Essay 3: Interview with Saemmul High School's media study teacher

How much do we really know about the media?

 

< Police said… Mr. Park was found that he played blade quarreling game “Blaeblue” in last night before the crime occurred. “It seems like he went outside with the knife picked up I the kitchen in purpose of killing someone he first meet in the street.” Said police officer.

Jamwondong hate crime suspect convicted… Game addicted America elite university dropout, Korean Economy, 10/12/17, http://www.hankyung.com/news/app/newsview.php?aid=2010121764347&intype=1

 

We still do encounter with such horrible articles recently. The game addicted parents who made their young baby starve to death, people who made someone suicide by vicious replies while misusing anonymity, and so on. On the other hand, we find people who are uploading their private life without the concept of time like an exhibitionist although they weren't publicized much. We call people someone who use TV and Internet without control ‘Media Addicted’ However, I was called into question ‘What if ourselves are addicted to the media but not just being recognized?’ Are we really free from the media?

 

In fact, the term ‘Media’ we have been using is a common usage of the ‘Mass Media’ by the public as a narrow aspect of it’s original meaning.

 

“A word ‘Media’ is originated from Latin ‘Medium’. It has a meaning ‘in the middle of’. While Media’s essential meaning is a way of communication, it also means something that modifies or varies the society on the other hand.”

, said media teacher Park Myung Ho.

 

So then, why do we understand media so narrow? Formal media education was remaining at the stage of criticizing and decoding. Because it was the most urgent business to keep ourselves from rapidly wide spread TV’s sexuality and violence.

 

“From about 40 years ago, kind of protectionism perspective that was led by Catholic was the start of our nation’s media education. This affected on the church, and media as a disturbance against the God’s Word became dominant as a result. “

 

After 10~20years later, a new point of view was introduced that the consumer is not just affecting by the media one-sidedly, but having relationship with it very actively. This change of concept made consumers to analyze media critically and to produce it by their own, rather than just left behind the media by either neglecting it or refusing it.

 

Back to the main argument, the question is still not answered. Are we free from the media? Actually, we are not. The reason for this answer is that the media has a bias if self; rather than being neutral, and it’s not just a tool; It’s also an environment. People who extended this kind of horizon of recognition are scholars like Marshall McLuhan or Neil Postman.

 

“Media has the bias as itself. This means that media leads human’s life into certain way. It is the gateway of perceiving and experiencing world as the environment. There are a myriad of examples but some of them is like these ones. Internet both allowed people to obtain significant amount of information in sudden moment, and two-way communication available. For such traits, Internet plays a vital role in dissemination of democracy. the government of Ally in Tunisia, Mubarak in Egypt and etc are collapsed by the Internet’s power. Smart phone handled a computer in our hands, even though they created the starvation of daily communication by increasing the rate of re-mediated communication. Pressing media influenced numerous alteration in the society such as reinforcing a linear ·cause and fact·logical thinking and spreading the Bible in everyone’s hand. TV opened the generation of show-business making public prefer sensual·amusing contents instead of thoughtful·solemn contents.”

 

The advent of new technology and media make a significant breakthrough in human society. It presents a brand new way of life, while regulating and affecting on our lives quietly. Thus, we are asked for two figures. First, we should be able to criticize and analyze the media’s contents. Second, We should be able to do humanistic insight analyzing media itself’s bias and environmental character. I will conclude this essay with teacher Park Myung Ho’s claim.

 

“ Media education is divided to bipolar position. One is de-media, which is an escape from the media; the opposite side is learning how to manage with new media. Both are important and certainly needed, but the most consequential thing is having a perspective that allows you to stare at the media strange. We must keep throw the question such as:”Does not an image media degrades humanity?“, ”What kind of idea is this book is assuming silent?“, not just experiencing book or movie without thinking. Someone who is well trained to this extent became healthy user of the media compared to the slave of it. This is the goal that we should head to.”

 

Reference

Park Myung Ho, Study of Media Ecology’s Media educational undertone: with McLuhan and Postman’s idea, Internet Blog, http://blog.naver.com/trueman372?Redirect=Log&logNo=120184316488