The Evolution of Mass Media
The Evolution of Mass Media
HUM/186
James Harrison
July 25, 2012
The Evolution of Mass Media What is mass media? Mass media is a way of connecting people all over the globe, such as television, radio, internet, newspaper, magazines, etc. Mass media started thousands of years ago. In different cultures, people had different ways of communicating. Many drew pictures on cave walls as a way of telling stories, while others communicated by hitting sticks on walls. In today’s culture, we are able to connect with people all over the world just by phone or internet. Throughout the last century, there have been many major developments in the evolution of mass media. One of the major developments that were invented in the early 1900’s was the steam-powered printing press. With this invention, people were able to get newspapers filled with local news. Silent movies became popular in the early 20th century as a source of entertainment. Later sound was added to the films. Another major development was the radio. It was used to show different musical genres, create hit songs, and make starts of the artists. Media convergence is a combination of mass media and communication outlets. Before media convergence, people wrote letters and sent them through mail to communicate. Now, we have emailing, text messaging, and video chatting to communicate. We have adapted to the media convergence and use it in everyday life. Work places have also adapted to this new wave of technology and the convergence of mass media. Offices are becoming much smaller and the amount of paper used in offices is becoming smaller and smaller. Media literacy is the ability to retrieve, examine, evaluate and create media in many different forms. If we did not have media literacy, there would be no books, newspapers, internet, and much more. Responsible media is the choice made by an individual to filter what is relayed to us by the media and we only remember what is useful or important. Media
HUM/186
James Harrison
July 25, 2012
The Evolution of Mass Media What is mass media? Mass media is a way of connecting people all over the globe, such as television, radio, internet, newspaper, magazines, etc. Mass media started thousands of years ago. In different cultures, people had different ways of communicating. Many drew pictures on cave walls as a way of telling stories, while others communicated by hitting sticks on walls. In today’s culture, we are able to connect with people all over the world just by phone or internet. Throughout the last century, there have been many major developments in the evolution of mass media. One of the major developments that were invented in the early 1900’s was the steam-powered printing press. With this invention, people were able to get newspapers filled with local news. Silent movies became popular in the early 20th century as a source of entertainment. Later sound was added to the films. Another major development was the radio. It was used to show different musical genres, create hit songs, and make starts of the artists. Media convergence is a combination of mass media and communication outlets. Before media convergence, people wrote letters and sent them through mail to communicate. Now, we have emailing, text messaging, and video chatting to communicate. We have adapted to the media convergence and use it in everyday life. Work places have also adapted to this new wave of technology and the convergence of mass media. Offices are becoming much smaller and the amount of paper used in offices is becoming smaller and smaller. Media literacy is the ability to retrieve, examine, evaluate and create media in many different forms. If we did not have media literacy, there would be no books, newspapers, internet, and much more. Responsible media is the choice made by an individual to filter what is relayed to us by the media and we only remember what is useful or important. Media
References: Truthor, Claire, (2005). Mass Media Today Scholarly Article