Samenvatting Mass Communication Theory 6th edition
Hoofdstuk 2
From the Beginning of Mass Media
Introduction: This chapter describes the sequence (history) of development in mass media. Also key
turning points are described which contributed to the public definition and use of these mass media.
These definitions have formed in early history of the media, and keep changing with time and
technological growth. The chapter concludes with reflections on the two main dimensions of media:
the degree of freedom and the conditions of use.
- There’s difference between a process of mass communication and the actual media used. Human
communication ‘over distance’ is much older
- In Early Middle Ages, the church of Europe had means to reach everyone. This was not mass
communication yet
- The coming of independent media through printing, alarmed authorities of state and church. They
were afraid to lose control and that deviant (differing from a norm) ideas would take over
In telling the history of mass media, we deal with four main elements that are of significance in the wider life
of society. These are:
certain communicative purposes, needs, or uses;
technologies for communicating publicly to many at a distance;
forms of social organization that provide the skills and frameworks for organizing production and
distribution;
forms of regulation and control.
These elements are not in a fixed relationship and are all about the circumstances (environment) of time and
place. Some technologies replace previous means of communication. Like when printing replaced rewriting
(copying by hand), or when the telegraph replaced pigeons and such.
Other facts:
- A technology can form a new need; film or broadcast radio did this.
- A certain freedom of thought, expression and action has been the single most important condition
for development of print and other media.
- China and Korea used printing early, they did this long before Gutenberg (who is credited as the
European inventor) came with the printed press in mid-fifteenth century.
- In a more open society there’s more inclination (tendency) to develop communication technology
fully.
- Closed or repressive (dictatorial) regimes either limit development or set boundaries on use. Examples
are Russia and Ottoman Empire, they didn’t get printing until early seventeenth century.
- A western perspective is applied to this following summary of media history. This is because the
theory about this is western mainly. In the future mass media might follow a different (nonwestern)
plan.
Samenvatting door: Michael Janiec
,Different types of media discussed
Book
Historical facts:
- The history of modern media starts with the printed book
- The library is also very important for the continuity between writing and printing
- Books largely disappeared in the west after the end of the Roman Empire
- Scrolls, rolls of paper or parchment disappeared, printing press replaced writing by hand and printing
was done on flat pages/sheets. Because of the flat pages the book survived
- In the early medieval times, the book was not seen as a means of communication, but as something to
pass and save wisdom and teachings in
- The book was made from different volumes and had strong covers (codex)
- By 1500 up to 15.000 titles had been published, and during the sixteenth century there were about 1
million Bibles printed.
- The modern book is the child of the codex
- Book trade became more popular, much export and import between countries with printing
industries started. Especially between France, England, the German states and Italy.
- Copyright started and rights/privileges were granted to certain printers.
- The most famous early claim for freedom from government licensing was made by the English poet
John Milton in 1655 (Areopagitica).
- Press freedom went hand in hand with democratic and political freedoms. This close association
remains.
The book as a medium and institution: key features
Medium aspects:
Technology of movable type
Bound pages, codex form
Multiple copies
For personal reading
Individual authorship
Institutional aspects:
Commodity form
Market distribution
Diversity of content and form
Claim to freedom of publication
Subject to some legal limits
Samenvatting door: Michael Janiec
, Newspaper
Historical facts:
- Almost two hundred years after the invention of printing, we notice a prototypical newspaper
- The newspaper originates from the letter and not from a book. In those days important newsletters
circulated through post, covering news relevant to international trade and commerce
- The early newspaper is known for being made regularly, commercial (open for sale) and being
public.So it was used for information, record, advertising, diversion(distraction) and gossip
- Seventeenth-century newspapers were not identified as coming from any single source, but were a
compilation made by a printer-publisher
- The commercial newspaper was the form which has given most shape to the newspaper institution; a
major turning point in communication history – offering first of all a service to its anonymous readers
rather than an instrument to propagandists or authorities
- The newspaper was more of an innovation than the printed book
- The later history of the newspaper can be told either as a series of struggles, advances and reverses in
the cause of liberty or as a more continuous history of economic and technological progress
Different types of newspapers:
The party-political press
- Published by or for the party
- Dedicated to the task of activation, information and organization
- Has lost ground to commercial press forms, both as an idea and as a viable business enterprise
- It is typically independent from the state (though possibly subsidized), professionally produced,
serious and opinion-forming in purpose
- Unique because of its readers share political views
- Examples include the ‘vanguard press’ of the Russian revolutionary movement, the party-political
newspapers (especially social democratic) of several Scandinavian countries and the official party
press of former communist regimes
The prestige press
- Late-nineteenth-century high point in press history contributed much to our modern understanding
of what a newspaper is or should be
- Made possible by: the triumph of liberalism and ending of direct censorship or fiscal constraint; the
forging of a business-professional establishment; plus many social and technological changes
- The new prestige or ‘elite’ press was independent from the state and from vested interests
- Often recognized as a major institution of political and social life
- It tended to show a highly developed sense of social and ethical responsibility
- Many countries still have one or more newspapers that try to maintain this tradition
- The newspapers still recognized as having an ‘elite’ status are likely to include the New York Times,
The Times (London), Le Monde, El Pais, NRC Handelsblad (The Netherlands)
- Is seen as an authority and benchmark on what good press and publishing is these days
Samenvatting door: Michael Janiec
Hoofdstuk 2
From the Beginning of Mass Media
Introduction: This chapter describes the sequence (history) of development in mass media. Also key
turning points are described which contributed to the public definition and use of these mass media.
These definitions have formed in early history of the media, and keep changing with time and
technological growth. The chapter concludes with reflections on the two main dimensions of media:
the degree of freedom and the conditions of use.
- There’s difference between a process of mass communication and the actual media used. Human
communication ‘over distance’ is much older
- In Early Middle Ages, the church of Europe had means to reach everyone. This was not mass
communication yet
- The coming of independent media through printing, alarmed authorities of state and church. They
were afraid to lose control and that deviant (differing from a norm) ideas would take over
In telling the history of mass media, we deal with four main elements that are of significance in the wider life
of society. These are:
certain communicative purposes, needs, or uses;
technologies for communicating publicly to many at a distance;
forms of social organization that provide the skills and frameworks for organizing production and
distribution;
forms of regulation and control.
These elements are not in a fixed relationship and are all about the circumstances (environment) of time and
place. Some technologies replace previous means of communication. Like when printing replaced rewriting
(copying by hand), or when the telegraph replaced pigeons and such.
Other facts:
- A technology can form a new need; film or broadcast radio did this.
- A certain freedom of thought, expression and action has been the single most important condition
for development of print and other media.
- China and Korea used printing early, they did this long before Gutenberg (who is credited as the
European inventor) came with the printed press in mid-fifteenth century.
- In a more open society there’s more inclination (tendency) to develop communication technology
fully.
- Closed or repressive (dictatorial) regimes either limit development or set boundaries on use. Examples
are Russia and Ottoman Empire, they didn’t get printing until early seventeenth century.
- A western perspective is applied to this following summary of media history. This is because the
theory about this is western mainly. In the future mass media might follow a different (nonwestern)
plan.
Samenvatting door: Michael Janiec
,Different types of media discussed
Book
Historical facts:
- The history of modern media starts with the printed book
- The library is also very important for the continuity between writing and printing
- Books largely disappeared in the west after the end of the Roman Empire
- Scrolls, rolls of paper or parchment disappeared, printing press replaced writing by hand and printing
was done on flat pages/sheets. Because of the flat pages the book survived
- In the early medieval times, the book was not seen as a means of communication, but as something to
pass and save wisdom and teachings in
- The book was made from different volumes and had strong covers (codex)
- By 1500 up to 15.000 titles had been published, and during the sixteenth century there were about 1
million Bibles printed.
- The modern book is the child of the codex
- Book trade became more popular, much export and import between countries with printing
industries started. Especially between France, England, the German states and Italy.
- Copyright started and rights/privileges were granted to certain printers.
- The most famous early claim for freedom from government licensing was made by the English poet
John Milton in 1655 (Areopagitica).
- Press freedom went hand in hand with democratic and political freedoms. This close association
remains.
The book as a medium and institution: key features
Medium aspects:
Technology of movable type
Bound pages, codex form
Multiple copies
For personal reading
Individual authorship
Institutional aspects:
Commodity form
Market distribution
Diversity of content and form
Claim to freedom of publication
Subject to some legal limits
Samenvatting door: Michael Janiec
, Newspaper
Historical facts:
- Almost two hundred years after the invention of printing, we notice a prototypical newspaper
- The newspaper originates from the letter and not from a book. In those days important newsletters
circulated through post, covering news relevant to international trade and commerce
- The early newspaper is known for being made regularly, commercial (open for sale) and being
public.So it was used for information, record, advertising, diversion(distraction) and gossip
- Seventeenth-century newspapers were not identified as coming from any single source, but were a
compilation made by a printer-publisher
- The commercial newspaper was the form which has given most shape to the newspaper institution; a
major turning point in communication history – offering first of all a service to its anonymous readers
rather than an instrument to propagandists or authorities
- The newspaper was more of an innovation than the printed book
- The later history of the newspaper can be told either as a series of struggles, advances and reverses in
the cause of liberty or as a more continuous history of economic and technological progress
Different types of newspapers:
The party-political press
- Published by or for the party
- Dedicated to the task of activation, information and organization
- Has lost ground to commercial press forms, both as an idea and as a viable business enterprise
- It is typically independent from the state (though possibly subsidized), professionally produced,
serious and opinion-forming in purpose
- Unique because of its readers share political views
- Examples include the ‘vanguard press’ of the Russian revolutionary movement, the party-political
newspapers (especially social democratic) of several Scandinavian countries and the official party
press of former communist regimes
The prestige press
- Late-nineteenth-century high point in press history contributed much to our modern understanding
of what a newspaper is or should be
- Made possible by: the triumph of liberalism and ending of direct censorship or fiscal constraint; the
forging of a business-professional establishment; plus many social and technological changes
- The new prestige or ‘elite’ press was independent from the state and from vested interests
- Often recognized as a major institution of political and social life
- It tended to show a highly developed sense of social and ethical responsibility
- Many countries still have one or more newspapers that try to maintain this tradition
- The newspapers still recognized as having an ‘elite’ status are likely to include the New York Times,
The Times (London), Le Monde, El Pais, NRC Handelsblad (The Netherlands)
- Is seen as an authority and benchmark on what good press and publishing is these days
Samenvatting door: Michael Janiec
