Media & Communications Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Media & Communications - Essay employmentThe internet, satellites, optics and mobile technology atomic number 18 but ordinary elements of modern life (Willinsky, 1999). Communications and technology, taken separately, are both pervasive forces in society. They both influence each other but does either of them hunting expedition the other to the extent of defining its existence The theory of expert determinism states that technology is the major molding grammatical constituent in how society progresses (Franklin, 1990).Technological determinisms central theme is that technology dictates how societies create themselves. It progress suggests that the introduction of saucily technologies have a direct and per opusent means of changing society (Craig, 2000).Marshall McLuhan is one of the proponents of the scientific determinism theory. His work was inspired by Harold Innes and Lewis Mumford to study the effects of media on people and society. The first part of his theories tackles the uses of senses in the parley process. The second part of his theory involved the greater impact of the medium, which is greatly immersed with technological developments, versus the nitty-gritty of communication (Munday, 2002, para. 5, 6).The book The Medium Is the Massage An Inventory of Effects, states that, Before the invention of the phonetic alphabet, man lived in a world where all the senses were balanced and simultaneous, a closed world of tribal discretion and resonance. (McLuhan, and Fiore, 1967, p. 245). This suggests that because of developments in technology, specifically through print and the phonetic alphabet communication, that the immediate transmission of thought is compromised as well as the social interaction involved in speech communication (Munday, 2002, para. 7). The implication is that communication need not be a directly social process and can be achieved with a degree of isolation. Another implication that was suggested was that the visual superseded auditory awareness as the sense essential for communication.It was further suggested that developments such as that of the printing press and mass media will fuel these developments. He points out to an baleful scenario of diminishing sensory perceptions and increasing social isolationImplications of Technological Determinism to CommunicationsOne of the reasons why technological determinism and communications have been brought up together is primarily because it figured prominently in McLuhans theorization. Since communication involves the transfigure of information and ideas, the level of efficiency and effectivity of the communication progress is indicative of the degree of organization and counsel there is in the society. In the context of todays life, technology and communication are even more intertwined as shown by the development of electronic media and communications.Technological Determinism in CritiqueRaymond Williams, together with Eric Hobsbawm, and E. P. Thompson bec ame the important intellectuals of the Western area from 1965 to 1985 (Cowling, 1990 para. 1-2). In the 70s and 80s, Williams spoke regarding feminism, Welsh nationalism, the environment and the imperialism in the Third World (para. 5). He gained prominence create his book in 1958 entitled Culture and Society 1780-1950. He was a popular and prolific writer in the 1960s and used literature and