Role of Mass Media Over Time

Media & Society

The author of this report has been asked to offer a brief summary and review of several topics pertaining to media, modern technology and the overall paradigm that has been formed by the combination of the two. The author of this report will touch in several topics. These topics will include the historical and contemporary roles of media in society, how the chemical and electronic technology of photography, recording and transmission has advanced from its initial discover to the present, how the mass media makes use of these technological innovations, how the development of this digital technology has affected the content, distribution and style of electronic media and how the role of mass media has changed with these overall developments. The author will make use of at least two peer-reviewed sources along the way. While there is much more to life than the media and technology, these is absolutely no question that both absolutely envelop the lives of most Americans every day.

Analysis

When media first came into its own, there were very few channels. Basically, it was the major over-the-air broadcast networks and that was about it. This was also the main source of people's news beyond the newspapers that were also prolifically used and consumed at the time. After that came cable television and thus the amount of channels and media streams went up. Not long thereafter, there came the cable news networks in the form of CNN and then eventually Fox News, MSNBC and others. This created the so call "24-hour news cycle." Since then, social media and "new media" outlets have sprung up and now there are basically limitless different sources of media that can be found on the internet, on cable/satellite television or both. Indeed, we are even coming to a day where cable television actually seems to becoming a bit obsolete, although it is happening slowly (Jung & Walden, 2015).

As noted before, television used to be over the air, much like radio at the time. However, as the wiring infrastructure and transmission technology became developed, there was a switched to line-based media. However, now there is a decided shift back to wireless methods such as satellite, Wi-Fi and cellular. However, these wireless methods are much more advanced and capable than the over the air transmissions of yesteryear. Similarly, photography has shifted from being a film-based media where pictures have to be taken and then developed to one where the entire process is electronic and need not involve prints or paper unless a hard copy is really needed or desired. Quite often, the entire process is entirely digital and stays that way (Vaast, 2013).

Of course, the mass media makes heavy use of these technologies. While prior generations saw the use of the newspaper and broadcast news, the prior-mentioned 24-hour news cycle and the speed in which information and news stories can be "broken," communicated about and revealed to the public is all at a lightning pace as compared to the way it used to be. These technological advances have manifested in the form of all sorts of new channels of media including smartphone/tablet applications, social media outlets, "channels" on entertainment devices such as Roku, AppleTV and so forth. The role of mass media has greatly evolved over the years as well. It has become much politicized, very real-time and very over-analytical about what is said, what is left unsaid and so forth. It has gotten to the point where every word, social media post and public relations release has to be very measured, calculated and scrutinized lest something be said that offends or tips off someone (Carpenter, Hoag, Grant & Bowe, 2015).

Essentially, the mass media has gone from a very simple system with very few options that people glommed onto without having to be begged or coaxed. However, the system now is that there are so many options, so many mediums and so much information flying about (much of it patently false or at least misleading) and people are actually inundated and overwhelmed in some ways when it comes to mass media. Some people reject this overall onslaught while others are gleefully enraptured and consumed by it. Smartphones and tablets are consumed in a ravenous fashion and social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook are allowing people to connect with the media, politicians and celebrities in general on a level that was not possible or practical in the past. Mass media is even getting integrated quite heavily into the home and in vehicles as many of both can be configured to be "online" and/or empowered with the same technology found in smartphones and computers in general (Dimitrov, 2014).