Lesson 4 Types of Media

All about the Different Forms of Media

If you are to trace the history of media and communication technology, you will observe sequence of
the main media forms types would be:

PRESS CINEMA RADIO TELEVISION VIDEO GAMES INTERNET/WWW

Some will argue against this arrangement. But more than their historical sequence, it is important to
note what each of these media types are, what they offer, and how they complement to each other.

Print Media

Media is undeniably the most efficient way of communicating to a large audience because of its capacity
to relay the message across culture and distance. The variety of media forms provides a menu of choices
where and when you can access information. One such known as print media. Also known as the press,
this type of media refers to materials that are written and are physically distributed. Perhaps the most
significant event in the history of printing is the invention of Johannes Gutenberg in 1440. Books are the
very mass media in human history. Baran (2010) considers books as very personal because they contain
records of past experience and human knowledge that are passed on to later generations.

When you read a book, you are able to stretch your imagination and think deeper about ideas that you
do not normally encounter in your everyday life. Books are movers and shakers of culture. As a
testament to this, books in physical form are being store digitally as e-books. In contrast to books,
newspapers, and magazines are advertising-based. Newspapers and magazines are published regularly,
whereas books may come out depending on the publisher’s prerogative. Both the magazine and the
news paper may also have online versions for them to reach a wider and larger audience who are more
often virtually connected through internet.

Film/Cinema

The film as media form is one that is considered impressionable and has a cathartic effect to its
audience. With moving motion pictures, the film is able to enhance the media experience of its
consumer because of the audio component which heightens both the sense of hearing and sense of
sight. Films are very important cultural artifacts because, like books, they reflect the desires, ideologies,
and sensibilities of the culture to which they originate form.

Broadcast Media

One of the most distinctive characteristics of the broadcast media is their ubiquity. They are considered
“household” media because they can be found in practically any corner of a home. The broadcast media
come in two forms radio and television. For a long time, radio was the “young people’s media”. In the
Philippines, you customarily expect FM programming to be format radio, whereas AM programming is
dominated by a news format.

Video games
  Video games continue to grow popular to both young and old because of their increased
interactivity and interconnectivity, “from game consoles to personal computers to the internet
and cell phones (Baran, 2010)”. The internet, on the other hand, is a development in media
technology that is heart of all the convergence that you see occurring traditional media. Thus
societies are more connected than ever. Access to content whenever and wherever is almost
possible.

Points of intersection among media forms

Synergy and convergence are what describes the media of today. According to freedictionary.com,
synergy is an interaction “interaction of two or more agents or forces so that their combined effect is
greater than he sum of their individual effects”. Convergence on the other hand means the combination
of various elements to create a new whole. Think of the traditional media forms converging into a newer
media form that optimizes your media use.

Synergy is the rationale behind the concentration of media in one company and organization. Say for
instance, a local network giant that has its main free air channel with affiliate cable channels and a cable
company subsidiary owning a print media and a film production unit. Synergy is also a driving force for
merges and acquisition in the media and telecommunications industries, according to Baran.

Convergence is a trend that cannot be done away with because the audiences are getting more
fragmented. Media organizations would like to reach as many as they can by diversifying the delivery of
their message. Smart phones these days have radio and television applications, which is a clear example
of convergence.

Putter (2011) considered cross media convergence as way of breaking down barriers that separate each
traditional media . An illustration that you can probably relate well with would be memes and videos
over the internet that people customize to produce their own version.

Summary

In the lesson we discussed about the types of media and that include print media, film/cinema,
broadcast media and video games. And the two forms that describe media of today are synergy and
convergence.