Subject Communication Studies

Paper No and Title Society and Media

Module No and Title Module 1.3 Evolution of Media
Module Tag U1M3

COURSE CO- COURSE TECHNICAL CO-

CO-ORDINATOR CO-ORDINATOR ORDINATOR

Dr. Durgesh Tripathi - Dr. OP Dewal

Assistant Professor, Director, SOJNMS,
USMC, GGSIPU, IGNOU, New Delhi.
New Delhi.
CONTENT WRITER REVIEWER

Ms. Manisha Prof. Ram Mohan Pathak

Assistant Professor Vice-Chancellor,
Department of Journalism DBHPS-Chennai.
Kalindi College,
University of Delhi
East Patel Nagar,
New Delhi.

Dr. Sunita Mangla

Assistant Professor
Department of Political
Science
Kalindi College,
University of Delhi,
New Delhi.
GURU GOBIND SINGH INDRAPRASTHA UNIVERSITY

TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Learning Outcome
2. Introduction
3. Industrial Age (1700s-1930s)
4. Electronic Age (1930s-1980s) and Present Era
5. Conclusion.

1. LEARNING OUTCOME
We shall elaborate each subheading in details in this unit and develop an
understanding how the trend has led with the change in technology and demographic

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 interest of the masses which in turn shaped the timeline of various means of
communication forming the mainstream media at a particular point of time.

2. INTRODUCTION

As you learned in section 1.2 and for the perusal of the definition in the context of this
chapter, let’s summarize the term “Media”. According to Oxford, “The main means of
mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet) regarded collectively is
called Media”. The word media comes from the Latin plural of medium. Therefore when
we talk about evolution, it will essentially encompass the evolution of the medium which
therefore will lead to the evolution of media. Now, as the definition dictates, it will
include all the forms (i.e. Print, Audio, Visual and any means that propagates the
dissemination of information or facts on a publicly available portal).

Let’s have a brief summary of platforms that served as a medium and evolved in terms of
technology and reach to constitute the changing trends of media with time. These will
essentially include (but not restricted to) the following:

 Print Media (Newspapers, Magazines)

 Broadcast Media (TV, Radio)

 Outdoor or Out of Home (OOH) Media.

 Internet.

Prehistory can be defined as the period when human beings used primitive stone tools and
was estimated to be around 3.3 million years ago. This is also the first recorded event of
recordkeeping and representation of thoughts in any forms and qualifies as the earliest
means of media. The earliest forms can be said to be long before 1700s and included:

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 1.1.Cave Paintings

Fig 1.3.1 Cave Paintings.+

Cave Paintings were used as a medium of expression and to convey the common beliefs and
rituals as well. These paintings were painted by primitive men as decoration and for passing
on of information. The caves which were used as shelters also doubled up as repositories for
the paintings.

2.2. Stone Carving

Fig 1.3.2 Stone carving

Stone carving is a process wherein the primitive civilization used tools to carve shapes and
script on stones by shaping them accordingly. It was a tedious process but because the
material was very permanent in nature hence they were able to withstand the tests of time.
Many of such works are still available to present day civilization owing to the effort it took to
create them. The use of this ancient technique was resorted because paper was not
discovered.

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 2.3.Papyrus

Fig 1.3.3 Papyrus

Papyrus is similar to that of thick paper that was used in earlier times as a writing surface. It
was formed from the pith of papyrus plant. It was utilized to designate documents written on
its sheets, rolled up to scrolls. These include household and administrative documents, letters,
contracts, legal texts, illustrated narratives, and religious texts. Papyri were important during
the Prehistoric Era because they regulated the information and communication of the
Egyptians from one another.

2.4.Clay Tablets

Fig 1.3.4 Clay Tablets

The initial record of a clay tablet dates to about 3200 BC these tablets were discovered by
archaeologists of the Oriental Institute that is presently located in modern day Iraq. Clay
tablets mostly has only drawings and ideas as it is difficult to draw on it. Clay tablets were
mainly used for accounting, literary, administrative documents.

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 3. Industrial Age (1700s-1930s)

Since the 1700s, the media underwent a huge transformation. The use of pre-historic tools for
recording events, ideas or articles had slowly come to a decline and a new era of media tools
came into existence. Media had turned from an instrument for recording to a means for
communication and for creating a global connection; in a way which no person is devoid of
particular information. From 1700 till 1900 there had been a lot of inventions that had laid the
foundation for future innovations in the media industry. In 1774 the electronic telegraph was
invented by George Louis Lesage. Then there was other major inventions that had broadened
the whole media invention field like:

 The invention of Typewriter by W.S. Burt in 1829.

 The invention of Telephone by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876.
 The invention of the phonograph by Thomas Alva Edison in 1877.
 The invention of Radio by Guglielmo Marconi on 1894.
A golden age has started for media through television, radio and through cinema. In the year
1918, the first colour movie was shot named Cupid Angling.
3.1 Media Devices in Detail.
3.1.1 Film: The first film was made in the year 1888 and it was named Roundhay Garden
Scene. It is a short film which lasts for about 2.11 seconds and was made by French inventor
Louis Le Prince. Film has broadened the concept of entertainment. Media become a way to
tell stories by the visual presentation and for a way for expressing the feelings and emotions.

Fig 1.3.5 First Movie: Roundhay Garden Scene

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 3.1.2 Printing press for mass production (1900): The books were written by hand manually
till the time the printing press from Gutenberg came into use. So the earlier books, because
they were handwritten never had a copy that was same as the other one. The introduction of
the press made it very possible to have large scale production of standardized print media.
The uniformly written books made it very easy to propagate the copies of print media and
with the advancement of transportation, these books were reaching far more distant readers.
While in around the year 1800, the capacity of the hand printing press was around 480-500
pages an hour. The introduction of Koenig’s machine helped in advancing this rate
considerably and now we were printing 3000 pages in an hour.

Fig 1.3.6 First Printing Press

3.1.3 Newspaper-The London Gazette (1740): The advancement of technology of speedier

printing meant that more copies can be printed in a shorter time and more and more copies
can be now circulated. This was the time for the rise of daily newspapers. The ever getting
busier people found it to be a very reliable tool to keep them updated and this became
synonymous to class. The verbal means to keep one updated, became obsolete as people
started to get busier with their jobs and Daily Newspapers proved to be a very reliable means
to keep up with the changing world around. The rich were getting more time to relax and with
cash to spend, this became one rich and luxurious habit.

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 Fig 1.3.6 First News Paper

During the 1830s, there came an advent of another yet very important inclusion of small
cheap newspapers which had more exciting news than the daily newspapers. These cheap
papers were a product of the crave for modern day people to imitate the ones on the wealthier
side and these cheap papers also termed as Penny Press were giving a stiff competition to the
everyday newspapers.

While the big players in the daily newspapers focused on more educated and higher class of
readers, the penny press bagged considerable success owing to its updates on homicides and
spicy stories on politics. The penny press may also be called as the precursor of modern-day
cheap and spicy booklets which sell on mainly all the stations and cheap bookstalls.

3.1.4 Radio

Radio emerged as a very popular means of media propagating news and ideas. Not only had
it connected people at various levels it also was a reason for many get together at small shops
and cafe. The broadcasting of speeches by political leaders and sports commentary got people
together and acted as a social platform which brought people together from the same
interests.

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 Fig 1.3.7 Radio

Until the introduction of television, the radios worked instrumental in providing a non-print,
available to more than one person media owing to its audio nature. Even after the television
came into use, till very late, radio was one of the cheapest available resources with free to air
channels and is still used in some parts of the world.

3.1.5 Television:

The television followed the radio pretty soon. Now, in addition to the audio experience, the
masses could also update them with moving pictures and clips from various fields, be it
speeches by influential readers or watching news by some pretty anchor. From updates on
wars to the latest inventions and even updating on latest fashion trends, the magic box had it
all.

The extent of popularity may be gauged by the simple fact that people gathered on the
timings allocated for news and more so in the Indian context, movies from famous figure and
actors or even the religious soups. A very famous example is the serial called “ Ramayana”
and “ Mahabharata” in the religious context for which the people gathered at someone’s
house and even bowed before the television when the actor playing “Gods” appeared on the
screen.

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 Fig 1.3.7 Television

Apart from the entertainment part, televisions world around were also a great platform for
reaching out to the potential customers and were totally eyed upon by the advertisers and
companies. Owing to the much interesting audio-visual experience, the advertisers now had
the option of making the commercials much more visually appealing by introducing the latest
models updated with the latest sense of fashion.

The onset of digital media gave a setback to the print industry. The more urbanized and
sophisticated individual now treated television and radios as a much sought after means than
newspapers. One of the problems the television at that time was that until the technology
advanced for recording the shows and matches, there was no facility to rewind. So a person
had to be physically present at the certain point of time to watch the show and that you can’t
skip the commercials. The flexibility or the freedom to choose channels came with the advent
of many new channels and set-top boxes which allowed the recording of the shows.

This limitation also propagated the print media back into being a sought after choice because
it offered the flexibility of transportation and ease of availability.

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 3.1.6 Typewriter (the 1800s)

The world around was changing at a fast pace and all the major companies were looking for a
formal and more presentable means of communication. Until now, all the correspondences
were handwritten and there was a need of composition of a standardized writing and filing.
Thus came the typewriter which was essentially a machine with mechanical heads with
characters embossed on it and used ink and manual impact to print these letters on a paper.

Fig 1.3.7 Typewriter

Typewriters are an important step to mention in the scope of this syllabus as the workplaces
around the world resorted to its extensive use. Even the manuscripts of movies, stories, first
drafts of books about to be published etc., all went under the head of this simple yet amazing
invention. The typewriters are even prevalent today, more so in the application system and
even in and around the courts to provide instant legal paperwork done without the
dependency of power availability. The QWERTY layout remains prevalent.

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 3.1.7 Telephone
The telephone was invented in the year 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. This was a major
breakthrough invention which had become the platform for various inventions further on and
is still used in the present. Telephones made possible to connect to people from different
corners of the world to come together and exchange various data and information.
The handwritten letters and postcards started to get replaced by the actual ability to hear
someone from far and distant places. The telephones were and are still used even in the
formal context to make and receive calls, personal and pertaining to work.

Fig 1.3.8 Telephone

3.1.8 Telegraph

Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of literary messages where the sender utilizes
emblematic codes, known to the beneficiary, as opposed to a physical trade of an item
bearing the message. The most punctual genuine transmit put into across the board used was
the optical broadcast of Claude Chappe, invented in the late eighteenth century.

The electric transmit was slower to create in France because of the set up optical broadcast
framework, yet an electrical transmit was put into utilization with a code perfect with the

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 Chappe optical broadcast. The Morse framework was embraced as the worldwide standard in
1865, utilizing an altered Morse code created in Germany

Fig 1.3.7 Morse code Machine

The heliograph is a broadcast framework utilizing reflected daylight for flagging. It was for
the most part utilized in territories where the electrical transmit had not been built up and by
and large uses a similar code. The broadest heliograph arrange built up was in Arizona and
New Mexico amid the Apache Wars. The heliograph was standard military hardware as late
as World War II.

Remote telecommunication created in the mid-twentieth century. Remote telecommunication

wound up significant for sea use and was a contender to electrical telecommunication
utilizing submarine broadcast links in universal interchanges. Wires turned into mainstream
methods for sending messages once transmit costs had fallen adequately.

4.0 Electronic Age (1930s-1980s) and Present Era

Through the foundation that had been set up by the various inventions of the industrial age of
media evolutions, there has been a wide range of devices invented. By 1990s the internet was
introduced to the world and a new global community was formed through which anyone can
come in contact with anyone.

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 4.1 The Age of the Internet

The advent of the internet brought media in very broad choices and in a more open platform.
The technology developed from desktops to portable computers (Now known as Laptops) and
then into mobile phones with multimedia. The modern media websites such as Facebook and
Twitter enabled personal interactions and reactions on social and current issues. Thus the
term social media was coined. In present-day era, the internet dominates as the media
platform.

5.0. CONCLUSION

The Evolution of Media:

 The means by which information is transmitted from one person or a group of person
to another receiver (called as the audience) is called media.

 The Evolution of such media can be broadly divided into four eras:

Pre Historic Era – The era when man discovered fire, used stone and wood tools. Five
main means of media can be included in this era , namely :

Cave Paintings – Drawings on caves painted by a natural dye.

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 Stone Carving – Using tools on stones to carve images and conveyance of thoughts.

Papyrus – Using the primitive paper from plants and used for documenting
illustration, legal texts and religious writings, rolled up to store.

Clay Tablets – Consisted of drawings and ideas, difficult to write and prepare, used
for literary and administrative documentation.

In this module, we also learned about the types of media, mainly divided as :

o Print media
o Electronic media
o Theater and speeches (Out of Home media)
o The Internet

 Daily Newspapers and periodicals came in trend and were preferred choice of the
sophisticated urbanized citizen.
 Penny Press – a name given to cheaper, spicier content periodicals posed a threat to
the daily Newspapers.
 Typewriters made it possible to standardize the printed applications and storing of
texts in a more formal way.
 The first film ever made was called “Roundhay Garden Scene , monochrome , around
the year 1888.
 Printing press by Gutenberg made it possible to have multiple copies of the same text
which enhanced the capacity of the reach of the print media, around 1900
 Radio came in the twentieth century enabling the start of digital media and was loved
instantaneously.
 Television was yet another step towards a giant leap in electronic means of media.
 Telephone and telegraph significantly contributed towards changing the perception of
communication and media. The world witnessed some crucial changes and even the
outcome of wars depended on to certain extent on these inventions.
 The modern day era makes the internet the most accessible means of availing
information to the general masses. Aided by the smartphones, the common man has
unlimited access to information and can update himself at will depending on the
choice of interest .
 Even this module is an example of the strength of modern-day technological
advancements which enable courses at the click of fingertips of students and
researchers alike.

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 References

 Blanchard, Margaret A. (1998). History of the mass media in the United States: an
encyclopedia. Fitzroy Dearborn. ISBN 978-1-57958-012-4.

 Bösch, Frank. Mass Media and Historical Change: Germany in International Perspective, 1400
to the Present (Berghahn, 2015). 212 pp. online review

 Cull, Nicholas John, David Culbert and David Welch, eds. Mass Persuasion: A Historical
Encyclopedia, 1500 to the Present (2003) 479 pp; worldwide coverage

 Folkerts, Jean and Dwight Teeter, eds. Voices of a Nation: A History of Mass Media in the
United States (5th Edition, 2008)

 Fourie, Pieter J. (2008). Media Studies: Media History, Media and Society

Web Links

 https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/evolution-of-media-throughout-the-ages
 https://www.nimcj.org/blog-detail/timeline-of-the-evolution-of-mass-media.html
 https://www.sutori.com/story/the-evolution-of-traditional-media-to-new-media--
6EnZMSt2SqCEmNnYTdYXh2XN
 http://j387mediahistory.weebly.com/media-history-timeline.html

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