Essay MMCC1040 - FINAL ESSAY - MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE PDF

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Essay MMCC1040 - FINAL ESSAY - MEDIUM IS THE MESSAGE - Within the study of media, we can determine that the medium is vitally more important...

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Essay MMCC1040 Name: Sean McManus Tutorial: Thursday 2:00pm – 3:00pm Tutor: Ian Collinson Chosen essay question: When analysing media, what is ultimately more important: the medium or the message? Discuss with reference to one contemporary media technology. Within media the fundamental parts can arguably be the medium and the message however what’s more important? The Medium refers to the “technologies that communicate messages to audience in different parts of region, country or even the world” [ CITATION Dan07 \l 3081 ]. Whilst the message refers to the central intention of the message attempting to reach and portrayed to an audience. Typically, there is a target audience weather it intended for millions of people or a specific age, gender, class or specific interests. Within the study of media, we can determine that the medium is vitally more important than the message as without the medium the message cannot be portrayed. The discussion of the medium is the message is presented by Marshall McLuhan and analyses the idea that the message is within the medium meaning that the medium is more important.

What is the message Within media there is always a message behind what is being portrayed and what the sender is wishing to communicate towards the audience. A message is defined as a statement or communication from the sender towards a receiver from certain groups or individuals. Within media the communication of a message can be seen through the liner communication model in which involves three stages; sender, communication (message), and receiver [ CITATION Tes09 \l 3081 ]. In understanding this it helps us understand that media has a message behind what is going to be portrayed to the audience and that a message is always behind the media. Social media is also a prime example of where a message is behind the media for example a simple Instagram post has many message weathers it is showing the world a story, promoting a product or simply expressing the beauty of a location. However, these messages arent able to even be portrayed if it wasn’t for the medium. Therefore, understanding the meaning of the message within media does show of great importance however in comparison to it being more important than the medium it’s not.

What is the medium

When determining that the medium is more important within media, we must understand what the medium really is and how its capacity within media is of great importance. The Medium can be referred to as technologies in which aim is to communicate a specific message to an audience within our everyday lives [ CITATION Pat11 \l 3081 ]. In relation to the contemporary media, social media it illustrates that without the medium of social media the message that the majority of the world is receiving wouldn’t be understood or even noticed. This can be illustrated through the various statistics throughout the world with almost 48% of the world using social media every day and approximately 80% of the population aged between 18 to 49 being active users of social media [ CITATION Mar211 \l 3081 ]. This medium illustrates that the medium is a vital part within the modern age we are living in today and without the correct medium the message is unable to be portrayed. When analysing media, the medium refers to technology used to communicate a message and within the modern world/era social media is a medium that is a must and without it being used as a medium the message that the sender wishes to portray may be lost.

The Medium is the message Marshall McLuhan introduced the theory of ‘the medium is the message’ in 2003 [ CITATION Mar13 \l 3081 ] stating that the medium is an extension of ourselves and merely that new technology is just providing us with a larger capacity to extend ourselves to the world. This theory by Marshall McLuhan has been a large influence where universitas and many theories are based off of this idea that the medium is the message influencing the study of media. This statement can be defined that within the message within media the medium is a part of that for example throughout COVID the various mediums where covering this topic where able to portray the message of chaos and that following this theory of McLuhan without the medium the message would not be able to be received [ CITATION Lau20 \l 3081 ]. Therefore, through the study and analysation of media understanding that the medium is the message is important as without a medium the message is unable to be portrayed and received. One example can be through social media, a major medium within the modern-day era in which is able to constantly portray messages however showcases that the message is within the medium.

Message without a medium To furthermore analyse the importance of the medium we must explore what the message within media would be like without the medium. We can use social media as the basis for this

argument showcasing the everyday use within our era and that its major importance it has within media today. Social media has the capacity of reaching large audience in where its used by many users in order to portray a message of a brand, product, service, company, location and even other users. We can take Tom Trbojevic’s Instagram account as an example in where a star NRL player has various posts illustrating him in front of a car dealership, watching sport on a streaming service and showcasing a golfing bag [ CITATION Ins211 \l 3081 ]. These photographs are all a message specifically portraying a sponsorship in where Tom is promoting a product. This illustrates to the audience that the message is being compelled through social media in which is the medium, it has the capacity of reaching the audience and portraying the message. Therefore, without the medium being social media would not only the message be able to be portrayed but wouldn’t be received by the audience. Hence without the medium the message would not mean anything within media and illustrating the importance of the medium within media.

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