Journalism, Mass Media and Communication - Essay Example

? Journalism, Mass Media and Communication By Due Communication is one of the basic requirements of human beings. Man has progressed a great deal and as he continues to evolve, the process of improvement and innovation of communication has also been incessant. McLuhan’s argument that “the ?message? of any medium or technology is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human affairs …” (McLuhan 1964, p. 8) means that the development of medium of communication process plays a huge role in changing the way of life of human beings. The “change of scale” can be understood by the fact that a quick medium of communication can deliver more messages in a given time than a slower one. Therefore, the magnitude or the scale of communication becomes bigger when a quicker medium is introduced. A bigger scale of communications makes the scale of human affairs naturally since a quicker medium prevents waste of time which can now be used for other affairs. Telephones enable a person to communicate with a distant recipient in very quick manner that a letter. The pace of communication has increased and the “pace” of human life has also increased. For instance, a process that can only be initiated by the approval of a certain authority can now begin as soon as the approval is made. A slower medium of communication would keep the approval in transit for a longer time and hence the initiation. A quick medium paces up the life style of human beings. A new and fast medium surely brings change in the “pattern” of human life. The availability of cell phones enables people to stay in contact with each other almost all the time. Parents feel safe to send their children to places where they would have never sent them if there were no cell phones. Similarly, the pattern of life has been molded to a great degree by the introduction of cell phones. By 2004, twenty billion were being sent worldwide every month. (Bates, 2004). The “scale, pace and pattern” are interrelated when it comes to a change in lifestyle due to quicker and more convenient mediums of communication. The above discussion accentuates the argument made by McLuhan that “The medium is the message." The content of a given message has, of course, its own importance but what usually is ignored is the impact of the medium of the message on our lives. The introduction of a new and swift medium startles us in the beginning but it incorporates itself into our lives over a long period of time. For instance, there was a time when cell phones were not something that everyone could afford. People used to live happily and their needs were being met when there were no cell phones. Cell phones are a very quick medium of imparting and receiving messages. They are incorporated into our lives in such a manner that we find it very difficult to spend our time outside if we have forgotten our cell phone at home. A variety of messages are delivered by this medium ranging from important messages to puns for fun but the medium is a message itself. The medium is a message that our lives are quick now and everything can be reported to anyone at anytime. We have to pace ourselves to catch up with the pace of the medium and what has prompted us to do that is the medium itself. The process of dissemination of news has developed greatly. Any type of news is given to us in the quickest way possible. The content of the news is a message but the medium of news is a message too. For instance, political leaders of the past were not required to be wary of the news media and that is probably why we only know good things about leaders who did something great. These days, the news media is quicker and effective than it ever was and political leaders have to be very careful. They have received the message that “they need to be careful” and this message is news media itself. The definition the modern era would be incomplete without a reference to the use of internet. The internet has probably changed and modernized our life more than anything in the past. It is just a medium of messages but the messages can be exchanged in the most vivid form ever. It is as quicker as anything can be. It was just limited to personal computers in the beginning but with the introduction of laptops, pocket pc’s and cell phones with GPRS or Wi-Fi utility has made it portable too. It consists of websites that enable people to buy and sell online which has created a whole new market without any boundaries. Messengers and social websites allow people to connect with each other in the most convenient manner. People like to “tweet” anything that ever happens to them in their daily life and check other people’s “tweets”. We can share anything with anyone in the world ranging from videos to pieces of notable pieces of writing. It is becoming the most widely used source of information. A person who refrains from the use of the internet is considered as ancient and often ridiculed in certain circles. There are a lot of people who did not approve of the use of the internet and cell phones but these media have a message that says, “We are the need of the time.” Their use has become a necessity and has forced the opponents to subdue. The internet is a medium and is a message too. It has caused people to change their lifestyles. There is hardly a person who does not check his emails every day. The internet has changed the “scale, pace and pattern” of our lives in a new way. “Even North Korea, one of the world's most isolated nations, has seen noticeable expansion of on-line activity.” (The Economist, 2006). Since the pace of communication has increased, more messages can be delivered. It is hard to miss anything due to the facility of easy redundancy. McLuhan’s aforementioned statement can be applied to internet. There are certain things probably related to one’s work that must be reported immediately. One cannot withhold information in a modern organization for long because that availability of internet does not allow that. This is another example of how internet (the medium) is a message itself and how it forbids us from withholding information for long. The internet has some negative impacts on our lives too. One of them is that it has threatened our privacy. The facility of posting videos on “Youtube” has unleashed predators that attempt to capture every moment which interests them. Private matters of one’s life are watched by people all over the world. It is almost impossible to catch the person responsible since it is too easy to be incognito while being online. Frauds in online trading are also increasing in time. Online insurance covers the risks of fraud but effective measures to prevent fraud are still rare. Another major negative aspect of internet is the hacking and stealing of intellectual properties. Efforts continue to be made to secure the content from cyber attacks. When we come to discuss these aspects of the internet, it tends to get out of the scope of McLuhan’s aforementioned statement to some degree and falls more under the umbrella of General David Sarnoff’s statement which is, “We are too prone to make technological instruments the scapegoats for the sins of those who wield them. The products of modern science are not in themselves good or bad; it is the way that they are used that determines their value.” (Sarnoff). Internet has become more than just a medium of communication. In theory and to its very roots, it is just a medium of communication but it has made us so dependent on itself that it is hard to fathom what the world would be like if there is no internet. Man has evolved from using letters, telegraph and telephones. Books have been a source of communication that was independent of the time factor. The internet includes them all. In addition, it is also a sort of entertainment that the other modes of communication have never been and will never be. The internet is the most valuable asset if used properly and the most destructive weapon when used otherwise. The biggest example is the recent uprising in Egypt. It was a revolution that was brought about by the internet. The idea was promulgated through a famous website called “Facebook”. (Preston, 2011). The uprising in Egypt triggered a similar feeling in some neighboring countries. It is not that the Egyptians told them to rise against the dictators. It was the ambience of that event in Egypt that ignited a passion akin to the Egyptians. When internet is used wrongly, it can create disharmony among people on any grounds ranging from religious to racial. There is a clash between eastern and western cultures that can be swelled easily by negative use of the internet at any time. Disastrous events have taken place on large scale in recent times. The person responsible cannot be caught. Psychological aspects of internet addiction are also horrifying. A fair deal of unfortunate people has become victims of “Cyber-Rape”. Sharing of personal secrets online and their subsequent exploitation has lead to some terrible events. The usage of the internet is boundless and it is impossible to limit and monitor it completely. “The evolution of the Internet and the domestication process is only just starting.” (Patterson, 1998). McLuhan was never wrong in saying that “The medium is the message”. Internet is itself a message but in its case, certain things are hard to be applied. “Analyses have ...often been implicitly (and somewhat Utopianly) egalitarian, rarely taking into account how difference in power and status affect how people communicate with each other.” (Wellman, Haythornthwaite; 2002). Internet has surpassed those boundaries. It is available to any person and there is no class difference when it comes to its usage. “While many of the earliest users were computer-savvy males...today's usership covers the age spectrum and includes far more women.” (Baron, 1998b: 145). McLuhan’s statement is applicable in this sense since the internet has managed to made such people converse with each other who would never have talked due to racial or class difference. The expansion of social circle and conversion of our whole wide world into a global village is the message of the medium. But the way humans have influenced the internet is a thing of great interest. When the internet was in its firmament stage, it was felt that only good would be extracted from it. The internet was meant to be a very quick and convenient medium of communication that would expunge the risks of delay in information. “The message of the medium” was loud and clear but the social impacts were completely unforeseen. When the exploitation of the internet unleashed an evil that struck in veritable forms, the “message” was altered and modified and it was very ambiguous. It continues to surprise us in new ways and our efforts to acclimatize with the environment that it has created seem to be to be perpetual. McLuhan’s statement is very true for the internet but Scarnoff’s statement can also not be ignored. Although McLuhan rejected Scarnoff’s statement but it seems that there is a point where the two statements can co-exist. McLuhan criticized Scarnoff by saying that, “Apple pie is in itself neither good nor bad; it is the way it is used that determines its value.” Now it can be argued that if an apple-pie is used as an edible, it is good. If it is used to hit somebody in the face and humiliate him, it is a bad thing. Medium does have an impact on human life but the humans still possess the power to dictate the medium. References Baron, NS 1998, ‘Letter by Phone or Speech by Other Means: The Linguistics of Email’, Language and Communication, American University, Washington, DC, U.S.A. Bates, RJ 2002, Broadband Telecommunications Handbook, McGraw-Hill Inc, U.K. p. 510. N.A, 2007, ‘Weird But Wired’, The Economist, Feb. 3, 207, p. 43. Patterson, M 1998, ‘Social Impact of the Internet: What Does It Mean?’, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 41, no. 12. p. 22. Preston, J 2011, ‘Movement Began With Outrage and a Facebook Page That Gave It an Outlet’, The New York Times, Feb 5, 2011. Wellman, B & Haythornthwaite, CA 2002, The Internet in Everyday Life, Blackwell Publishers Ltd, U.K. p. 5. Read More