SHU--A6--TC
Assignment #6: Explain the meaning of Marshall McLuhan's phrase "The medium is the message" with reference to the theory and practice of Leadership.
Introduction:
When first looking at this quote, one may not understand the meaning and importance that this statement implies. This statement is not necessarily easy to understand; yet, once grasped is significantly important to explain how leadership works. During the first section-Facts, the meaning of this quote will be addressed, followed by a discussion of its important in the Analysis section.
Facts:
Basically, Marshall McLuhan concludes that the medium is the numerous means that the media uses to communicate facts, events, stories, or situations to the public. Therefore, an example of a medium would could be the brief, and often biased television news program, or an in depth interview of a political candidate on radio broadcast. Next, the message is defined as the content that the medium depicts to the public/listeners. In the case of the news program, the message simply be to inform the public that a war was waged on Iraq. Conversely, the message in an in-depth interview with a political candidate might be to persuade the public, gaining their approval for war. Either way, there always exists a message that is portrayed to the public. However, certain ways of portrayal are more effective than others, which brings us to the heart of McLuhan's statement. Ultimately, the media controls the way that the message is conveyed to the public through the many shapes of mediums. Thus, sometimes appearance may mean more than the actual message. In the following section, the significance of this quote will be discussed.
Analysis:
There are many examples in real-life situations where McLuhan's quote proves significant. Furthermore, there can be a problem, or an advantage with the media's control over an individual/group's message. If, you are a political candidate (leader) who always has approval from the media (consequently is "packaged and cleaned up" by the media), running against another candidate that lacks the media's acceptance, then the approved will easily win. For example, in many situations we look at the character and appearance of an individual giving a speech to a higher degree than the actual message given by the speaker. It may not matter how important the speech is; if, that person's appearance is shoddy. On a larger scale, the media always plays an important role in portraying important public issues such as war/peace. When Iraq was refusing inspections from UNSCOM, American media was reporting the current events almost on an hourly basis. Ultimately, the American public would be responsible for the exective decision for war/peace; but, their decisions would be informed according to the media's reporting. In conclusion, the media uses tools to package information, or manipulate the information in a way to either help or destroy a certain side's message.
Conclusion:
Lastly, there are many tools at the disposal of the media which are able to distort information when given to the public. Ultimately, a leader may be unjustly disregarded as a successful leader because he/she did not understand the importance of appearance. Therefore, it is in the best-interest of all leaders to ethically persuade the public; while it is the public's responsibility not to let those leaders fool the actual message with excess.
