BLOCK 1:

(Core themes and development of the discipline)

1. Paradigmatic battles and theoretical diversity

(theory)
The concept of paradigm
 We look at the same thing but see it very differently
 Refers not only to a particular view but also a shared set of preferred methods, theories.
Encompassing view on what needs to be researched how it needs to be researched and
what kind of theories will you use for your research.

Thomas S. Kuhn: the structure of scientific revolutions (1962) (in the exact sciences!)
 Paradigm
o +/- universally shared (by a big group researches of academics) model of what needs
to be investigated (relevant questions, what’s need to be investigated), which
questions are considered essential, how to tackle these questions methodologically,
and how to interpret research results (relevant theories)
o Guiding worldview on subject of investigation (‘glasses to look at the world’)
 Knowledge is not accumulated step by step (in the exact sciences), but via ruptures
o Structure of scientific revolution:
 Normal science => Puzzle-solving=> Paradigm => Anomaly => Crisis =>
Revolution => ‘new’ paradigm / normal science / puzzle solving => …
o 1) There is a dominant paradigm (same guiding view is followed). 2) Along the way
there will be problems (research questions that cannot be answered,..). This leads to
a crisis. 3) Other researchers will come up with new theories. 4) The new paradigm
will replace the old one.
 Scientific revolutions – paradigm shift
o At one point in time there is a dominant paradigm but further along the way there
will be a shift/ revolution. New paradigm replacing the old one.

PARADIGM SHIFT
 E.g. Copernican revolution
o Dominant paradigm before: geocentric = earth is center of the universe
o Copernicus: heliocentric= sun is center of the universe
o Thinking about the universe from an entire different starting position = new
devilment (new concepts, new theories)
o Geocentric approach is now abandoned. Shift in paradigm
 In exact sciences, paradigms can be replaced by one another because of paradigm shifts; not
the case in social sciences
o In the social sciences, paradigms can exist next to each other
 Dominant paradigm vs. competing paradigm(s)
 Non-linear developments within social sciences
Two important paradigms:
Mainstream paradigm in communication studies
 Context
o Dominant
o Created after WWII (Wilbur Schramm)
o Launched in West and especially North-America
o This paradigm was dominant in US because:
 US wasn’t affected by ww2 so it was able to focus on building mass
media
o Mass media was flourishing here; US was a hub for mass media
 Many academic activities regarding social sciences was happening in the
US; (EU had to rebuild)
-Growing bipolar global context
o Communism vs. Democracy
 Perspective

o Powerful mass media: important element underlying the beginning of communication

studies
 Whoever controlled the media had large power (propaganda)

o Normative (ideale uygun olan) view on man and society: liberal-pluralistic of nature
 Democratic society  liberalism and pluralism (US / Western)
 Political and Economical
 Consensus-oriented and consensus-driven
 Different groups in society will reach the best solution => policy =>
society evolves
 Society will evolve structured, informed, orderly
 Media should inform the citizen what is going on in society
- Countering alternative (i.e. communist/socialist)
- Both perspectives wanted to export this model to other countries;
leading to the Cold War.
 Sources of inspiration
o Functionalism (Sociological approach)
 Society is a total system which is constituted by subsystems (family, politics,
economy, religion…)  these are all linked to one another (Functions of
communication in society) -Lasswell)
 Media’s Role: Integration of different ideas; entertain, inform and
explain.
 If media does this, it will lead to an orderly society
o Information theory (cf. Shannon & Weaver)
 Model for analyzing the transmission of information
o Behaviorism
 Stimulus-response
 The idea that also in the comm process if you input a certain stimulus and the
stimulus is sent to the audience (resefers) a certain response will be created
o Positivistic approaches / quantitative approaches
 Statistical analysis, Survey, social-psychological experiments,
 Generalizable and reliable knowledge
 Revealing hidden processes
=> Measuring effects
 => Evaluation of the role of media vis-à-vis social problems
=> Improving effectiveness of communication

Core idea of mainstream: understanding these communication processes on the basis of these
methods will improve the effectiveness of communication.

 Critiques
o Linearity of communication processes (linear causality)
- Not one way traffic
 It is true or untrue but we are far more complex
o Effect-oriented (however very difficult to ‘prove’ effects)
o Almost exclusively Western perspective
o Little attention to contradiction
o Little attention to social context, communication as a social and interactive process, incl.
processes of representation and meaning
- Simple model of transmission seldom works
- Signals don’t reach receivers (or the wrong ones)
- Signals / meanings are interpreted differently
- Problem of noise
- Filtering and gatekeeping

Alternative critical paradigm in communication studies

 Critical in nature
 Rejects liberal- capitalistic view.(not desirable)
 Rejection of pluralist and conservative functionalist ideology
 Rejects the idea that if we seek our individual success, society will flourish. This is silly.
 Rejects the pluralistic approach

Alternative, idealist/utopian paradigm

 Marxist origins
 Frankfurter Schule
 Mass communication seen as a manipulative
 Structural power imbalances need to be overthrown
Alternative paradigm takes (further)
shape post 1968
 Political-economy of mass media organizations and structures
- Ideological
- Not neutral
 Qualitative research
o ‘Linguistic turn’
o Language and society (sociolinguistics)
o Revealing hidden ideological meanings
Ideology
• Decoding ideological meanings in entertainment and news
• No fixed meanings that are readily measurable
• Meaning is constructed and messages decoded
>> à Political economy and cultural studies

Idea of paradigm: two big paradigms in which different theories circulate and link up to one and
another
On theory
 Different theories construct paradigms.
 A logical set of connected (non-conflicting) statements, ideas and concepts regarding (part of)
empirical reality, formulated to induce testable hypotheses
 A general explanation about something happening in reality
o … based on observation,
o built logically,
o indicating relations between observed phenomena
o and aiming to clarify or predict.
 An abstract way to better understand (parts of) the communication process
 Guides research in a particular (sensible) direction
o Explaining and clarifying
o Arranging, structuring, evaluating (ideas, data, evidence, …)

Why Theory?
 Provides a framework to classify actors, factors and processes, and their mutual relationships
 Helps to understand how and why our observations happen on a regular basis
 Stimulates outlining hypotheses about, and estimating / predicting relations among, actors,
factors and processes
 Guides research in a particular (sensible) direction
 Explaining and clarifying
 Arranging, structuring, evaluating (ideas, data, evidence, …)
 Media, society and culture: how do they relate to each other?
 DISCUSSION

Conclusion: there are different views, paradigms.

1st approach

 Cultural Imperialism
o Power centers in the world (usually located in the west) do not only exert political
influence elsewhere in the world but also uses economic powers to influence
economic strategy elsewhere
o Focus is on the western world, Hollywood. Hollywood is a powerhous because of its
link do US government, private companies, …
o Related concepts/processes
 Standardization: very similar media products
 One-way flow: going from the west to the rest
 Synchronization: because of the export of US products the rest of the world
will try to match ad will leave out local elements
 Passive audience: audience is influenced passively
o Linked to center-periphery model
 There are core countries in the West (They run things). The center countries
dominate periphery countries and use the people.
o Methods: Political –economic analyses, policy analyses, …

2nd approach

 Cultural globalization
o Critique on cultural imperialism: too mechanical and linear and simple
o Way more complex relationship between Hollywood and other cultural centers:
Bollywood, Nollywood, Korean wave, …
=> things are changing
o Other processes/concepts
 Hybridization: some narratives are being used from the west but are being
localized
 Counterflow: Russia-China, Korea-Japan, …
o Different perspective on the audience: audience is more active
 We receive us content but interpret it from own local background
o Linked with cultural studies: pleasure, imagination, …
 o Methods: different. No fact and figures but qualitative research,..

=>> Looking at the same issue in very different perspectives and theories!! With different theroies
come other concepts, other approaches, methodological translations, …
Note: these are just illustrations to make things clear.

Classifying paradigms and theories

 Paradigms underlying social sciences theories
 Different paradigms (and related theories) co-exist

o Paradigms exist next to each other and have fights but at the same time there can
sometimes be overlaps
=> theories are quiet confusing

• Fundamental differentiation in outlook on man and society (on power, social integration,

relation culture-society, …)

 => Tools to help distinguish theories:

1. (Inclined towards different/competing dimensions of several (structuring) dichotomies) Try to see whether
the theories are linked to different pools of some fundamental sociological dichotomies:
o Structure-agency
o Consensus-conflict
o Matter-mind

Structure – agency
How are individuals connected in society? Trough structure or agency?

Structure

 • Explanations in terms of determinism, constraints, social pressure, public opinion, …

(Example of structures: The family, companies, …)
 Our individual actions are mostly determined by surrounding structures
 Individual actions are explained in terms of determinism
o We are not entirely free. There are constraints and pressure
o Structures that limit our actions
 Individuals act within a fixed structure
 Social structure: arrangement of social relations among groups and individuals that
determines how far the individual can go

>> autonomous identity of social structures

Agency

 The individual is highlighted. The individual’s freedom, choice, freewill, …

 Individuals act on their own
 Structures are the consequences of individuals actions; complex interaction patterns among
individuals . We interact with one another. Because of these interactions/agency some
structures are created
Some will highlight structural elements: structures define how much agency we have.
Others will highlight individual freewill that create other types of structures.

Consensus-Conflict
How do societies change? Via consensus or conflict? It can be in de middle but more orientated
against one poll

Consensus

 Many evolutionary approaches are consensual:

o Society changes step by step. The underlying view on this change is that is changing
toward a better world => positive dynamic. ( evolution=consensus=progress (linear))
o Change via consensus will lead to progress
 Functionalist approach:
o society consist of subsystems. These subsystems link up to one and another and
drive the total system further toward progress / something better
o continuity is highlighted

Conflict

 Social disorder, crisis: True change only can occur in case of conflict, on the basis of struggle
in times of crisis, …
 Importance of social agents provoking conflict: Different groups in society with different
interests that clash with one and another this provides futile ground for true societal change
 Class struggle
 Changes and ruptures: No continuity in social change but goes via ruptures

Matter-Mind
What can and should scientists consider and research? Focus on matter or mind?

Matter

 We need to investigate the facts in objectivity, neutrality

 Materialist theories: society consists of real objective structures that we can investigate
o Materialist theories: society consists of real, objective structures and institutions,
established historically, economically, politically and technologically, which
determines the structure’s form and (re)produces social action
o By doing this we enhance our understanding of society
(Materialist theories: society consists of real, objective structures and institutions, established historically, economically, politically and
technologically, which determines the structure’s form and (re)produces social action)

Mind

 Values are important. We cannot always be objective. People are subjective creatures. And
engagement.
 Culturalist theories: society is created and constructed intersubjectively, reflexively and
within a particular context
o We should embrace subjectivity
 Research on consciousness, meaning, values, discourse, and actions of individuals
Example GTA: does GTA influence children?
Matter: what are the companies behind it? Can we link the increased sales numbers to the increasing
violence among youth, …?
Mind: How do individuals differently interpret these games? How does the game effect individuals in
different context? What meaning do we give to playing this game?
 2. Central and recurring themes
Power: two opposing models of (media) power (Dominance and Pluralism)
Media, power and inequality

 Media: ambivalent relation towards other social structures and individuals

o Consensual thinker: power is also productive. We can use it to make it better.
 On the one hand: macropolitics of power (instrument of power elites)
o Media have an economic cost and value; object of competition for access and
control
o Media power is not equally available for to all groups, individuals or interests. Power
inequality. This is important because the content that is distributed on our screens
may have an influence on us.
o Media are often seen as effective instruments of power with a potential capacity to
exert influence in various ways
o Media are subject to political, economic and legal regulation and discipline
 On the other hand: micropolitics of power
o Individuals also have a bit of power. The power of accepting the message. The power
to negotiate, reject the message.
o Media can undermine existing power positions (counterpower)
o Individual power to resist influence and control

 The two different views on power/opposing models of (media) power (slide 49)

Dominance Pluralism
= power over something or someone (A = power to/power to do something
has the power to let B do something he
otherwise wouldn’t have done)

Marxist theories Liberal oriented theories

Societal source Power is in the hands of the ruling class or Different groups in society on a political
dominant elite level, sociological level, cultural interest...
who all compete in societal debates. All
exert a little bit of power (power is
distributed)
Media Under concentrated ownership and of There are many media outlets. They are
uniform type. The media resembles one largely independent (different views,
and another stories,..)
Production Largely standardized and routinized More creative and free
Content and world view Selective and decided from ‘above’ Diverse and competing views,
Responding to audience demand
Audience Passive, dependent and organized on a Fragmented, selective, reactive and
large scale active.
Effects Effects will be strong and confirmative of There will be numerous effects without
established social order. consistency or predictability of direction,
but often no effect
Social integration and identity
what is the effect of the media on social integration and identity?

• Centrifugal effects: stimulus towards social change, freedom, individualism and

fragmentation. (From the center and away)
o +: Media leads to diversity and freedom e.g. internet
o -: normlessness and loss of identity e.g. cyber bullying
• Centripetal effects: stimulus towards social unity, order, cohesion and integration
o +: media contributing to integration e.g. euro song
o -: dominance and uniformity e.g. china
 Normative evaluation
o Optimistic / Positive
o Pessimistic / Negative

Social change
how do media contribute on social change and development?

• (Mass) Communication: cause or effect of social change?

• Complex and ambivalent relation between:
o Communication technologies and media content.
o Impact on distribution of values, norms, perspectives, practices; and Societal change
- Some see media the driver of change
 Boom&doom; progressive or conformistic; modernization or dependence?
o Media are Progressive force: due to media change will happen
o Conformist: media are in the hands of few. Few make sure not much will change
o Modernization: development toward progress
o Dependence: media are under control under some and will lead to continuing power
inequality
 Determinism
o Technological determinist/ Media determinism:
 Media have their own logic set apart from dynamics from other spheres.
They will be the main driver of societal change (Donald trump)
 o Society centrism

Double dimension of media

This is an illustration of the ambivalence and complexity of media. There is a double dimension or
‘nature’ in media and we should give attention to both material and immaterial aspects of media
Material dimension Immaterial dimension
Media are an industry within a certain political- Media are products, yet social products: they
economic system convey symbolic meaning
Linked to:
Economic structures Cultural
Societal structures ideational
structural Creations of the mind
tangible Intangible

Typology of Rosengren
typologies to try to map the different positions regarding this relationships
Starts with two questions
1. Do societal systems (material dimension) influence culture (immaterial dimension)?
2. Does culture influence other societal systems?
 The answer, yes or now, leads to different positions
Materialism
 (Mass) Media are seen as part of
society / social structure
 Culture is dependent on the economic
structure and ruling power (im)balance
 Marxist perspectives: power,
ownership and control of media directs
social change
 Does in power have impact on the
content

Idealism

 Culture is relatively autonomous vis-à-vis the economic structure and ruling power
(im)balance
 Media (messages) have great potential to generate effects (both for better or worse)
 Ideas and values circulating in media messages are causes of societal change
(irrespective of who owns/controls the media)
interdependence
 (Mass) Media and society continually
interacting and influencing one another
 Media and content mirror society
 Media and content mould society

Autonomy
 Questioning processes of determination
because of either societal structures,
either media content
 Media do not necessarily determine
norms, values and behavior
 Media structures and contents can
develop in unpredictable ways
Time and space
Space Time
How does media and communication How does media and
Influence our experience of space? communication influence our experience of
(Influence of media and communication on physical and time? (Influence of media and communication on physical and
symbolic experience of space) symbolic experience of time)
(Decreasing barriers of space) Space
is less and less Media leads to decreasing barriers of time
leading to barriers. Because of media we
have more possibilities to explore spaces
elsewhere.

Deterritorialization Time compression

Right here Right now

Anywhere Anytime

New challenges New challenges

3. origins and developement

of media
Media history: A social history
Media has almost always been connected through other general/social developments in history. The
most apparent one’s is Socioeconomic, political, cultural, religious, military and technical
developments. Another important note is that development of media is not straightforward.
Meaning that there has been a great variation of developments depending on geographics, time and
medium. It’s often been a very ambivalent and complex area(E.g. Substitution?), but one
characteristic that is important to take not of is Contingency which in this matter means that most
actions that we’re supposed to do one thing, has done another. The others are Power and
Boom/doom.

This course focuses on mass communication media, which arose 15th C. and onwards with the
printing press and newspapers, then came the audiovisual media, and lastly the telecommunication.
Important note is that the timeline that will be drawn up is predominantly from a western
perspective

Print
Origins: saw it’s daylight the 6th century in China where block writing or xylography(soft stone)
was practiced. In the 11th century this advanced to case tin letters. It wasn't until 1400 in Europe that
blockbooks(woodcuts with blocks carved to include both text and illustrations) for the poor and
hand-written books for the elite came into use. Year 1450 the printing press was invented by J.
Gutenberg in Mainz located in southern Netherlands.

Characteristics print culture: Even though it was the first mass media it was not too much of
use since not everyone could read when it first came out. But the bridging of time/space constraints
begun here, which spread knowledge as has been impossible before. Printing made errors and
distortions of original impossible, it was also the first standardized product. The print also
contributed to stronger political control since they could control the flow of production.

Social context print culture: There was a mutual influence on media-society but it was very
much a long term process stretching over years and centuries. Print was factor in many societal-
cultural evolutions ranging from the Middle Ages over to Renaissance to Enlightenment, where the
values of Rationality, Fundamental freedoms and Liberty steadily arose. It also began the withering of
the monopoly of elites and start of secularization/democratization of knowledge. This is because the
ones who could write were not the ones in power at this point, ‘national’ languages were used
instead of Latin. Which also caused Pre-national consciousness on the basis of language. There was
also a increase of individuality and privacy since silent reading became a thing(silent reading).

The print also brought upon the reorganization of time and space, development of a market, and a
new ‘industry’ where craftsmen could become publishers, furthermore this turned into
commodification, books could now also be sold for profit and not their content. This speed on the
role of authors and copyright laws which in return changed power relations. Print did however not
replace the old media such as sermons in church and news spreading through interaction.

Newspapers
Origins: came from prototypes of newspapers after the invention of printing press, such as
pamphlets and newsletters. These had not become newspapers since they’ve lacked the
periodicity(consistency) because of technical problems with the printing press, expensive paper,
constraints on news gathering, constraints on postal distribution.

It was not until the 17th C. the first weekly newspapers started to arise, these were then Nieuw
Tardinghen (1605) in Strasbourg: Antwerp. Oxford Gazette (1665) in UK, and Pennsylvania Evening
Post(1776) which were the first daily newspaper. The first newspapers were what we today would
call gossip newspapers, commercialization existed from the beginning. It was also very censored with
mostly foreign news and almost no domestic news. at least some that wasn’t unbiased. So from the
beginning there was tension since it was very clearly a state instrument or commercial product.

First newspapers - characteristics

• Periodicity
• Public and commercial
• Targeting individuals and hot topics
• Information, advertisements, entertainment, gossip
• New literary, social and cultural artefact
• Censorship; predominantly foreign news – little domestic (political) news
• Tension: state instrument or commercial product
Newspapers: Societal context
It saw rapid development because of the Industrial(1750onwards), American(1776 onwards) and
French(1789) revolutions.

Technological factors consisted of the increased speed of printing and development of the postal
system. Economic factors consisted of the decrease in price of paper, breakthrough of bourgeois as a
new social class, and lastly urbanization which made distribution on mass scale easier. Cultural
factors: increase in literacy levels; development of education systems; increasing secularization.
Political factors were the secularization and rise of liberalism, and freedom of speech and of the
press (albeit dependent on specific timeframe and context)

Further evolutions

Further evolutions happened at the beginning of 19th C. when it still mostly was an Elite product. It
had become very segmented with financial papers and party political papers, there was also a limited
number of editions and was very expensive. The strong governmental control through preventative
censorships and taxes was still in force.

It wasn’t until mid-19th C. the newspaper broke through as a mass media, mostly because of
technological developments in production and distribution. This made things such as the Penny press
possible, a cheap newspaper with many editions and advertisements. From 20th C. onwards
newspapers could be seen as a true mass medium. It’s evolution as a mass medium was marked by
political battles of press freedom, self-censorship, etc. It became a tool for political awareness,
political parties and a building block for democracy. With the rise of paper there was also the rise of
journalism as a profession and global news agencies. It also worked for creating a national
consciousness. Lastly some economic developments was the creation of a new market for
advertising and commodification

Photography

Photography:
Origins: initial developments happened during the first half of the 19th C. Some experiments had
the biggest impact, Niepce: Chemical registration of pictures (ca. 1826) Daguerreotypie: Shortening
of lightning (ca. 1838), Talbotype: Repeated printing of photo negatives (ca. 1841).

It’s breakthrough was the in the 20th C., with firstly Celluloid film (ca. 1888) and film rolls with the
manual camera Kodak (G.eastman), Colour film(1935), Polaroid(1947).

From the beginning there was an intercultural visual communication with people being interested of
images of colonies and wars, but also in orientalism and exotism. And from the start pictures were
also manipulated. Photography also worked as a democratisation of culture through pictures of arts
since now it could be mass distributed through photo, so in some way this was also the predecessor
of ‘mass culture’. Photography had sensational influence if press and journalism as well.

Film
Origins: Origins was in science and took place in the second half of 19th C. The first experiment
was by Joseph Plateau (Optical illusion/fantascope: 1831) which worked by making pictures move in
a circle creating the illusion of movement. Later workings were Etienne-Jules (Flying movement,
chronophotography: 1869), Edward Muybridge (The horse in motion, 1877), Lumiere Brothers
(Arrive of a train at la ciotat 1895)

First evolutions: At first it was viewed as a mere ‘circus attraction’, but it had very fast technical
and artistic developments with a Narrative dimension. Examples of this could be seen in Le voyage
dans la lune (1902) and The Great Train Robber, (1903). The first feature film was by D.W. Griffith
(birth of a nation). The breakthrough of the film industry came in the 1920s with concepts such as
the Star system(A process of commodification, where one came to see the one’s starring), Studio
system(The art of replicating exotic places with studio settings) and lastly adding sound to the films.
 Societal context: It was an instant mass medium seen as entertainment, it had origins of leisure
industry with goals to entertain the ‘common’ man making it a media for the masses. It was used as a
political propaganda instrument almost instantly, different film schools also developed, in areas such
as documentary or art. And as the other mass medias it was very much fitting to be an economic
industry. Further developments can be see in the homogenisation of America and Hollywood as
status quo. The introduction of tv changed filmmaking into something for the “cinemas” as well as it
spread movies to even a bigger mass media. Filmmaking had smaller and younger audiences but also
encouraged it as an individual activity.

Telecommunication
Origins: could be seen as the communication over large distances(without physical transport), its
precursors was visual methods and morse. Such as Optical telegraphy (Claude Chappe, end of 18th
C.) and Electrical telegraphy which saw it’s first telegraphic messages in Morse 1836-38 (Cook &
Wheatstone). It’s breakthrough came in America (1860) and with Western Union Monopoly 1866
and lastly the first cable connection between us and EU the same year.

Telegraphy: Societal context: It was very early used for infrastructure for economy, sending
financial and economic information, which intensified the free market and stock exchange
intensifying trade relations between US and Europe. It also worked as a control of train traffic since
cables ran alongside railways, furthermore it served as an expansion of the postal system. Here’s also
the first form of Convergence of mass medias. It’s Political factors was the swift communication over
long distances and governments, but also binding national communities. Journalism factors,
international news became possible with international news agencies such as Reuters and AP. This
although created tension between speed and accuracy, favoring speed. Which created a version of
the favourable Penny press, where small messages were prioritized over precision.

Telephony was invented by a sum of a series of micro inventions.1876 A.G. Bell & E.
Gray took patent. At first it was considered a toy for children and had a very restricted use only for
elites. But later as it came to be increasingly used it was clear that it’s breaking of time-space and it’s
ubiquity made it very popular. But it’s breakthrough only came after 20 years after invention (end of
19th C.) and it was not until 1930 it was advertised for social usage, making it a mass medium from
1959 and onwards

Registration of sound: had several parallel developments. 1876: Bell en Gray:

telephone 1877: Charles Cros (france); paleophone:registration of sound 1877: Thomas Alva Edison:
telegraphy improvements and development phonograph (dictaphone), 1888: E. Berline:
gramophone, 1890: Jukebox, Start of 20th C: gramophone for individual use. It supported and made
musical developments possible. As photography did it also democratised culture, and finally as all the
other technological advances it developed a record industry.

The Radio had also several parallel developments with the big names being Edison,
Faraday, Herts who worked with electricity and radio waves. But the wireless telegraphy was
invented by Marconi for military use. So the first radio appliances we saw was in World War 1. Radio
also became a culture where “do it yourself”-thinking applied, but it took some time for it to become
a mass medium. This was mostly because of the cost of producing radio receivers. It wasn’t until after
World War 1 when software made it easier to manage the radios, that receivers were
commercialized and saw rapid expansion after 1920.

Societal context: From the start it was seen as a very credible and trustworthy medium(See War of
the Worlds, 1938). It also produced a stronger cultural/national unity and solidarity, as well as it
made radio listening an individual activity. It also had a huge impact in the Political sphere, where an
importance of personality and image arose. It was also the breakthrough of live reporting and
continual programs. Lastly it became a window faced outwards to the word and producing culture
that whoever could digest.

The Television had its first prototypes in the 1920s, with national broadcaster
channels as BBC(1936), NBC(1939) and NIR(1953) starting their work. It’s breakthrough came after
the WW2, 1950s in America, 1960s in Europe, even though there was enormous variation among
countries. At first it was only public television that broadcasts, but the EU liberalized the television
markets at the end of 1980s creating commercial television

Societal context: It had a huge impact on Political factors where one’s image become
even more important(See Nixon Vs Kennedy). It also created the phenomenon of leisure time which
also influenced film and radio. At first many was scared of it’s influence on family life, saying that
people may not ever leave their homes again. It also had a huge impact on time/space perception
since one could now see into another space, as well as the breakthrough of consumer society (from
60s and 70s : consuming increased). Control and regulations increased because people wanted to
control TV.

Digital communication:
Characteristics: ranges from computer, satellite communication and internet. All that first was
made for military use, and now has been converged with other technologies to make new ones. For
example Digital television, which is the format of computer and television added together, this
convergence has been shown even more with our now smartphones.

New (?) Questions and Challenges: This new media brings up new questions, mostly because of the
ubiquity and access phones today have. Others are worried that we’re losing our social capital while
others say that there today virtual realities/communities is as equally important. Another debate is
regarding the autonomy or social control of lives, are we constantly being watched or can we now do
things in a million new ways because of our technology? Ideas of Network societies has become
popular. But there’s also the question of further concentration of media power in the hands of media
moguls such as Warner Bros.

Conclusions
Conclusion of media history can be many, but at least we can identify some constants. Such as the
new (1) media seldom completely replace the ‘old’, or that the (2) social use intended by inventors
often becomes a different one. (3) Another is how we first see hardware becoming available then
after some years, software which simplifies the use. Lastly (4) the introduction of new mediums often
leads to shifts in public/private and time/space experiences, sometimes leading to very alarming
reactions. But as always there’s still a lot of variation between media, geographically and in time.