This did not mean, however, that visual communication is fundamentally impossible with a topic like this. The genre of the feature film was very successful and effective ("All the President's Men"). The question of media adequacy thus relates more to genres (in the field of print media: text types) and not only to primary media.

In addition to the constraints of production, the conditions of reception also play a role. Content on a website has a different effect when it is received on a tablet or a stationary computer. Using one and the same content via the Internet is more successful compared to working with the same content on a DVD. Thus, the medium is as important as other variables, for example the learner type (social learner type, introspective learner type). Another example: Icelandic singer Björk was the first artist to promote a music album not only with music videos but also with interactive apps; this app compilation, created by media artist Scott Snibbe, was later acquired by the Museum of Modern Art as the first downloadable app artwork. From an innovative and artistic point of view, this was a remarkable achievement. However, the compilation proved to be counterproductive in terms of its effect on the music to which the apps, like music videos, were intended to relate. Although music videos offer additional visual information that can distract from the music, they generally support the respective song and focus attention on the piece of music. In contrast, the interactive apps were cognitively dominant and were therefore unable to develop the effect for which they were produced.

Ultimately, it is a question of complex interactions between content, medium and reception process.

In contrast to, for example, content analysis or reception or learner research, the scientific study of media adequacy is relatively new. It is only since the triumph of microelectronics that not only specialists have been able to publish with their medium. Meanwhile, in many areas there is the possibility (and opportunity, but often also the compulsion) to work cross-medially, so that the question of the appropriate (media-adequate) presentation of content becomes urgent.