Medium is the message is the medium is the message is the medium...

“The medium is the message” means we know the extension of ourselves (medium) comes from the changes that the medium effects. Federman explains that the base reading of the quote “the medium is the message,” for example the TV set is more important than the program on it, is untrue. Federman shows McLuhan’s quotes, which define medium and message and lend to his definition of the phrase. Medium refers to, “any extension of ourselves” and message is “the change of scale or pace or pattern.” Every time a new medium is introduced to society we see changes in the way society functions. For example, one could argue the rise of cable television (read: national programming) has led to the steady decline in American’s interest for state and local politics, or that because we sit to watch TV, American’s are becoming more obese. Both of these show the changes TV has made, not by it’s content, but because of it’s existence. This is exactly McLuhan and Federman’s point; the extension of ourselves can be understood through the effects it has on society.

To apply McLuhan’s concept to radio as a whole is too broad, so I will focus on radio after the transistor radio was introduced (1948). “The medium is the message,” radio changed the way we get out and receive information, making people more informed more immediately, giving those without access to a host of information. Radio changed the way American’s perceived their country, during The Great Depression it helped keep families, and this country, together. Radio can also be the message. With the introduction of TV many American families thought that radio was soon to be swept away, deemed obsolete. Yet we still have radios in every car today, why wasn’t radio simply pushed out? Radio became a function of the social changes that the introduction of the new technology, TV, brought about.

Radio lasted because of a few reasons, they got smaller, they got local, and they got records. “This local emphasis, of which the deejay was only one facet, became the single most important element in radio’s success during the television era,” a quote from Forntale and Mills, explicitly states the changes that happened to radio as a direct result of the introduction of television. Yet, even this could be interpreted as a new form of media, because it also had it’s own new set of consequences. One was increased positive attention to minority groups, especially African-Americans. Even though whites owned the stations, black radio was a breakthrough, not only did it help to unify their own communities, whites listened it to as well.  

“The medium is the message.” Programming and the content of any new technology can be changed. The way we understand the new mediums, is to look at the changes they create in society, at any level.  The importance of new technology, through this method, is finally understood.

Federman, M. (2004). What is the Meaning of the Medium is the Message? Retrieved <DATE> from http://individual.utoronto.ca/markfederman/MeaningTheMediumistheMessage.pdf.

Forntale, Peter. Mills, Joshua E. Radio in the Television Age. In D. Crowley, P. Heyer, Communication in History: Technology, Culture, Society. 6th Ed. p 214-218. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.