U Ms1304a From text to hypertext The media is an extension of our central nervous system

Introduction My essay is going to be focussed on how media is and has become an extension of our central nervous system., I will be using the radio as a medium to illustrate my essay question. I hope to be able to express my views and argument clearly by the end of this essay with appropriate references relating to the set question.

Radio has become an aspect of the media which extends to our central nervous system, it is a very reliable source for information and entertainment, it can be both interactive and non interactive, and it can also be listened to at any where and any time. These days, with the help of technology we are able to listen to radio through our phones, computers and mp3. We could form a group with people who listen to the same radio station as us or who are interested with a particular issue as us and we can decide to talk about it in the radio.

L,B,C 97.3fm, LBCRadio.co.uk(25/10/2005), had a discussion about the alleged feud between black and Asian men and listener, just as the other topics on the previous broadcastings, called in, to give their opinion on the matter. Radio in this sense demonstrates at its best the media as an extension of our central nervous system. It has become a place where a group of people with similar interests could share their opinion, where they go and ask for advice and also are given advice, it also where people talk about the most recent political news and go to express their views on the day to day issues that affect them. ‘’Without the web most of us would not have the opportunity or resources to find an audience for our work’’ D, Gauntlett and R, Horsley, Arnold (2004), web studies: the web allows people to express themselves, p.14. This quote can also be applied to radio, without radio a lot of us would not have much opportunity to interact as much as we do now.

Radio has become a major platform for communication. It attracts so many people partly becomes it does not discriminate nor is it prejudice. The media is an extension of our central nervous system: the radio is just one aspect of the media which can be used to illustrate this. I decided to base my essay on this aspect because I thought that the radio was an aspect of the media which gages its level of success by the reaction of our nervous system i.e. The amount of people who is listening to a particular radio station at any given time, and in the case of some radio station the amount of people who call up to participate on a discussion.

BIOGRAPHY Gauntlett, D. Web studies, The web allows people to express themselves, Edward Arnold, (2004) M, Lister, New media: a critical introduction, Routledge, (2003) Woolgar,S(ed), Virtual society, Oxford press, (2002).