The very foundation for this theory is based on a metaphor that provides a model for understanding the new territory, offers a vocabulary, and indicates in which directions to continue exploring. As Carlos Scolari states, "the configuration of media ecology in the 1960s and 1970s was part of a broader process of the general application of the ecological metaphor to the social sciences and humanities in the postwar period. There is still a scholarly debate over who coined the phrase "the medium is the message". Author Niall Stephens argues that while most attribute the  metaphor to Marshall McLuhan, it is better directed to Neil Postman, who helped popularize McLuhan under the banner of "media ecology".