Media, Technology and Politics

Media, Technology and Politics Space, time, culture, nation Erik Chevrier January 25, 2019

Discussion • What is interesting in the media? • How does it relate to politics?

What is Culture? • Raymond Williams • A general process of intellectual, spiritual and aesthetic development. • A particular way of life, whether of a people, period or group. • The works and practices of intellectual and especially artistic activity. • Nesbitt-Larking • The general process of intellectual, spiritual, and artistic development of a people. • The entire way of life of a people, in terms of those practices and facts through which they express their meaning. • High culture – the works and practices of intellectual artistic activity • Culture is the way of life of a people, in particular their evolving ideas, beliefs, and values as they are understood, communicated and represented. • Bennett • Culture consists of all those practices (or activities) that signify; that is, which produce and communicate meaning by the manipulation of signs in socially shared and conventionalized ways.

What Makes up Canadian Culture? • I am CanadianI am not CanadianTim Horton's Molson Hockey AdHeritage Minute

Discussion QuestionTechnological Nationalism Maurice Chartrand (1986) • Pierre Berton – The National Dream – History of the Canadian Pacific Railways • What is the main argument in Maurice Chartrand’s article? • According to Maurice Chartrand why is it problematic to define Canadian culture through the building of the Canadian Pacific Railroads? What other factors help define Canadian culture? • According to Maurice Chartrand, what are some contradictions to technological nationalism? • How did the railroad and broadcasting differ as agents of technological nationalism?

Technological Nationalism Maurice Chartrand (1986) • Rhetoric of technological nationalism in anglophone Canada which ascribes to technology the capacity to create a nation by enhancing communication • Rhetoric of the CPR becomes the power-laden discourse of a state seeking to legitimate itself politically by constituting a nation in its image • This is significantly rhetoric, for it undergirds Canada’s official ideology and the formulation of federal government policy, at least in the area of broadcasting: the CBC is legitimated in political discourse by the CPR. Furthermore, the rhetoric of technological nationalism is insidious, for it ties Canadian identify, not to it’s people, but to their mediation through technology • Building a Canadian identity required both physical and discursive factors – the building of CPR & the development of a rhetoric which ideologically constituted those in Canada as Canadians • Public broadcasting enhanced the project of a technologically constituted nation through the development of CNR Radio • The creation of a national identity was constituted by the Canadian government via CNR Radio, in the name of freedom and democracy, without the people of Canada confirming this identity • Aird Commission & creation of CRBC & creation of CBC • Contradictions of technological nationalism:1 – The content of the Canadian identity would be but technological nationalism itself2 – It defines a medium ultimately based on a foreign economic and programming logic as the site for Canada's cultural construction 3 – The mediated culture which is imperative to Canadian statehood has within its logic the seduction of technology itself

Discussion QuestionA Cultural Approach to Communication James Carey (1992) • What is the main argument in Carey’s article? • Compare and contrast Carey’s definitions for a ritualistic view and a transmission view of communication. • How would employing either approach change our view of communication mediums?

A Cultural Approach to Communication James Carey (1992) • Transmission view of communication – imparting, sending, giving information to others • Communication – is a process whereby messages are transmitted and distributed in space for the control of distance and people • Exploration and discovery • Ritual view of communication – is more concerned with the maintenance of a society in time. It is linked to terms like sharing, participation, association, fellowship, possession of a common faith

DiscussionFrom Empire and Communications Harold Innis (1972) • What is the main argument in Innis’s article? • According to Innis, what are the main differences between time-based media and space-based media? • How do they influence social organization and political governance?

From Empire and Communications Harold Innis (1972) • Communication is instrumental to keep empires centralized, especially when they occupy a large territoryEffective government of a large area depends on the efficiency of communications • Clay and papyrus • Parchment • Paper • Printing – Machinery • Oral communication • Communication media must overcome time and space • Time – Durable in character – decentralization & hierarchical governance • Space – Less durable but light in character – centralization & less hierarchal governance Large scale organizations (i.e. empires) must encompass both time and space. They do well if civilizations reflects the influence of more than one medium and in which the bias of one medium towards decentralization is offset by the bias of another medium towards centralization • It is difficult to appraise the significance of basic mediums since the means of appraisals are influenced by the media forms and indeed the fact of appraisal appears to be particular to certain types of media

DiscussionThinking About Technology George Grant (1986) • What is the central argument in Grant’s article? • Do you agree with the following statements? Why or why not? ‘The computer does not impose on us the ways it should be used’ They are neutral instruments, made by human skill for the purpose of achieving human goals

Thinking About Technology George Grant (1986) ‘The computer does not impose on us the ways it should be used’ They are neutral instruments, made by human skill for the purpose of achieving human goals We should be able to understand potential dangers in using computers 1 – How do humans use computers? Do they use them for helpful or harmful intentions? 2 – The paradigm of knowledge that is central to the fundamental presumptions that the majority of humans have (civilizational destiny) has made possible the existence of computers Common sense may tell us that the computer is an instrument, but it is an instrument from within the destiny which does ‘impose’ itself upon us, and therefore the computer does impose. 3 – Computers can only exist in societies where there are large corporations. The ways computers are used are limited by these corporations. 4 – Access to computers are not available to everyone.

DiscussionRadio: The Tribal Drum Marshall McLuhan (1994) • What is the main argument in McLuhan’s article? • What does McLuhan mean by hot and cold media? • How does radio ‘retribalize’ mankind?

Radio: The Tribal Drum Marshall McLuhan (1994) • The power of radio involve people in ‘depth’ • Radio is a hot medium – people engage in-depth through their sense of hearing • Cold mediums – Engage multiple senses less completely. Demands more interaction from audience • Radio: • Is provided with a cloak of invisibility • Comes to us with person-to-person directness • Is that extension of our nervous system that is matched only by human speech itself • Provides speed-up of information that causes acceleration of other media • Is not only a mighty awakener of archaic memories, forces, and animosities, but a decentralizing, pluralistic force, as is really the case with all electric power and media Jack Benny OTR :: May 2, 1932 : Jack's First Broadcast : The Canada Dry Program, Old Time Radio

Discussion About Short Paper • Which media products are you interested in writing about?

Thanks! • Questions or concerns?

Media, Technology and Politics