 Innis examined the rise and fall of ancient empires as a way of tracing the effects of communications media . He looked at media that led to the growth of an empire ; those that sustained it during its periods of success , and then , the communications changes that <unk> an empire 's collapse . He tried to show that media ' biases ' toward time or space affected the complex interrelationships needed to sustain an empire . These interrelationships included the partnership between the knowledge ( and ideas ) necessary to create and maintain an empire , and the power ( or force ) required to expand and defend it . For Innis , the interplay between knowledge and power was always a crucial factor in understanding empire . 
