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The Dynamics of Mass Communication Seventh Edition Joseph R. Dominick Part 1 The Nature and History of Mass Communications Chapter 3 Historical and Cultural Context Seven Milestones in the History of Human Communication • Language 200,000-100,00 B.C. • Writing 3500 B.C. • Printing A.D. 1500 Seven Milestones in the History of Human Communication • Photography and Motion Pictures • 1800s – 1900s Telephone and Telegraph 1800s – 1900s • Radio and Television 1900s • Computers / Internet 1900s The Seven Milestones Timeline Language Made possible oral-based societies Members needed exceptional memories Premium on older people as “memory banks” Limit to “stored and accessible” knowledge Challenges: How to keep information accurate Passing knowledge from one generation to next Difficulty keeping long-term records Writing Two initial problems: What symbols do you use to represent ideas? What writing surface works best? Sign Writing vs. Phonetic Writing Two approaches: Graphic symbols representing objects Chinese pictographs Egyptian hieroglyphics Abstract symbols (alphabet) for ideas/sounds Phoenician 24-character alphabet Roman-modified 26-character alphabet Clay vs. Paper Cuneiform Sumeria wedge-shaped clay tablets Papyrus Egypt woven papyrus plants Parchment Greece sheep/goat hides Paper China pressed wood and fiber pulp Social Impact of Writing Created social divisions: readers vs. illiterates Access to power garnered through knowledge Encouraged birth and growth of ancient empires Collective knowledge accumulates over time Laws codified and universally administered Writing During the Dark Ages Begins with fall of Rome in the 6th century Demand for books continues to rise, but . . . Slow, costly hand-copying restricts supplies Mistakes common and cumulative Writing During the Dark Ages No filing or cross-indexing system in place Content moves from religion to lay areas Trade spreads, universities begin, AD 1150 European Scriptorias (writing shops) flourish Printing The introduction of moveable type is the start of mass communication, an event of immense importance to Western civilization. Printing Effects of the Gutenberg Revolution Standardizes, popularizes native languages Which, in turn, encourages nationalism Information now available to common man More books fuel demand for wider literacy Effects of the Gutenberg Revolution Spawns new social and religious doctrines Speeds books, research in scientific research Encourages exploration with maps and exploits Human knowledge base grows exponentially Eventually leads to what we would call “news” Technological Determinism Belief that technology (e.g., invention of moveable type) basically drives historical change. Others counter that technology functions with various social, economic, and cultural forces to help bring about changes. The Telegraph and Telephone The Telegraph Invention of telegraph speeds communication from 30 mph limit to 186,000 miles per second First to make instantaneous, point-to-point, long-distance communication possible Morse Code uses system of dots and dashes Telegraph: the Cultural Impact By 1850 most large U.S. cities linked together 1866 Trans-Atlantic cable links U.S. to Europe Standardizes, stabilizes, and links market prices, changing how we buy and sell goods Becomes indispensable military tool Allows up-to-date news from distant sources The Telephone Along with the telegraph, telephones change our perspective of time and space First “no-experience-required, user-friendly” communication device AT&T dominates telephone industry just as Western Union dominates the telegraph Photography and Motion Pictures Two inventions make photography possible: • way to focus light rays onto a surface (1500s pinhole device, camera obscura, solves problem) • way to permanently store and copy the images • Glass plates (Daguerreotypes) first solution • Wm. Talbot, England, invents film paper • George Eastman introduces “Brownie,” 1890s Photojournalism • Mathew Brady chronicles U.S. Civil War, the first photographically recorded war • Photography “frees” art from depicting real world • Demand for photographic coverage of events creates market for picture periodicals such as Life and Look magazines; news definition now modified to news is that which can be shown Pictures in Motion Three great social movements fuel demand for motion pictures: • industrialization • urbanization • immigration Nickelodeons, 10,000 store-front theaters by 1910s, also help create film industry infrastructure Motion Pictures and American Culture • Motion pictures center around large cash-rich firms and quickly dominate the three-prongs of the film industry: • Production • Distribution • Exhibition • Film kills Vaudeville (which frees talent for radio later) Motion Pictures and American Culture • Film becomes new popular leisure time activity • Film images and stars become national icons • Films portray model “American” values and culture • 1930 Payne Fund examines film medium, first serious effort to study potential media effects • 1930s “newsreels” are forerunner to TV news Radio and Television Radio (or “wireless”) debuts around 1910 as a byproduct of research in physics WWI military leaders encourage radio R&D; in so doing, they end bottleneck patent war problems The term broadcasting is coined to describe Radio’s “one to many” format First medium to bring mass entertainment into the American living room Radio’s evolution The manufacturing of radio sets was originally seen as the best way to make a profit in the new industry In the 1920s, AT&T introduces idea of selling audiences to companies; leased air time becomes “advertising” In 1927 the Federal Radio Commission is created to regulate radio’s tech side: frequency and signal strength By late 1920s three networks emerge: CBS and NBC (the latter with two, NBC red and NBC Blue) Radio’s evolution In 1934 the Federal Communication Commission replaces FRC; oversees entire electromagnetic spectrum Radio content targeted for national mass appeal The radio is a household staple during Great Depression Exodus of vaudeville actors gives radio new stars By WWII, radio journalism emerges as a strong, new national and local source of news Radio’s Cultural Impact Serves to popularize music and performers Introduces new entertainment genre: the soap opera; boasts 60% of daytime programs by 1940 First to aim mass content at children Invents new comedy genre: the sitcom Becomes main source of at-home entertainment: concept of evening “prime time” hours begins Television Developed decades earlier, but hampered by the Great Depression, WWII, and regulatory problems, TV finally emerges in early 1950s TV is now in 99% of all U.S. homes, and is on over seven hours per day. It’s our third largest time consumer following sleep and work Fosters “everything/everywhere” expectation Helps create a new “global village” mentality The Digital Revolution Described as an information delivery shift from the “slow moving” material world made of atoms to the instantaneous and virtual world made up of “0s” and “1s,” or bits Digital technology and the Internet are creating a revolution in the way information is transmitted, accessed, shared, and stored Problems of the Digital Age Idea of “community” is changing, with bonds based on needs or interests rather than locality Fostering new era of physical and social isolation How we govern, vote, get politically involved and influence our leaders is changing rapidly Society’s new “Digital Divide” -- a widening gap between those who have the training and wealth to use computers and those who don’t Concluding Observations It’s difficult to accurately predict the ultimate use of any new mass medium . However, it appears that the emergence of any new communication advance changes, but does not make extinct those advances that came before it. End of Chapter 3 Historical and Cultural Context