Media, Culture and the Message: Exploring Integration - Essay Sample

Introduction

The culture of the people entails how people relate with each other. Some aspects of culture come from without, while others may be inward, in that they are inculcated in the people of a certain setting, place, or society. This paper looks at the integration of media with a people's culture across various realms using The Medium is the Message as the paper's resource.

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There exists a particular setting or substrate through which a medium operates. This includes norms, expectations, and set rules. Media therefore dictates how content is perceived by people in society. The reading is of the stand that strong cultures withstand the influences of the media.

Question Formulated: What is the Role of Culture's Integration With Media in Society?

The grounding that the cultural elements have determine how intense the media will affect the people in such settings therein. Aspects which people approach with less seriousness can be easily influenced by external sources, in this case, the media. Further, the use of media is relative. The value of media is relative to how they are used. As such, technology can be used by people in the same society for varying reasons from where each derives different utility.

The media, as noted from the reading which is mentioned above, influence the perception of issues. In instances where only one side of the story is depicted, the perception of the media users is likely to change. For instance, media may depict illusions or dreams pertaining to various objects or life aspects (McLuhan, 2013). Constant repetition of a concept often portrays it as the truth or the most agreeable approach, and members of a society may, therefore, remain aligned more to it as opposed to issues which are not repeatedly relayed to them. Therefore, the portrayal of issues or objects in the media relates to the culture of the people and has the ability to shift perceptions.

Rationality as a principle means people moving in a sensible manner and posing the best decisions forward. However, how rationality was treated across various regions changed its meaning. As such, oral and intuitive culture are displayed as those posing little essence in experience. The west in this regard regards rationality as the aspects which show uniformity, continuity, and sequentially (McLuhan, 2013). On the contrary, rationality was tied with literacy, which is not supposed to be the case. Rationality in any culture therein dictates that all the players' show discretion in the things that they agree with while giving clear indicators of why they do not support whatever they oppose. The media's role is majorly literacy; which clearly does not guarantee rationality. The media is only a tool for learning and gaining new knowledge. Rationality, on the other hand, is more time conscious, and everything is treated contextually. The media should, therefore, only affect the literacy indices of a people, but the rationality is a choice of the people.

Conclusion

Having looked at culture and its relation to the media, some features stand out. First, the elements of culture can be affected by media ranging on how they are viewed by society. Additionally, the intensity of principles stands, and beliefs determine whether media can affect society or its culture therein. It is therefore important to possess the ability to discern which aim certain media us trying to propel and therefore rest appropriately so that it can erode the essential foundations of a people's culture.

References

McLuhan, M. (2013). Understanding Media : The Extensions of Man, Gingko Press. ProQuest Ebook Central, 2-21. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/unimelb/detail.action?docID=1222206