Published: January 04, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
Media Is The Masses
By Sean Stubblefield
This story is the first and also an introduction of a new column about media influences on society and individuals, as well as an orientation for me into the world of blogging.
The title of this blog is a play on words deriving from the blog's inspiration: Marshall McLuhan, who originated the phrase "The medium is the message".
As such, this blog will comment on the effects of interactions between Man and media.
What credentials do I have, that I should be speaking on the subject of media? Besides a degree in TV/film production and media studies, I have an interest in philosophy, psychology, sociology, popular culture and media of all kind, as well as long being an observer and user of various media forms.
My intention is to have a new post every Friday for a year (appropriately and coincidentally in good timing, starting with the first Friday of '08), evaluating some aspect the Man-media relationship, in less than 500 words... but we'll see how that goes.
And if you have topic suggestions you'd like me to cover, please email me (subject heading "media".
Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980) was a renowned philosopher, scholar, and communications theorist. His best-known literary works are The Medium Is the Massage and Understanding Media.
McLuhan proposed that media, more than their content, should be the focus of study... because the medium has more influence on society than its content. His main thesis proposes that a medium affects the society in which it is used, through the ways that medium is perceived and used. McLuhan's perspective on media is often and largely consistent with mine, aalthough I'll be addressing content along with their media.
To give you a better idea of what to expect in my blog, I'll allow McLuhan to posthumously elaborate on his approach, in these quotes:
"The medium is the message. This is merely to say that the personal and social consequences of any medium - that is, of any extension of ourselves - result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology."
"We become what we behold. We shape our tools and then our tools shape us."
"Societies have always been shaped more by the nature of the media by which men communicate than by the content of the communication."
"It is the framework which changes with each new technology and not just the picture within the frame."
"Anyone who tries to make a distinction between education and entertainment doesn't know the first thing about either."
"The poet, the artist, the sleuth, whoever sharpens our perception tends to antisocial; rarely 'well adjusted', he cannot go along with currents and trends."
"The medium, or process, of our time - electric technology - is reshaping and restructuring patterns of social interdependence and every aspect of our personal life.
It is forcing us to reconsider and re-evaluate practically every thought, every action..."
Send Comments to: exastra@hotmail.com
Currently based in Houston Texas, Sean Stubblefield graduated Sam Houston State University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Television Production. A philosopher poet, Stubblefield has been writing non-fiction for 15 years, and has penned eight books to date. His first book, Paradox: A Journey Inside Out will be available Spring 2008. For pre-orders, please contact Judyth Piazza at judythpiazza@newsblaze.com.
For More Information: www.myspace.com/exastral.
Source: The Student Operated Press
* The views of Opinion writers do not necessarily reflect the views of NewsBlaze
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