Media, Style and Content

The word “medium” is derived from the Latin word “medius,” meaning middle or in-between.[1] In the fields of art and communication, a medium is a communication system that exists between the creators of a communication and its audience. Text, sound, static imagery, and moving imagery can all be communicated through media. Certain media enable two-way communication, such as telephones and electronic mail, but most media provide one-way communication from creators to audiences. A medium is composed of certain tools, materials, and procedures that combine to create a specific perceptual experience. A medium uses its technology to carry the ideas of artists and designers into the minds of audiences. Media enable communication to be created, stored, and distributed.

“Media,” the plural of medium, refers to more than one medium. Photography is a medium, while digital audio and digital video are media. The term media also refers to storage media--the physical materials that store information. DVD discs, computer hard drives, VHS tapes, audio tapes, and CD-Roms, are all examples of storage media, also referred to as media.

The phrase “mass medium” originated in 1923 and it refers to a medium that can communicate simultaneously to a large number of people dispersed in different locations.[1] “Mass media” is the plural of mass medium and it refers collectively to media having this potential, including television, radio, newspapers, magazines, commercial film, and the World Wide Web. Mass media are also referred to as “the media.”

Style refers to a conventional manner for arranging the formal qualities of content. Styles of visual art are made distinctive by conveying the formal qualities of light in a particular manner. The artistic styles of Impressionism, Cubism, Minimalism, Op Art, and Expressionism each use specific conventions for arranging colour and form. Different musical styles are made distinctive by emphasizing particular aural characteristics, including rhythm, melody, tempo, and timbre. Musical styles include Blues, Blue Grass, Classical, Gamelan, Jazz, Minimalism, New Music, Rock and Roll, and Techno. Film Noir is a film style characterized by black and white imagery, shadows, and high contrast lighting. The style of a work can also be associated with a particular narrative theme, such as Film Noir films “assuming the absolute and irredeemable corruption of society and of everyone in it.” [2]

This book uses a definition for “concept” that is derived from philosophy and psychology.[3] A concept is designated as a “principal of classification,” an idea that people use to distinguish entities from each other. A film, for instance, may convey the concept “people are selfish.” This is a concept because it distinguishes what people are from what they are not. The concept of work, however, may not always be obvious to an audience. Most viewers would probably recognize when the concept of a commercial film is “everyone deserves justice,” but fewer would probably recognize when a film conveys the concept “good films use celebrity actors. The concept of a commercial film can be conveyed through any of its aesthetic features, not only its narrative theme. The differences between a work’s concept and its formal qualities are similar to the “signified” and “signifier” distinction used in the field of semiotics.

The content of a medium is often distinguished as being commercial or non-commercial. Commercial content is purposely designed to fulfill the economic needs of a business, while non-commercial content lacks an apparent association with commerce. Most television advertisements are commercial content because they attempt to persuade viewers into buying particular products or services. Television programs are also labeled as commercial content because their usual purpose is to attract large audiences who can be exposed to television advertising. Television broadcasters, consequently, charge higher fees for advertising during programs that are extremely popular among viewers. The broadcasting of a specific television program will typically be discontinued when the program becomes unpopular with viewers, when it is unable to attract sufficient advertising revenue. Although a commercial film may not be a persuasion to buy a particular product, like an advertisement, it is often designated as commercial content because the commodity is the film itself. By paying to see a film, a person enhances the finances of the film’s producer, director, actors, and distributors. Fine art is usually labeled as non-commercial content, even though professional artworks can function as financial investments for art collectors and museums.

© Don Ritter

1. Michael Quinon. “Medium,” World Wide Words, http://www.worldwidewords.org/topicalwords/tw-med1.htm (accessed August 15, 2003).

2. David Cook. A History of Narrative Film. (New York: W.W. Norton & Co, 1981), 404.

3. Robert Audi, ed. The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995).