Medium theory
Encyclopedia
Medium theory is the name assigned to a variety of approaches used to examine how the means of expression of human communication impact the meaning(s) of human communication(s).
Joshua Meyrowitz
originated the term in his 1985 book, No Sense of Place. Other scholars with work relevant to "medium theory" include Marshall McLuhan
(1963, 1966, 1988) and Neil Postman
(1985). Currently, medium theory occupies a marginal position within U.S. communication and media studies (Croteau & Hoynes, 2003:305). The majority of U.S. communication and media studies place their emphasis on the content of communication (e.g., sex and violence) not the medium of communications. In Canada and elsewhere, the theory continues to inform studies that assess large-scale social changes that follow the adoption of a new medium. German Media Theory operates along similar lines and draws some influence from McLuhan, though it occupies a more central location in German academia.
Joshua Meyrowitz
(1985) uses the term 'medium theory' to refer to the body of literature that focuses on the technological aspects of media beyond their content. It aims to look beyond the content to the medium which reveals the key to its social impact (Croteau & Hoynes, 2003:305).
is the most widely read literary theorist and is best known for his claim "the medium is the message". McLuhan believed that we should observe not only the media itself but 'the ways in which each new medium disrupts tradition and reshapes social life' (Croteau & Hoynes 2003,307). McLuhan believed that the social impact of the media was that they became 'an extension of our senses, and alter our social world' (Croteau & Hoynes, 2003:307). In his book The Gutenberg Galaxy
(1962) he argued that when new media technologies were introduced into society, the balance of our senses were reworked, highlighting some at the expense of others. For example, print intensified the visual and separated it from our other senses; in particular sound. "McLuhan even argued that print media helped create a sensory environment that produced Western capitalist societies - an environment that was bureaucratic and organized around mass production, an ideology of individualism, and a commitment to the nation-state as the fundamental social unit."
Joshua Meyrowitz
Joshua Meyrowitz
Joshua Meyrowitz is a professor of communications at the department of Communication at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. He has published works regarding the effects of mass media, including No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behaviour, an analysis of the effects...
originated the term in his 1985 book, No Sense of Place. Other scholars with work relevant to "medium theory" include Marshall McLuhan
Marshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
(1963, 1966, 1988) and Neil Postman
Neil Postman
Neil Postman was an American author, media theorist and cultural critic, who is best known by the general public for his 1985 book about television, Amusing Ourselves to Death. For more than forty years, he was associated with New York University...
(1985). Currently, medium theory occupies a marginal position within U.S. communication and media studies (Croteau & Hoynes, 2003:305). The majority of U.S. communication and media studies place their emphasis on the content of communication (e.g., sex and violence) not the medium of communications. In Canada and elsewhere, the theory continues to inform studies that assess large-scale social changes that follow the adoption of a new medium. German Media Theory operates along similar lines and draws some influence from McLuhan, though it occupies a more central location in German academia.
Joshua Meyrowitz
Joshua Meyrowitz
Joshua Meyrowitz is a professor of communications at the department of Communication at the University of New Hampshire in Durham. He has published works regarding the effects of mass media, including No Sense of Place: The Impact of Electronic Media on Social Behaviour, an analysis of the effects...
(1985) uses the term 'medium theory' to refer to the body of literature that focuses on the technological aspects of media beyond their content. It aims to look beyond the content to the medium which reveals the key to its social impact (Croteau & Hoynes, 2003:305).
McLuhan's Message
Marshall McLuhanMarshall McLuhan
Herbert Marshall McLuhan, CC was a Canadian educator, philosopher, and scholar—a professor of English literature, a literary critic, a rhetorician, and a communication theorist...
is the most widely read literary theorist and is best known for his claim "the medium is the message". McLuhan believed that we should observe not only the media itself but 'the ways in which each new medium disrupts tradition and reshapes social life' (Croteau & Hoynes 2003,307). McLuhan believed that the social impact of the media was that they became 'an extension of our senses, and alter our social world' (Croteau & Hoynes, 2003:307). In his book The Gutenberg Galaxy
The Gutenberg Galaxy
The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man is a book by Marshall McLuhan, in which he analyzes the effects of mass media, especially the printing press, on European culture and human consciousness...
(1962) he argued that when new media technologies were introduced into society, the balance of our senses were reworked, highlighting some at the expense of others. For example, print intensified the visual and separated it from our other senses; in particular sound. "McLuhan even argued that print media helped create a sensory environment that produced Western capitalist societies - an environment that was bureaucratic and organized around mass production, an ideology of individualism, and a commitment to the nation-state as the fundamental social unit."