The medium really is the message?

I had a weird moment of realization today. I was watching CP24, hoping for any news update to the strike, and the story was about the mayor’s announcement today that more building permits will be processed, up to 500 by the end of the month. To ‘illustrate’ the story there was a video clip – a close-up of a hand hammering a nail into some sort of wooden structure. I was thinking how funny it is that they must have video clips for all sorts of stories, catalogued somehow so that the editors or directors or whoever decides these things can find an appropriate one for any kind of story. I find it funny because a picture of nails being hammered into wood doesn’t strike me as necessary when doing a story on building permits – I know what building permits entail, and even if I don’t know or can’t picture it, an image of actual ‘building’, no matter how on-point and illustrative, doesn’t add anything to the story. And yet, stock footage like this is used all the time.

Then it occurred to me that I do the same thing on my blog, and so do many other bloggers. I can’t decide whether this is a sign of a universal and inherent form of thought that we think is the best way to illustrate stories – whether with a picture or a video, do we feel that text isn’t enough to get our point across? Are we that limited by language that we use a picture or video to set up or establish what we’re trying to describe with our text?

Or is the creation of blogs, and this apparently universal format, just a product of all of us watching the same television news programs since childhood? Has television –in this case specifically television news – implanted itself in the way our minds work so deeply that, even when presented with a blank canvas and the opportunity for unlimited creativity, we are still limited by what newsroom editors in Washington or London or Toronto think is the best way to present news? When extrapolated beyond blogging, it’s a disturbing thought.

This is the first personal and non-strike thing I've written since it started. I don't feel like going back and editing it for typos and continuity and whatnot, so if there are any errors, that explains it. I'm just procrastinating when I should be applying for jobs. I had a job, or I guess I technically still do have a job. And one that I like, too. I'm just not allowed to do it right now so I'm forced to apply for other jobs. That's really annoying.