The mass communications industry has undergone various developments and changes in various parts of the world. The changes and developments in the mass communications industry have undergone growth in relation to political, social, economic and technological aspects in various nations in the world. The history of mass communication dates back to about 500 years. The developments in the early world played a crucial role in relation to technological advancements and social change in creating the current status of the mass media.
The books form the first and earliest component of the media communication. This time the books were not reproduced for the mass consumption. It is stated that the first books were written in 1400B.C in Egypt. There no technology to reproduce the books for masses at that time.
The printing press played a significant and crucial role in the field of mass communication. This led to the development and revolution in mass communication. The movable type and the printing press was introduced in 1456.This invention took place in Germany facilitating the reproduction of books in masses. The printing system was made of some metal characters. This helped in printing of many religious books during that time. The public eager and need for knowledge facilitated the printing of the religious books in masses so as to satisfy that need.
The invention of the printing mass media had a great influence on the civilization issues in most parts of the world. The printing press also facilitated the growth of the literature relating to travel, romance and historical issues. The translation of such articles and travel documents written in native languages led to the revolution of in the open market.
The invention of the printing press in 1456 which helped in the reproduction of the books in large numbers. In relation to mass media communication, the Newspapers forms the oldest form of transmitting information to the masses of the people. The reproduction of newspapers was facilitated by the printing press technology which was developed. The newspapers started to appear as early as 100B.C in Rome. The political pamphlets also started arising during this time in the communication of information to the potential voters in masses. The actualization of the newspapers materialized at around 1600.The development of magazines also went through a very slow process before it became fully accepted and demanded. The first magazine appeared in 1704.The development of newspapers, pamphlets and magazines, was very slow due to the low levels of technology in the mass media industry in that era. The print media, therefore, was very slow in growth. The newspapers played an important role in passing information to all classes through a media of democracy.
The electronic media developed at a very fast rate. The introduction of the radio as the mass media took place in the 1920s through the technological advancements and the mass entertainment which resulted from the development of the telephone, telegraph and wireless communication. The development of radios also helped in transmission of information over a long distance to large masses of people. The radio facilitated the transmission of information through sound. The radio also helped in facilitating faster and convenient transmission of information. The development of telegraphs and telephones also facilitated to the growth of mass media in communication to large numbers of people at different locations.
The race for addition of pictures to the mass media then arose in most parts of the world leading to the development of the televisions. The invention of the television was, therefore, considered to be the most significant invention in the twentieth century. The invention of the television gained popularity in the 1940s.Satellite communication and cable television arose in the second half of the twentieth century. The development of the internet then came after the television and satellite communication. The internet highly revolutionized the mass communications industry. The aspects relating to globalization, specialization, convergence and consolidation led to competition of the new mass media with the traditional media. The electronic media also entails the aspects of the internet through the social media to pass information to large masses of people all over the globe. The developments and revolutions in the social media have led to changes in the mass media communication.
Some aspects of past technologies are still present in the press industry due to their importance in the transmission of information to the mass media. The technologies relating to the printing press are very essential in the production of newspapers that are highly demanded by the parliament. The printing press technology is still relevant because it helps in the production of large volumes of magazines and articles .The high levels of the demand for newspapers by the large segment of the population makes the printing press to revolutionize and improve in order to provide quality printing of the materials in dissemination of information.
The printing press is still available and relevant because the aspects relating to democracies and political issues are distributed through posters and fliers in order to reach a large segment of the population. The political information is of relevance and very useful in the transmission of news to the public.
The newspapers in the current mass media industry are still available where the scope and contents have developed and transform in order to fit the needs of the modern society in general. The columns in the newspapers are transformed into potential areas for advertisements of the relevant information for business organizations. The developments of the newspapers have enabled it to accommodate the dynamism of the society. The newspapers have also embraced the changes in technology to the extent that the soft copies of the newspapers can be accessed online at affordable charges. The newspapers have also expanded in scope by capturing the most important segments as football, business and the political views. These topics of interest will make people to stick to the newspapers in order to access such information on daily and regular basis. The aspects relating to the celebrities are also given emphasis in the Newspapers. The attention of the readers is, therefore, captured leading to the everlasting existence and survival of the Newspapers in the market. The current existence of the newspapers in the mass media industry is highly attributed to an increase in scope and accessibility of information needed by specific readers.
The radio is also still present in the press industry in facilitating transmission of information to the mass media across large section of the population. The radios are still useful in the current world because they cover a wide range of listeners. The accessibility of radio waves makes it very relevant and important in the press industry in order to transmit urgent and timely information to the listeners at low costs. The radio also gives the listener time to give their suggestions and contributions to various issues affecting them. This, therefore, made the radio very relevant even in the current world. The aspects of entertainment make the listener stick to various radio stations in order to get their selection of music and entertainment. The radio, therefore, still play a crucial role in the mass media industry. The nature of advertisements also helped in making the radio to remain relevant in the mass media industry.
Televisions are also still present in the current mass media industry. Televisions have transformed to the extent that the content and the means of dissemination information are specialized to fit specific customers. Live broadcasting is the main contributor to the relevance of the televisions in the current press industry. The customers can access information directly and live on air without having to read for themselves. The use images and the technological advancements in presentation of information on the screens make the customers stick to the television stations so as to access the latest and relevant information with ease. Television is still among the most significant components of the mass media industry in the current world due to the advancements in technology. The technologies involving hacking techniques led to the posting of unethical and wrong information on the sites of various broadcasting stations leading to negative reactions from the public. The security of the information under custody of the media stations is threatened by the loopholes in the internet practices.
The changes in technology have contributed greatly to the transformation of the mass media industry. This, therefore, led to changes and modifications in various components of the mass media industry in order to facilitate the effective and efficient transmission of information to the general public. The mass media industry has undergone several tremendous changes with respect to content and scope of information. The means of information delivery have also changed due to the improvements in technology as well as the dynamism of the society.
The aspects relating to the speed of processing information in the mass media industry has greatly changed, thereby, enabling transmission of information and news real on time as they occur. The improvements in technology in relation to communication devices enabled faster transmission of information to the broadcasting stations in order to deliver it to the listeners or viewers. The time lag between the occurrence of events and the reporting of such events has greatly reduced due to the faster processing of data in order to deliver relevant information to the clients.
The aspects relating to graphics have greatly improved due to the technological advancements. This plays an important role in ensuring that the attention of the audience is captured with the help of eye appealing images and graphics. The use of modern technology contributed greatly to the modes of presentation of the news in the mass media industry. The combination of clear visuals and audio presentations facilitates the appeal of the newsroom thereby attracting many clients or viewers. In relation to the presentation of information or news the nature of screen resolutions of the televisions have greatly improved leading to the lively presentations through the televisions (Napoli, 2011, p.14). The black and white screens were modified to the colored form of screens during the presentation. The size of the screens of the televisions has also transformed leading to the modern large screens which can project lively and clear images of the products being advertised as well as provision of the three-dimensional view of the images. This helps in capturing the attention of the audience especially during advertisement of various products and services in the business sector.
The nature of sound has also been modified through the use of technological advancements. The sound modification techniques have greatly contributed to the positive progress in the mass media industry. The improvised music or tones are also an important component in attracting the attention of the audience. The advertisements are, therefore, accompanied by music and sound in order to facilitate the promotion of such products in the market. The mixing of sound techniques has greatly influenced the way in which the products are advertised in the mass media especially on the televisions.
The way in which the information is presented on the televisions have diversified .Some broadcasting stations have concentrated and specialized on specific activities in order to facilitate the provision of quality and effective services to the audience. This trend is mainly due to the business models adopted in the promotion of profitability of such broadcasting stations. Some station specialize in entertainment of the audience with alternate advertisements especially when the products of the youthful population are targeted for promotion
The other form of modification is the shift of the mass media of the internet where information is shared on the social media sites so as to advance the scope of the mass media stations in the market. The introduction of social sites like Facebook and Twitter have greatly influenced the way in which the mass media operates in the provision of information to their audience. The audience of the mass media stations was disrupted by the introduction of such social sites since the people can easily access information through their mobile phones on the internet through sites like Facebook and Twitter (Straubhaar, 2013, p.23). The introduction of the mobile phones has also influenced the way in which the mass media stations operate since the audience can easily participate or contribute to the topics of discussion at the media stations through short messages or direct phone calls.
The media stations have also joined the social media in the delivery of information so as to diversify their scope in the market. These technologies, therefore, made the mass media very participatory and lively in the delivery of the information to the public. The effects of the internet on the operations in the mass media is tremendous since almost all operations are now done online. The audience can access the radio and television broadcasting stations through the internet. This helped greatly in widening the scope of mass media in relation to the structure and composition of the target audience.
The past innovations in the mass media industry provided a strong foundation on which the improvements and positive changes can be adjusted in order to boost the ways in which information can be transmitted to the audience. The innovations played a role in giving the gaps and loopholes in the media industry which can further be explored in order to improve the press industry (Friedrichsen, 2013, p.18). The innovations of the satellite transmissions in communication and mass media industry played an essential role in the current developments of mobile computing that are continuously evolving in order to facilitate transmission of information.
The innovations on electronic media provided grounds for the development of the current set of flat screen televisions which has high resolution power. The advancements in the electronic media played an important role in ensuring the improvement in the means in which mass media transmit information. The advancements in the mass media are also related to the ways in which the online transactions and activities are carried especially on the social sites like Facebook and twitter. The current state of the mass media in the world is a direct result of the previous innovation in this field because such innovations helps to identify the gaps or room for improvement. The electronic mass media also gave way for the developments in the aspects like mobile computing and applications. The advancements in the technology facilitated the improvement of mass media through the help of the internet and online activities. The internet also provided ground for the mass media to expound their activities in the social media sites like twitter and Facebook. The aspects relating to the innovation of newspapers transformed to the level where the Newspapers are accessed online.
The innovations in the mass media has a great influence on our cultural perspectives and notions. The technological innovations in the mass media influence the content of material that the audience receives. Some mass media stations display information on celebrities, thereby, affecting the children and the youthful population behaves. This has a direct impact on the audience or the consumers of the information displayed. This also made the majority of the audience to imitate the people who advertises products leading to loss of reputation among some individual in the society. The improvements in technology led to the digitalization of the mass media information (Sage, 2010, p.26). The advertisements are now done on the social media in order to get a wide scope of customers. This also led to the migration of the sources of information to the internet, for instance, now the Newspapers can be accessed online rather than reading the hard copies.
The innovation of telephones led to the current developments and progress in the world of mobile computing. Mobile computing completely transformed the idea of telephone to mobile phones which are closely linked to the current advancements in the mobile applications which run on the mobile phones. The development of the Television further led to development of the cable TV and satellite communications which are useful in the faster transmission of information.
Our culture is also influenced by the innovations in the mass media through advertisements and promotional activities. This will, therefore, influence the kind of clothing we wear. The advertisements on the mass media industry also influence our culture by determining the products we consume. The power of advertising and promotional campaigns is very crucial in determining the behavioral and consumption patterns of the individuals. . The innovations have made the people to shift their attention from the use of print media products to the use of current digital means of the mass media mainly through social media networks like Facebook and Twitter in order to access the relevant information on time.
References
Balnaves, M., O'Regan, T., & Goldsmith, B. (2011). Rating the audience: The business of media. London: Bloomsbury Academic.
Friedrichsen, M., & Mühl-Benninghaus, W. (2013). Handbook of social media management: Value chain and business models in changing media markets. Heidelberg: Springer.
Geo-Frontiers (Conference), Han, J, & Alzamora, D. A. (2011). Geo-Frontiers 2011: Advances in geotechnical engineering. Reston, VA: American Society of Civil Engineers.
International Conference on Cybernetics and Informatics, Z. (2013). Proceedings of the 2012 International Conference on Cybernetics and Informatics. New York, NY: Springer.
Napoli, P. M. (2011). Audience evolution: New technologies and the transformation of media audiences. New York: Columbia University Press.
Neuman, W. R. (2010). Media, technology, and society: Theories of media evolution. Ann Arbor: Digital Culture Books/University of Michigan Press.
Noll, A. M. (2007). The evolution of media. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Sage, G. H. (2010). Globalizing sport: How organizations, corporations, media, and politics are changing sports. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.
Savoie, M., & Barnas, F. (2010). Careers in media. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Straubhaar, J. D., LaRose, R., & Davenport, L. (2013). Media now: Understanding media, culture, and technology. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
