Nothing Special   »   [go: up one dir, main page]
Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 59 views

    Introduction To Mass Communication - MCM 101 VU

    Uploaded by

    bc200200813 JUNAID ARSHAD

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Introduction To Mass Communication - MCM 101 VU

    Uploaded by

    bc200200813 JUNAID ARSHAD
    59 views3 pages

    Original Title

    Lesson 03

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    59 views3 pages

    Introduction To Mass Communication - MCM 101 VU

    Uploaded by

    bc200200813 JUNAID ARSHAD

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    Introduction to Mass Communication – MCM 101 VU

    LESSON 03
    SEVEN CENTURIES OF MASS COMMUNICATION – FROM PRINTING TO
    COMPUTER

    As if printing process was an invention long been eagerly awaited to bolster communication
    at the level of masses, it opened doors for creation and discoveries of many valuable means in the
    area of mass transaction of messages which, as the time proved, had far reaching impression on the
    growth of societies, cultures, habits, disputes and organizations which could help people live in a
    world close to each other.

    The printing process was first proved helpful to long desire of authors to reach a high number of
    readers. As the books circulation increased in the next hundred years, which also included works on
    different scientific discoveries and sharing of newer physical ideas, it was the turn to publish things
    regularly. Since people’s interest was enormous in buying and reading books, an idea to bring out a
    publication on regular basis was never ruled out.

    Newspapers/ magazines
    It took almost two hundred years that the concept of regular publication appeared in the
    form of newspapers. There are conflicting ideas as who brought out the first newspaper in the world
    and how long it had sustained but according to the World Association of Newspapers, the first titled
    English language private newspaper, The Corrant, was first published in London in 1621.

    The first English daily newspaper, the Daily Courant, was founded by Samuel Buckley on 11 March
    1702. In 1631 The Gazette, the first French newspaper, was founded. In 1690, Public Occurrences in
    Boston became the first newspaper published in America. In 1803, just 15 years after the first British
    penal colony was established, Australia's military government published the Sydney Gazette and the
    New South Wales Advertiser, Australia's first newspapers.

    1884 Otto Merganthaler invents the Linotype machine which casts type in full lines, using hot lead, a
    quantum leap in newspaper publishing, and ushering in the era of "hot lead." The systems remained
    in general production in the industry well into the 1980s, when computerized pagination became
    prominent. This printing process was assumed by hundreds of regular publications of newspapers
    and magazines around the world and remained in frequent use for almost a hundred year.

    1962 L.A. Times derived Linotype hot metal typesetters with perforated tape. The key was
    development of a dictionary and a method to automate the hyphenation and justification of text in
    columns (tasks that took up 40% of a manual operator's time). With the availability of other
    technologies and support like advanced mechanics and electricity more experimentation were done in
    publishing industry.

    Since the 1980s, many newspapers have been printed with three-color process photography and
    graphics. This highlights the fact that the layout of the newspaper is of major importance in getting
    attention so readers will see and enjoy large sections of the newspaper.

    Circulation and Readership


    United Nations' data from 1995 indicates that Japan is the country with most newspaper
    readership. It has three daily papers with a circulation well above 4 million. Germany's Bild, with a
    circulation of 4.5 million, was the only other paper in that category.

    USA Today has daily circulation of approximately 2 million, making it the most widely distributed
    paper in the U.S.

    ©Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan


    1
    Introduction to Mass Communication – MCM 101 VU

    Business side
    Almost all newspapers make almost all their money from advertising. Publishers of
    commercial newspapers strive for higher circulation so that advertising in their newspaper becomes
    more effective, allowing the newspaper to attract more advertisers and charge more for the service.
    But some advertising sales also market demographics. Some newspapers might sacrifice higher
    circulation numbers in favor of an audience with a higher income. Some newspapers provide some
    or all of their content on the Internet, either at no cost or for a fee. In some cases free access is only
    available for a matter of days or weeks or readers must register and provide personal data. In other
    cases, extensive free archives are provided.

    Radio – radical change in mass communication


    As the world was enjoying the benefits of mass communication through print medium,
    scientists had been working on some other miracle – reaching out masses through voice. Though in
    the middle of 19th century it sounded as talking-high, towards the end of the century things had
    started shaping as the idea might be materialized. It actually did at the brink of 20th century when
    Italian born Guglielmo Marconi introduced to the world his marvel which today we all know as a
    radio – the device which brings voice to you from thousands of kilometers.

    Marconi – transmits signals by radio waves


    An Irish-Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi is commonly credited for doing that in 1895.
    But, whether he was actually the first to send signals through the air is open to debate. Other
    countries have some impressive evidence that some of their citizens transmitted radio signals before
    Marconi. Even so, if you asked the question on some quiz show, you'll be safest with the name
    "Guglielmo Marconi.” Once he proved that wireless transmissions (radio to you and me) could work,
    Marconi patented the invention in England and set up the Marconi Wireless Telegraph Company.

    Brief Radio history


    Once radio broadcasting was launched, people began to realize just how significant this new
    medium could be. The first regular radio broadcast in the USA in 1920 brought presidential election
    returns — in advance of the newspapers. People quickly took note of all the free music, information,
    and commentary that was suddenly available to anyone with a radio set.

    But, something else was going on at the same time. Scores of people were building their own
    personal radio stations, probably motivated in part by the ability to be widely heard by friends,
    neighbors, relatives, and even strangers. That created a major problem. Soon there were too many
    stations for the number of frequencies available to separate them on the radio dial.

    Some thought the solution was simply to use more power to drown out the competition. So it got to
    be a power battle too. But soon regulations were enacted by countries where radio stations were set
    up by people on their own. Now the states issued license to the willing public to run a radio station.
    Broadcast Advertising
    Then another element entered the picture — broadcast advertising. In 1922, a station in
    New York ran a 10-minute talk on the merits of some co-op apartments in Jackson Heights, N.Y —
    and charged $50 for their effort.
    That was deemed a toll broadcast — now better known as a commercial. At that point it was discovered
    that you could actually make money by promoting products on radio — and, of course, things have
    been the same since then.

    Other countries had their own ideas about this new medium. In Great Britain this led to the
    establishment of the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) in 1923. The BBC used public taxes on
    radio receivers, rather than commercials, to pay for their broadcast system.

    ©Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan


    2
    Introduction to Mass Communication – MCM 101 VU

    Later, the CBC (Canadian Broadcast System) was developed in Canada, patterned after the BBC. The
    problem in Canada was that a large percent of the population spoke French, which meant that
    programming systems in both English and French had to be developed. Although most counties of
    that era also adopted government sponsored radio broadcasting, the BBC and CBC are among the
    few that were able to insulate programming content from direct government influence. In other
    words, most countries used radio to further the political aims of those in power. Today, a great many
    still do.

    Government Regulation
    With the advent of paid radio advertising in the United States, sponsors were rather insistent
    on having their commercials heard. Since corporate money and profit were involved (which largely
    finance politics), the government suddenly started to get quite interested in doing something about
    the problem. So the U.S. Congress passed the Radio Act of 1927, which created the Federal Radio
    Commission (FRC). Its purpose was to organize the licensing of transmitters, including assigning
    radio station frequencies. In 1934, the FRC was reorganized into the agency that now controls U.S.
    broadcasting, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC's regulatory powers
    expanded to include telephone and telegraph — and some years later, television.

    Television – miracle in modern mass communication


    It was not much later that people heard radio as one top and fast means of communication,
    that scientists brought a device in the middle which along the voice could support images and events
    unfolded in front of the people as a real life occurrence.

    Championed in 1927, the invention of TV took hardly ten years to assume a regular shape as one
    strong source of mass communication. The 2nd World War towards the end of third decade of the
    last century, however, halted progress on this most modern mean of communication, the end of war
    saw a rapid advancement in telecommunication in which the transmission of the images ranked at the
    top. In most countries the TV stations were set up, regulations enacted and sets were sold in high
    number by the end of forth decade of the century. Next decade saw colored TV sets and
    transmissions and use of remote controls. Pakistan had its first TV station in Lahore in November
    1964.

    Computer
    The world had not yet fully exploited the TV as the strongest organ of mass communication that
    unending research and developments in the field of science and technology brought computers –
    internet, so to say, for people who wanted to be beneficiaries of mass communication. Computers
    which were introduced on limited scale in early 1960 for the purposes of communication and fast
    data processing became in 1990s the major source of communication across the world.

    ©Copyright Virtual University of Pakistan


    3

    You might also like