13.2 What a dynamic medium!

* Do you agree with Marshall McLuhan that the medium is the message, i.e. that the format or logic of a medium is as important as its content and, in fact, determines what content will be broadcast through that channel? Evaluate his idea that television is a cool medium.

I absolutely agree with MacLuhan that the medium is the message, that the format of a given medium is as important as its content. The idea that television is a cool medium is true if its content matches the expectations of those who are watching it. Trenholm (2008) notes that “the idea that form is as important as content in affecting audience responses” (p. 308). As an illustration, the History Channel conveys its ideologies by showing content related to History. If all of a sudden the History Channel folks decided to show sports, this medium would loose its identity, and it would not appeal to History lovers anymore. If ESPN decided to show information related to babies, such as TLC does, ESPN would not be the perfect medium for sports’ lovers anymore.

Although I do not have time to watch TV as much as I would like, I consider television a cool medium because of its ability to capture viewers’ attention, regardless of so many other things that might be going on at the same physical environment. The audio and visual characteristics of television indeed make television one of the most dynamic medium.

Ibirapuera