Media History & Theories

1. Media History & Theories

2. Media History http://www.knowitall.org/artopia/media/movie/index.html

3. Media History • Gutenburg invented the printing press in 1436 • This changed the world • He invented the printing press with replaceable/moveable wooden or metal letters

4. Media History • 1665 – Oxford Gazette (first English-language newspaper) in England

5. Media History • 1814-JoesphNicephoreNiepce achieves the first photographic image. • Louis Daguerre was the inventor of the first practical process of photography. • 1829- he formed a partnership with Joseph NicephoreNiepce to improve the process Niepce had developed.

6. Media History • 1839- Daguerre developed a more convenient and effective method of photography, naming it after himself - the daguerreotype

7. Media History

8. Media History • 1902Guglielmo Marconi transmits the first radio signal across the Atlantic Ocean. • 1904 First regular comic books

9. Media History • 1910 Thomas Edison demonstrated the first talking motion picture • 1930Radio popularity spreads with the "Golden Age" of radio. -First television broadcasts in the United States.

10. Media History • 1938Televison broadcasts able to be taped and edited - rather than only live. • 1939 Scheduled television broadcasts begin. • 1944 Computers like Harvard’s Mark I put into public service - government owned - the age of Information Science begins.

11. Media History • 1948 Long playing record invented - vinyl and played at 33 rpm. • 1949 Network television starts in U.S. • 1976 Apple I home computer invented.

12. Media History • 1979 First cellular phone communication network started in Japan.. • 1980 Sony Walkman invented. • 1981 IBM PC first sold.

13. Media History • 1994American government releases control of internet and WWW is born - making communication at lightspeed. • The list could continue with MP3’s, camera phones, social networking, the blackberry and so on............. • 2005- First YouTube Video (see clip At the Zoo)

14. Media History • Media history is continually growing • The internet has changed the face of media entirely • While watching the clip note the three biggest changes of the media landscape. http://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cellphones_twitter_facebook_can_make_history.html

15. Media Theories- Communication Theory • The main types of communication: 1. Oral; 2. Written; 3.Visual How we communicate: • 7% is what you say • 38% is how you say it – tone, inflection • 55% is body language

16. Media Theories- Communication Theory • In the field of communication a medium is anything that helps convey thoughts from one person to another • Oral communication is as old as people, but it was not until the early 1900’s that we could broadcast our voices on mass

17. Media Theories- Communication Theory • Visual communication began with cave pictures. Thousands of years past and then we had the photograph, followed by the daguerreotype and the movies. And finally Television. • People went from representing themselves with abstractions and symbols to projecting their own physical presence.

18. Media Theories- Communication Theory • The Written word began as a medium to communicate with a few educated people, and evolved to be able to slowly reach all people, but now with the internet the written word can reach millions instantaneously • *Communication is ever evolving, but the process stays the same: • Sender InfoMediumReceiverFeedback

19. Media Theories- Communication Theory Body Language • According to experts there are over 1 million non-verbal cues • Some gestures are universal- shrug the shoulders • Some are cultural • It is difficult to fake body language

20. Media Theories- Communication Theory Body Language • Lightweight Mannerisms • Lip biting, foot shuffling, poor eye contact, fidgeting, one hip out, poor posture • Powerful Impressions • Direct eye contact, straight posture, firm handshake, feet flat on the floor

21. Media Theories- Communication Theory • Some people look better on Camera because of their body language • I.E. TV news anchors—few gestures, almost appear frozen because talking with hands is distracting • Non-verbal cues are important in movies and TV. I.E. Smoking and drinking paired with specific body language can give us the idea that a character is a bad guy or is upset or disturbed. The character does not have to say a word • (Watch the Mr Bean Clip– how does he use body language to communicate?)

22. Media Theories- Communication Theory • Mass communication was originally developed and distributed solely by the media industry • With the internet we have now seen a trend in “Citizen Created Media” (i.e. Youtube)

23. Harold Innis • Innis divided media into two "biases" • Time-binding media = oral communication have limited distribution potential and therefore, connected with close knit communities and traditional authority. • space-binding media such as print and electronic media are concerned with expansion and control.

24. Monopolies of Knowledge • Those who control media have a “monopoly of knowledge”. • Innis looked at this over history • The ability to store and transmit knowledge

25. Marshall McLuhan • McLuhan built on the ideas of Harold Innis • any technology or “medium” is an extension of some human quality Ex. A book is an extension of the eyes • "The medium is the message” • There are two messages: the overt content (such as the story told in a television program), and the hidden message of change to our sensory abilities, ways of thinking, society, and political structure caused by the mass activity of watching television.

26. McLuhan's central message is, that to understand today's world, one must actively study the effects of media and in take part in "the training of perception". • words attributed to McLuhan that have made their way into popular culture include 'iconic", “global village” and "feedback" and many believe his thoughts brought about the idea of internet and cyberspace

27. Noam Chomsky • Chomsky focuses on the structures and constraints of Mass Media, and its role in supporting big business and government interests. • Unlike totalitarian systems, where physical force can readily be used to coerce the general population, more democratic societies like the US must turn to more non-violent means of control.

28. Manufacturing Consent • propaganda is to a democracy what the bludgeon is to a totalitarian state." - Chomsky • Edward S. Herman and Chomsky's book Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the MassMedia explores this topic in depth.

29. Neil Postman • best known title is Amusing Ourselves to Death (1985) • He criticized the television industry for confounding serious issues with entertainment, demeaning politics by making it less about ideologies and more about image.

30. Postman • Postman also argues that television is not an effective way of providing education, as it provides only passive information transfer, rather than the interaction that he believes is necessary to maximize learning.

31. Michel Foucault • POWER and KNOWLEDGE are central to writing of French philosopher Michel Foucault. • His view of history is that it is a series of “fictions” and what is interesting is not what happened so much as how people were brought to think what happened.

32. Foucault • Power and Mass media are closely related. • The perceived power of media to insist something. • “Each society has its regime of truth, its ‘general politics’ of truth; that is, the types of discourse which it accepts and makes function as true”

33. A Final Thought • “The media can’t tell us what to think but can tell us what to think about”