Marshall McLuhen famously stated, “The medium is the message,” to describe how evolving delivery platforms affect the tone, even substance, of information they convey.
Nearly 50 years have passed since the Canadian scholar stated his conclusion and outlined its effects. In that time, the word “media,” medium’s plural, has become a singular descriptor for popular news presentation. But it is neither singular nor a sufficient term for describing how we communicate in an age of 50,000 television channels, a vast Internet, more publishing than ever, and direct, instant, two-way chats – with pictures, video and sound.
Too often, we see allegedly professional communicators pay too much attention to their delivery platforms – slick video editing, compelling graphic design, instant reports on social media – and too little to what they are actually saying and showing. Their bosses call such stuff “content,” relegating creativity to a commodity.
But it’s not a commodity. Effective communication requires a set of creative skills that take years of study and practice to perform with reliable effectiveness. Good messages matter every bit as much as good packaging and channels.
Competent grammar, style, word choice, syntax and story, remain essential to effective verbal communication. Light, composition, moment and sequence are still the raw tools we must skillfully wield to create visual communication that tells stories and moves minds to action.
Perhaps a look at etymology will help explain why verbal and visual language matter. Media and medium are nouns that most basically describe a middle state or condition – such as heights, abilities or distances, or the substances in which we temporarily grow microorganisms. In communication, the words describe the route(s) ideas and information travel to impart knowledge, emotion and/or noise.
Mediocrity is another noun from the same root. And it’s hardly a state to which we aspire.
Continuing to ride the etymological train, you might even consult spiritual mediums about what your future might hold. But you don’t need a crystal ball to understand slick packaging and innovative delivery methods promise only mediocre results if they contain and convey poorly crafted messages.
Many regularly equate marketing with war, speaking of “campaigns” and “obliterating” the competition. The middle – a root meaning of media – of a battle is where you find the dead and dying.
If you lack a coherent, credible, professionally crafted message, your slick media might still leave you stuck in that moribund middle.