Tài liệu môn PR truyền thông - Chapter 3: Historical and cultural context

The Dynamics ofMass CommunicationJoseph R. DominickSeventh EditionPart 1The Nature and History of Mass CommunicationsChapter 3Historical andCultural ContextSeven Milestones in the Historyof Human CommunicationLanguage 200,000-100,00 B.C.Writing 3500 B.C.Printing A.D. 1500 Seven Milestones in the Historyof Human CommunicationPhotography and Motion Pictures 1800s – 1900sTelephone and Telegraph 1800s – 1900sRadio and Television 1900sComputers / Internet 1900s The Seven Milestones TimelineLanguageMade possible oral-based societiesMembers needed exceptional memoriesPremium on older people as “memory banks”Limit to “stored and accessible” knowledgeChallenges: How to keep information accurate Passing knowledge from one generation to next Difficulty keeping long-term recordsWritingTwo initial problems:What symbols do you use to represent ideas?What writing surface works best?Sign Writing vs. Phonetic WritingTwo approaches:Graphic symbols representing objectsChinese pictographsEgyptian hieroglyphicsAbstract symbols (alphabet) for ideas/soundsPhoenician 24-character alphabetRoman-modified 26-character alphabetClay vs. PaperCuneiform Sumeria wedge-shaped clay tabletsPapyrus Egypt woven papyrus plantsParchment Greece sheep/goat hidesPaper China pressed wood and fiber pulpSocial Impact of WritingCreated social divisions: readers vs. illiteratesAccess to power garnered through knowledgeEncouraged birth and growth of ancient empiresCollective knowledge accumulates over timeLaws codified and universally administeredWriting During the Dark AgesBegins with fall of Rome in the 6th centuryDemand for books continues to rise, but . . . Slow, costly hand-copying restricts suppliesMistakes common and cumulativeWriting During the Dark AgesNo filing or cross-indexing system in placeContent moves from religion to lay areasTrade spreads, universities begin, AD 1150European Scriptorias (writing shops) flourishThe introduction of moveable type is the start of mass communication, an event of immense importance to Western civilization.PrintingEffects of the Gutenberg RevolutionPrinting Standardizes, popularizes native languages Which, in turn, encourages nationalism Information now available to common man More books fuel demand for wider literacyEffects of the Gutenberg RevolutionSpawns new social and religious doctrinesSpeeds books, research in scientific researchEncourages exploration with maps and exploitsHuman knowledge base grows exponentiallyEventually leads to what we would call “news” Technological DeterminismBelief 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 TelephoneThe TelegraphInvention of telegraph speeds communication from 30 mph limit to 186,000 miles per secondFirst to make instantaneous, point-to-point, long-distance communication possibleMorse Code uses system of dots and dashesTelegraph: the Cultural ImpactBy 1850 most large U.S. cities linked together1866 Trans-Atlantic cable links U.S. to EuropeStandardizes, stabilizes, and links market prices, changing how we buy and sell goodsBecomes indispensable military toolAllows up-to-date news from distant sourcesThe TelephoneAlong with the telegraph, telephones change our perspective of time and spaceFirst “no-experience-required, user-friendly” communication deviceAT&T dominates telephone industry just as Western Union dominates the telegraphPhotographyand Motion PicturesTwo 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,” 1890sPhotojournalism 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 shownPictures in MotionThree great social movements fuel demand for motion pictures: industrialization urbanization immigrationNickelodeons, 10,000 store-front theaters by 1910s, also help create film industry infrastructureMotion Pictures and American CultureMotion pictures center around large cash-rich firms and quickly dominate the three-prongs of the film industry:ProductionDistributionExhibitionFilm kills Vaudeville (which frees talent for radio later)Motion Pictures and American CultureFilm becomes new popular leisure time activityFilm images and stars become national iconsFilms portray model “American” values and culture1930 Payne Fund examines film medium, first serious effort to study potential media effects1930s “newsreels” are forerunner to TV newsRadio and TelevisionRadio (or “wireless”) debuts around 1910 as a byproduct of research in physicsWWI military leaders encourage radio R&D; in so doing, they end bottleneck patent war problemsThe term broadcasting is coined to describe Radio’s “one to many” formatFirst medium to bring mass entertainment into the American living room Radio’s evolutionThe manufacturing of radio sets was originally seen as the best way to make a profit in the new industryIn 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 strengthBy late 1920s three networks emerge: CBS and NBC (the latter with two, NBC red and NBC Blue)Radio’s evolutionIn 1934 the Federal Communication Commission replaces FRC; oversees entire electromagnetic spectrumRadio content targeted for national mass appealThe radio is a household staple during Great DepressionExodus of vaudeville actors gives radio new starsBy WWII, radio journalism emerges as a strong, new national and local source of news Radio’s Cultural Impact Serves to popularize music and performersIntroduces new entertainment genre: the soap opera; boasts 60% of daytime programs by 1940First to aim mass content at childrenInvents new comedy genre: the sitcomBecomes main source of at-home entertainment: concept of evening “prime time” hours beginsTelevisionDeveloped decades earlier, but hampered by the Great Depression, WWII, and regulatory problems, TV finally emerges in early 1950sTV 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 workFosters “everything/everywhere” expectationHelps create a new “global village” mentalityThe Digital RevolutionDescribed 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 bitsDigital technology and the Internet are creating a revolution in the way information is transmitted, accessed, shared, and storedProblems of the Digital AgeIdea of “community” is changing, with bonds based on needs or interests rather than localityFostering new era of physical and social isolationHow we govern, vote, get politically involved and influence our leaders is changing rapidlySociety’s new “Digital Divide” -- a widening gap between those who have the training and wealth to use computers and those who don’tConcluding 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 3Historical and Cultural Context