2). Do
you agree with Marshall McLuhan that the medium is the message, i.e.,
that the format or logic of a medium is as important as its content and,
in fact, determines what content will be broadcast through that
channel? Evaluate his idea that television is a cool medium.
I do agree with him on this. It is easier to understand a message when it is visual. People these days don't want to read much; they want to be able to see something and make their own interpretation. We are a visual culture and one with many non verbal behaviors. We watch television and put together nonverbal clues to fit the interpretation we want to make. Radio doesn't allow for this really... We hear things but can't see how the person is reacting to their message. I think people just have to be more careful on television to really get their point across. They can be telling us one thing but their actions could tell a completely different message. Thus creating more pressure for them when they are on television. We also tend to be more interested in looking at people. They pointed this out in the book with the comparison of JFK and Nixon. Of course people wanted to watch them debate rather than hear them on the radio! What woman WOULDN'T want to see JFK speak in public.
I’m not sure that I agree with you that our culture is predominately visual culture. I think that the more obvious ways that we consume media is through the television, however that doesn’t mean that the people who read have stopped reading. I feel that reading has simply taken a back seat to the people who do pay attention to visual media. While the reading has been de-emphasized I think it still makes up a significant portion of our society’s consumption of content. I agree with you that radio has fallen behind in providing meaningful content. In a day and age where songs are predominately downloaded the radio is almost meaningless for providing information. I wholeheartedly agree with you that attempting to communicate a message via a visual medium is very difficult however, as they not only need to convey their verbal message as well as focus on their nonverbal communications.
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