...Marshall McLuhan “The Man behind the message” A professor from Winnipeg, Marshall was one of the world’s most innovative thinkers. His theories about mass media turned him into a media guru. Arguably most famous for his quote “The medium is the message” Many would consider Marshall to be a brilliant man; others would say they don’t understand a word he is saying. I wonder how much thought his skeptics have put into what he had to say. I will agree that some of his theories are not clear at first but once dissected you begin to understand the man behind the message. “The message of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs. The railway did not introduce movement or transportation or wheel or road into human society, but it accelerated and enlarged the scale of previous human functions, creating totally new kinds of cities and new kinds of work and leisure. This happened whether the railway functioned in a tropical or northern environment, and is quite independent of the freight or content of the railway medium. (Understanding Media, NY, 1964, p. 8) What McLuhan writes about the railroad applies with equal validity to the media of print, television, computers and now the internet. “The medium is the message” because it is the “medium that shapes and controls the scale and form of human association and action.” (E. McLuhan) Now, some may be thinking that they don’t understand the message of the preceding paragraphs...
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...In The Medium Is the Message by Marshall McLuhan, he explores new media in its most original, basic and pure way as an object, furthermore, he use the idea of the medium itself carries the message rather than the message, furthermore, to analyze how new media influence in the society. At the end, McLuhan explain the role of broadcast television (as a new medium) and how television itself become a “fixed charge” in people’s day-to-day living which we simply cannot live without it. (Marshall McLuhan 1962, p.209) Base on Mcluhan’s notion of how a medium formed in the past, if the idea still apply to the mass communication media nowaday as the media themselves shape the society regardless of the content it carries, or there is a new relation between the media and the society. The way Marshall McLuhan looks at the medium is that he emphasizes on the extension of one sense over the others as a defining feature of a medium. For instance, the electric light is a medium without a message (as an object), the electric light itself is the purest form of information, and people seem to be blinded by the content and forgot its original form. The key that change the perception of an electric light from a medium to a message is how it is arranged in a wave of sequence or used in different activities in order to communicate with the society, therefore create a message and fulfill its purpose. For McLuhan, an electric light is the birth of a new medium. (Marshall McLuhan 1962, p.203) “He imagine...
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...Article Watching the Watchers and McLuhan’s Tetrad: The Limits of Cop-Watching in the Internet Age Brian P. Schaefer Kevin F. Steinmetz University of Louisville, US. brian.schaefer@louisville.edu Kansas State University, US. criminogenic@outlook.com Abstract The internet is considered by many to be a boon for political activists, such as cop-watchers—a free, open, and widespread medium in which to disseminate political messages. While there is truth to these claims, the internet, like any technology, can be used for many purposes and comes with its own arrangement of limitations. To elucidate these limitations and to provide a word of caution about the political potential of the internet, particularly for video-activists/cop-watchers, the theoretical work of Marshall McLuhan is used to understand how the internet, as a medium, shapes and limits political messages. Using McLuhan’s tetrad, this study examines how the internet is problematic for cop-watching groups. In particular, the internet is said to yield consequences through how it (1) enhances or intensifies how the viewer experiences political messages through speed, (2) retrieves the importance of the narrator, (3) renders previous media increasingly obsolete, yet opens up new avenues for commercial dominance, and (4) creates additional reversals or other problems for video activism, such as the mass proliferation of surveillance and formatting discussion in counter-productive ways. ...
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...issues, for analyzing cause and effect and the individual's freedom to choose. The spectrum ranges from existentialism on one extreme, to fatalism on the other (Hunnex, 1986), or from libertarianism to hard determinism (Geisler, 1980). * Hard Determinism: Hard determinists hold that the universe is rational and that cause and effect relationships permit us to know future effects with certainty. The ethical issues raised by questions of determinism revolve around the individual's ability to choose, and the notion of "ought." Some hard determinists believe that since we are not free to make choices, we are absolved of the responsibility that comes with freedom. Others argue that knowing what will result from certain actions acts on us to influence us toward or away from such actions. Hunnex argued that, "those who...
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...hire the teenage hacker, who had obtained the services of an agent, Joe Hiert, described as a "super-agent to super-nerds. 3. Ultimately the sentence “a frightening story. But not true” is repeated twice. Why? Consider as well where this sentence is placed. What is the effect on you-the reader? The use of the sentence typed twice almost gives the reader a sense of sarcasm (towards Glass’ story) coming from the writer, but it is also used to give an emphasis and make the reader see that the story is too “good to be true” 4. Explain, “It is not the medium, it is the writer.” What does it mean in this context? Provide one quotation for support. What might it mean in any other context/ medium (consider Marshall McLuhan’s...
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...being, Katherine N. Hayles’ theory of the posthuman / 14 3. Chapter 2 – Google Glass, Individuation and the Black Box / 21 3.1. Introduction to Google Glass / 21 3.2. Google Glass and Gregory Bateson’s theory of self-corrective systems / 24 3.3. Industrialization of memory through Google Glass and Bernard Stiegler’s theory of the exterior milieu / 26 3.4. Google Glass as a black box and W. Ross Ashby’s theory of the black boxing / 29 3.5. Experience Design, Olia Lialina and the disappearing user / 30 3.6. Miniaturization of technology, Google Glass as a ubiquitous computer through Mark Weiser’s theory / 32 4. Chapter 3 – Google Glass as an Extension of the Human Being: MediumSpecificity and Becoming Posthuman / 34 4.1 Media ecology through Marshall McLuhan and Google Glass as an extension of the human being / 34 4.2 Perceptual and behaviour change through Google Glass / 39 4.3 Change of time and space perception, McLuhan and the global village / 41 4.4 Human being’s freedom to ideological change through Donna Haraway’s cyborg theory / 42 5. Conclusion / 44 6. Bibliography 2 INTRODUCTION Google Glass is a technological device designed and created by the media giant Google. The device is an upcoming...
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...d received around the world. Privatization of news media has allowed global news networks, namely CNN and the BBC, to break up longstanding government monopolies. Continuous news has found a global audience, both for convenience and the most updated story details. Breaking news relies on up to the minute updates, and every second counts in the competitive global news arena. CNN dominates the global airways, but critics maintain that this product is merely a cultural export from the United States. Effects of global news include a surge in the local news market and an overall increase in news appetite. The intrusion of global television news into traditionally oral cultures threatens the individual's sense of cultural identity. Marshall McLuhan's vision of a global village, however, is becoming increasingly possible as reception costs fall and more media hungry individuals than ever are...
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...Manuscript 3.5. Print 3.6. Theater 3.7. Photography 3.8. Moving Image 3.9. Radio and Television 3.10. The Digital 4. Conclusion Acknowledgements Glossary Bibliography Biographical Sketches Summary The growing consensus among literary scholars is that the meaning of literature cannot be properly studied or understood outside of the specific medium of its transmission and archival. This realization can be considered a revolution in literary studies, and its fundamental ramification is the confluence of literary studies and theory with media studies and theory. The fields of media studies and media theory are dedicated to the analysis and understanding of the myriad media through which information is communicated. Under the influence of these fields, the media through which literature is communicated is no longer considered secondary to the literary content or form, but deserving attention in its own right. Moreover, literary content and form can and often are deeply influenced by the media of their transmission, as well as by the particular forms of media prevalent at the time and place of their production. The reception of literature can also be swayed by dominant media forms. This chapter discusses...
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...Abstract Experts play a number of important roles in society (e.g., doctors, lawyers, scientists). Much of their social function is communicative, and as a public we rely in various ways on these communications. Access to experts and expert information is largely a function of media. As our information and communication media have evolved in recent years, so too must our methods for assessing the accuracy, truthfulness and usefulness of information. The current study examines how modern media, particularly television and the internet, have affected communication both between experts and the public, and among communities of experts. This is demonstrated by the analysis various forms of expert communications: a scientific journal article, news coverage of a political event, and televised advertisements for law firms. It is argued that the greater the premium a society places on specialized knowledge and skills, the more we are obligated to trust experts, and this entails a greater responsibility of “the media” to connect the public to experts in transparent and useful ways. Trust the Experts: The Importance of Media in Connecting Experts to the Public Contemporary “first world” society relies heavily on specialization and the distribution of labour. The complexity of our collective activities is beyond the capacity of any individual, and thus social responsibilities are divided largely on the basis of profession (Mieg, 2006). We entrust doctors with our health...
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...THE CONSEQUENCES OF MASS COMMUNICATION Cultural and Critical Perspectives on Mass Media and Society Kirk Hallahan ii For Jean and Jenna Copyright info to be set by McGraw-Hill. iii Foreward This book is a brief survey of contemporary ideas about the cultural impact of mass media on society. The use of consequences in the title reflects the fact that most cultural researchers prefer this term (instead of media effects) to describe media's influence on human experience. During the past 30 years, culture has emerged as a major theoretical framework in which to investigate media. Chapter I examines how media influence culture generally, as suggested by various contemporary media scholars and others. Chapter II then focuses on critical-cultural theories about the nature of media power and its potentially negative influence. This book can adopted as a supplementary text in introductory mass media courses along with a survey text such as Joseph R. Dominick's The Dynamics of Mass Communication (available from McGraw-Hill). It also can serve as a foundational text for other assigned readings in advanced courses dealing with mass media and society, communication theory, or cultural studies. Students are encouraged to focus thoughtfully on the main ideas, not attempt to merely memorize details. Important concepts and names appear in boldface and are defined in italics. The abridged Subject Index lists the page with the primary discussion of each topic. Sidebars throughout...
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...3. What do you think are the major social problems faced by nations in the present era of globalization? When historians write of the world’s recent history, they are likely to reflect on two trends: the advance of globalization and the spread of democracy. Globalization has been the more contentious, because it has effects both good and bad, and democracy has opened space for people to protest the bad effects. So, controversies rage over the environmental, economic and social consequences of globalization. But there is another domain of globalization, that of culture and identity, which is just as controversial and even more divisive because it engages ordinary people, not just economists, government officials and political activists. Globalization has increased contacts between people and their values, ideas and ways of life in unprecedented ways. People are travelling more frequently and more widely. Television now reaches families in the deepest rural areas of China. From Brazilian music in Tokyo to African films in Bangkok, to Shakespeare in Croatia, to books on the history of the Arab world in Moscow, to the CNN world news in Amman, people revel in the diversity of the age of globalization. American coffeehouse chain Starbucks has begun selling its espresso and food items to ever-increasing number of countries and this way spreading American food habits. It is the first time in human history that virtually every individual at every level of society consciously or unconsciously...
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...International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 2008, Vol. 4, Issue 1, pp. 49-65. The Internet in developing countries: a medium of economic, cultural and political domination Abdulkafi Albirini University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA ABSTRACT The last decade has witnessed an unprecedented diffusion of network technologies into developing countries. The technological discourse attending this diffusion has presented the new media as a utopian, egalitarian and empowering tool with the potential of ushering in a new era of development, democracy, and positive cultural change. This paper examines the economic, cultural, and political effects of the Internet within the historical context of developing countries. The paper traces the politically-inspired evolution of the Internet, its transfer into developing countries, and the economic, cultural, and political consequences of this transfer. Existing data indicate that the implementation of the Internet in most developing countries has served as a drain to the local resources, thus exacerbating their economic dependency on foreign nations. On a cultural level, the Internet’s predominantly Western design, content, and language have facilitated the proliferation of alien cultural patterns at the expense of the social experiences of the local cultures. Lastly, the Internet’s build-in tracking capabilities and its current manipulation for political purposes on international...
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...Career Management Guide In the current career environment, individuals with alternatives obtain more challenging and growth-oriented opportunities. Individuals with alternatives need not accept consequences, rather they create opportunities for themselves. Career Management Guide Section 1 Paaggee 11 SECTION 1: CAREERS TODAY Part 1 - The Environment, Career Issues and Trends The Importance of Education and Experience In the current economic environment, education is becoming increasingly critical to career success. While employment rose for Canadians with university and college educations, 651,000 fewer jobs existed for those people without high school qualifications. Unemployment rates in the U.S. exceed 10% for those with less than a high school diploma and approximately 2.5% for college graduates.1 When professional designations (i.e., accounting, engineering) are taken into account, the data on employability and income is skewed in favour of the professional, relative to those who possess only a post secondary educational background. However, in order to maintain a competitive edge, individuals must continue to invest in their development throughout their careers. Specifically, with respect to the future for business and accounting positions, “growth due to the increasing number and complexity of business operations will be offset somewhat by corporate restructuring and downsizing of management, resulting in average growth for executive, administrative and managerial...
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...1.1 *** introduction to the course Communication Notion The subject of communication is a fundamental one for business communication, because that is exactly the purpose, and the central concept. “Communication” goes from the lat. communication – message, transmission; communicare – to make common, to link, and to talk. The term communication is used for description of diverse processes, connected with information transmission, and for the verification of presence or absence of a relation between two subjects (systems). COMMUNICATION – the exchange of meanings between individuals through a common system of symbols. The subject of communication has concerned scholars since the time of ancient Greece. Until modern times, however, the topic was usually subsumed under other disciplines and taken for granted as a natural process inherent to each. In 1928 the English literary critic and author I.A. Richards offered one of the first--and in some ways still the best--definitions of communication as a discrete aspect of human enterprise: Communication takes place when one mind so acts upon its environment that another mind is influenced, and in that other mind an experience occurs which is like the experience in the first mind, and is caused in part by that experience. Richards' definition is both general and rough, but its application to nearly all kinds of communication--including those between humans and animals (but excluding machines)--separated...
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...Theories of Communication – MCM 511 VU LESSON 01 COMMUNICATION Defining communication Communication is seen as central to our everyday ideas about what makes life worth living. It is not surprising that academicians have attempted to unravel the secrets of the communication process. In this section of the study we will examine the theorizing and theories of this discipline of communication. To understand communication theory we need to understand the nature of communication. Nature of communication People define terms in different ways, and those differences in definition can have a profound impact on the extent to which we understand each other and the way we move forward with both academic and everyday pursuits. Given the variety of ways in which words are used and understood, we are often ill-served to search for the single, so-called correct definition of a term. In other words, it is better to evaluate definition in terms of their utility rather than in terms of their correctness. So we should not assume that there is always a single right way to define a concept. There is a great deal of variation in the definitions. Some are very abstract and some are extremely specific. Few definitions are cited below. Communication is the process by which an individual (the communicator) transmits stimuli (usually verbal) to modify the behavior of other individuals (the audience). (Hovland Janis and Kelly in 1953) Communication is the process by which we understand others and in turn...
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