对“媒介即讯息”的再审视

A Review of the Theory “Media Equal to Information”

"媒介即讯息"是加拿大传播学者麦克卢汉于20世纪60年代提出的著名论断,它曾被誉为媒介研究的"哥白尼革命",即扭转了以往媒介研究偏重于媒介内容的局面,将注意力引向传播媒介本身。在报纸、广播、电视占据主导位置的大众传播时代,"媒介即讯息"理论并未受到应有的重视,甚至被贬斥为"技术决定论"。而在互联网兴起之后,媒介技术的发展及其对人和社会构型的影响越来越显著,"媒介即讯息"作为媒介研究技术取向的开创性理论,在媒介技术飞速发展的时代背景下对其进行内涵外延的廓清,具有重要的现实意义。

The famous theory media equal to information' was known as the the Copernicus Revolution' in the field of medium research, which was put forward by a Canadian propagator McLuhan in 1960's because it focused on propagation media itself instead of media content. When newspapers, radios and TV played a leading role in the times of news, the theory was brushed aside and even was belittled as technology determinism'. After the wide use of Internet, the development of the medium technology has exerted more and more influence on man and society formation. The writer thinks that with the fast development of medium technology, the novel theory, directed to the medium research, should expand its connotations and extensions.