During the 1960s, Marshall McLuhan developed a number of ideas or concepts related to the mass media. One of the most significant of these ideas is his theory that "All media, from the phonetic alphabet to the computer, are extensions of man that cause deep and lasting changes in him and transform his environment" (McLuhan 13). This definition of media as an extension of man that changes him and his environment seems even more relevant five decades later in an era of new communication technologies that permit people to be exposed to media from afar and to exchange information with others without regard to conventional boundaries of time or space. This analysis will analyze media as a form of extension of the human.
Media as an extension of man is clearly seen in modern society and mass media. Daniel Boorstin (10) explores the illusory nature of life and the media in modern America in the concept of the "pseudo-event." Many media events are "pseudo-events" that are man-made, as opposed to natural events like earthquakes or a hurricane; something reported in the media because it is planned with the intent of getting media coverage. Boorstin (11) maintains there are three elements of the modern pseudo-event:
. It is not spontaneous, but comes about because someone has planned, planted, or incited it;
. It is planted primarily for the immediate purpose of being reported or reproduced; and
. Its relation to the underlying reality of the situation is ambiguous.
The nature of pseudo-events shows us that the medium may be the message, but the message is man-made. Today's media technologies have expanded the scope of the message and the ability to shape the message to a significant degree. McLuhan (7) notes that the personal and social consequences of any medium (i.e. any extension of ourselves) "result from the new scale that is introduced into out affairs ...