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2.2: Technology and Mass Media

  • Page ID
    294837
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    Thanks to technology, mass media can exist, although news and information have always been spread – just think of oral tradition of news in Africa, or the town caller in medieval times in Europe. News was always spread somehow. But what makes mass media messages unique are that they require technology or a “third party” to facilitate the connection, and the connection is from one sender to many people. The word “mass” in mass communication means it is communication to many people, which makes it different from one-to-one communication when you just talk to one person or a small group. Mass communication involves transmitting messages to many people through print or electronic media; some people are the senders and some the receivers. When you are talking to someone about a movie you just watched, it is called interpersonal communication (one-to-one communication). When you watch a rugby match or the news on television or on YouTube, which is aimed at many viewers, it is called mass communication (many-to-many communication). It is clear that social media or a blog, just like newspapers or the radio, are also examples of mass communication: a sender can use a social media platform to send messages to a mass audience – all people who read the message.

    Technology changes rapidly. It took 175 000 years for writing to become established, and about another 1 000 years for printing to develop. Audio-visual media (radio, television, and movies) became popular within just a few decades, and digital media grew even faster (Poe, 2011). It is incredible to think that the world’s first web page was only published in 1991 and, by now, digital media have penetrated all aspects of our lives – from voice-activated speakers to artificial intelligence on our mobile phones.

    The next sections describe the history of mass media – where it came from and how it has developed and changed over the years.


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