2 Medium Theory

MEDIUM THEORY
the mere existence of certain kinds of

media
affects how we think about and
respond to the world
its about on how, not on what we
experience the world
Classical Medium
Theory
Marshall McLuhan: media, apart from

whatever content is transmitted, impact
individuals and society
McLuhan & Harold Adam Inis:
communication media are the essence of
civilization & that history is directed by
the predominant media of each age
Media are extensions of the human mind,
so the predominant media in use biases
any historical period
Time binding and space binding of

media: bias toward tradition, and
fostering change
Speech as a medium encourages
people to organize their experience
chronologically. It requires knowledge
& tradition, and therefore support
community & relationship
Written media, which are spatially
arranged, produce different kind of
culture.
McLuhans thesis is that people adapt to

their environment through a certain balance
ratio of the senses, and the primary medium
of the age brings out a particular sense
ratio, thereby affecting perception.
Cool media: when more of our senses are
engaged in the process of taking meaning,
more involving & participatory the
experience is (TV)
Hot media: single sense, isolating (reading
text) & non-involving (encouraging the
rational, individual attitude)
Building on McLuhan
5 types of media bias (McQuail):

Sense experience: more or less visual
imagery, or an involving & participant way

Form & representation: strongly coded (as
in print) or essentially uncoded (as in
photographs) message.
Message content: more or less realism or
polysemy, more open or closed formats
Context of use: more private &
individualized reception, or more collective
& shared
Relationship: one-way or interactive media
Bias contains a tendency towards

certain kinds of experience & ways of
mediation
The (unintended) bias of a medium
can work in subtle but systematic &
multiple ways, affecting content &
probable ways of perception &
reception (see Elliss example)
Biases are not only or even primarily
due to technology, but to many other
factors
Example of media bias (Ellis, 1982)

BROADCAST TV
CINEMA FILM
Content & form

Identities narrator
No narrator
Distinguishes fact from fiction Only fiction or blurred
Realistic
Dreamlike
Domestic, familiar
Exotic
Open ended
Logical, sequential
Impression of being live
Not live, historic present
Neutral attitude
Takes side
Tone of normality & safety
Tension & anxiety
Audience aspects
Permanent audience
Occasional one-off audience
Low engagement
Rapt attention, self-loss
Intimacy
Detachment, voyeurism
Donald Ellis: the predominant media

at any given time will shape behavior
and thought
There are sharp differences among
oral, written, & electronic media,
each with different effects in term of
how we interact with each medium
Oral Communication
Highly malleable & organic

Messages are immediate &
ephemeral
Life & knowledge can not be
separated
Group identification & cohesiveness
are high
Create culture of community
Written Communication
Separate the messages from the moment

People can act on information & knowledge,
that is not possible in oral.
This lead to a separation of knowledge (what is
known) from knower (who knows it)
Those who can read & write have special status
(formal education is important)
Knowledge is objectified & can assume the
status of truth
Storing & saving information make literacy a
tool of conservation
Create culture of class
Electronic Media
Immediate & ephemeral, but are not tied

to particular place, because they can be
broadcast
Extend our perception beyond where we
are at any given moment
Allow information to be stored
Knowledge in the electronic age changes
rapidly, and we become aware of
different versions of truth
Create culture of cells (interest groups)
New Media Theory
The rise of internet & CMC

Mark Posters the Second Media Age:
interactive technologies & network
communications would transforms society
The idea of the second media age:
Loosened the concept of mass
New forms of media use (individualized
information, knowledge acquisition, to

interaction)
Bring back the power of media into focus
The First Media
Centralized production
One-way communication
State control, for the most part
The reproduction of social
stratification & inequality through the
media
Fragmented mass audiences
The shaping of social consciousness
The Second Media
Decentralized
Two-way
Beyond state control
Democratizing
Promoting individual consciousness
Individually oriented
2 Dominant Views
of the differences between the 1st (broadcast) & the
2nd media age (networks)
The Social Interaction Approach

Close to the model of face-to-face interaction
Interactive & create new sense of personalized
communication
Provides virtual meeting places that expand social worlds
The Social Integration Approach

A ritual of how people use media as a way of creating
community & sense of belonging

Interaction with other people is not a necessary
component of social integration
Using media is a meaningful self-contained ritual
Supported by media equation theory (we treat media like
people, & interact with them as if they were persons)

2 Medium Theory

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MEDIUM THEORY

the mere existence of certain kinds of

Marshall McLuhan: media, apart from

Time binding and space binding of

McLuhans thesis is that people adapt to

5 types of media bias (McQuail):

imagery, or an involving & participant way

Bias contains a tendency towards

Example of media bias (Ellis, 1982)

Content & form

Donald Ellis: the predominant media

Highly malleable & organic

Separate the messages from the moment

Immediate & ephemeral, but are not tied

New Media Theory

The rise of internet & CMC

information, knowledge acquisition, to

The First Media

The Second Media

The Social Interaction Approach

The Social Integration Approach

community & sense of belonging

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