Language and Media Dictionary of Key Terms (April 2016) Martin Montgomery

global village media n. a metaphorical expression associated with the Canadian scholar and media theorist, Marshall McLuhan (1911-1980). It was introduced in his books The Gutenberg Galaxy (1962) and Understanding Media (1967) and encapsulates his view that the electronic media have changed the way we communicate with, and relate to each other through their capacity for radically overcoming the pre-technological constraints of time and distance. The speed and reach of electronic media enable us to communicate in real time with others on the other side of the globe as if they were near at hand. They have also made possible many more interconnections between ourselves and others. In this sense they count, in another of McLuhan’s phrases, as ‘extensions of man’ (the subtitle of Understanding Media): they not only simulate the speed of the central nervous system but re-configure the senses into new modalities of perception. The result is a global village in two ways. The world has become a village insofar as its inhabitants are (electronically) near at hand to each other for the purposes of communication. But we also exist in a world were we have a heightened sense of responsibility for those far away, as if they were our neighbour. The idea of the global village has been criticised for overlooking important issues of access to the electronic media – failing to recognise, for instance, differences between rural and urban populations with their different kinds of use of and access to the electronic media. Although McLuhan’s coining of the phrase pre-dated the internet and the world wide web by at least a couple of decades, his visionary phrase in a very real sense anticipated the consequences of its widespread adoption. mmo

globalization media n. processes of integration on a global scale that include intensified economic, financial, political and cultural exchanges and which have led to increased interdependence between societies. mmo

gossip media n. communal speech event or genre that involves the sharing of information about an absent third party, one who may be described as the target or victim of gossip. Anthropological research suggests that single women, widows, daughters-in-law, teachers and doctors make ideal gossip victims. The subject or theme of gossip consists broadly of the faults, character flaws, behavioral inconsistencies, moral failings, bad manners or other shortcomings of the gossip victim. Gossiping makes an ideal accompaniment to repetitive tasks such as cleaning vegetables, sewing, bread baking and is also associated with locations that members of a community routinely need to visit – such as the water cooler, the well, village shops, bars and barber shops. Indeed, it is proto-typically associated with small-town or village life; but large organizations are not immune as long as there are places where members need to congregate or meet on a regular basis. While gossip may be seen primarily as a face-to-face activity it also plays an important role in public communication to the degree that it becomes institutionalized in newspaper and magazine gossip columns where celebrities and politicians become prime targets. Reality television shows and soap opera may also be seen as forms of surrogate gossip material. mmo

groups media n. people or things that are classed together according to a common factor. For example, the classification of groups may be according to belief, occupation, age, gender, race, or nationality. SJ