LESSON TWO

MEDIA LITERACY: THE EVOLUTION OF MEDIA

By: John Carlo C. Baltar
If the Titanic sank somewhere in the
Atlantic Ocean, how do you think the
news reached people in England and
New York at that time?
If the Titanic sank today, in what
format would people receive or
read the news?
What Does Media Do for Us?
1. Entertaining and providing an outlet for the imagination
2. Educating and informing
3. Serving as a public forum for the discussion of important
issues
4. Acting as a watchdog for government, business, and other
institutions
Evolution of Media
• Pre-Industrial Age (Before 1700s) - People discovered
fire, developed paper from plants, and forged weapons
and tools with stone, bronze, copper and iron.
• Industrial Age (1700s-1930s) - People used the power of
steam, developed machine tools, established iron
production, and the manufacturing of various products
(including books through the printing press).
Evolution of Media
• Electronic Age (1930s-1980s) - The invention of the transistor
ushered in the electronic age. People harnessed the power of
transistors that led to the transistor radio, electronic circuits, and
the early computers. In this age, long distance communication
became more efficient.
• Information Age (1900s-2000s) - The Internet paved the way for
faster communication and the creation of the social network.
People advanced the use of microelectronics with the invention of
personal computers, mobile devices, and wearable technology.
Moreover, voice, image, sound and data are digitalized. We are now
living in the information age.
Quick rundown of
significant turning
points in media
history
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
1. Prehistoric Communication (30,000 BCE–4,000 BCE): To record events
and transmit messages, early people employed symbols, cave paintings,
and rock art.
2. Ancient Writing Systems (about 3,000 BCE): The Sumerians of
Mesopotamia developed Cuneiform, one of the first known writing
systems.
3. The invention of the printing medium: In the 15th century, “Johannes
Gutenberg" altered mass communication by making books and printed
materials more widely available.
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
3. The invention of the printing medium:
• Newspapers (17th Century): The first newspapers, such as “The London
Gazette,” started appearing in the 17th century and regularly updated the
public with news.
• Magazines (18th century): Publication changed a wide range of topics,
from fashion to science.
• Brochures and pamphlets (since the 19th century): printed materials
used for information and advertising.
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
4. Radio Broadcasting (Early 20th Century): radio broadcasting gained
popularity because it allowed for real-time audio connection with a large
audience.
• Television (invented in the late 1920s and popular in the 1950s): audio and
visual materials for a large audience
• Radio (invented in the 19th century and popular in the 20th century):
There is solely audio material, such as music, discussion programs, and
the news.
• Podcasts (21st century): digital audio files available for streaming and
downloading online
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
5. Digital Media (Late 20th Century): The age of digital media, which
includes websites, social media, and online video, began with the
development of the internet in the latter half of the 20th century.
• Websites (1990s): platforms that are available online that combine text,
photos, and video with interactive components
• Social media (2004): Social media platforms are like Facebook, LinkedIn,
Twitter, and Instagram for users. Generated interactions.
• Blogs (1990s and early 2000s): Online publications or journals shared
information where individuals or groups shared the article.
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
6. Films and videos:

• Movies (late 19th century, with the first feature film in 1903) have full-
length distribution through various media.
• Online video (early 2000): short video content is shared on this platform,
like YouTube.
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
7. Interactive media:

• Video games (late 20th century and early 21st century): digital or
computer-based games that involve player interaction.
• Virtual reality (late 20th and early 21st centuries): digital environments
that users can interact with using specialized headsets
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
8. Advertising and marketing media:

• Billboard (late 19th century): outdoor displays for advertising

• Direct mail (19th century): For marketing objectives, printed materials
are mailed.
• Online ads (late 20th century): Digital advertisements displayed on
websites and social media
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
9. News media:

• News websites (growth on the internet in 1990): platform dedicated to

reporting current events
• News TV channels (mid-20th century): Television stations that provide
news coverage
• News radio stations (became the 20th century): radio stations focused on
broadcasters.
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
10. Art and Creative Media:

• Visual arts have existed for centuries with various art materials like
photographs, printing, and digital art.
• Literature (19th and 20th centuries): novels, poetry, and written creative
works
• Music (with various genres evaluated over time) has been a part of
human life. Audio composition and performances.
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
11. Education Media:

• E-learning (late 20th and early 21st centuries): online resources for
learning, including courses and tutoring.
• Education Video: A video designed for training and learning purposes.
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
12. Government and public relations media:

• Press releases: official statements distributed to the media

• Government websites (late 20th century): online resources for
government information and services
Quick rundown of significant turning
points in media history
13. Artificial Intelligence (AI): AI is already changing how content is
produced and consumed. It can produce music, compose news stories, and
offer tailored suggestions on streaming services. AI-driven content is
probably becoming more sophisticated and incorporated into our regular
media intake in modern times.

14. Personalized Content: Media platforms are leveraging data and AI to

create personalized experiences, focusing on individual interests through
tailored news, music playlists, and product recommendations
A Brief History of
Mass Media and
Culture
A Brief History of Mass Media and
Culture
• Until Johannes Gutenberg’s 15th-century invention of the movable type
printing press, books were painstakingly handwritten and no two copies
were exactly the same. The printing press made the mass production of
print media possible.
• In 1810, another German printer, Friedrich Koenig, pushed media
production even further when he essentially hooked the steam engine up
to a printing press, enabling the industrialization of printed media. In
1800, a hand-operated printing press could produce about 480 pages per
hour; Koenig’s machine more than doubled this rate. (By the 1930s, many
printing presses could publish 3,000 pages an hour.)
A Brief History of Mass Media and
Culture
• In the 1830s, the major daily newspapers faced a new threat from the
rise of penny papers, which were low-priced broadsheets that served as
a cheaper, more sensational daily news source. They favored news of
murder and adventure over the dry political news of the day.
• While newspapers catered to a wealthier, more educated audience, the
penny press attempted to reach a wide swath of readers through cheap
prices and entertaining (often scandalous) stories. The penny press can
be seen as the forerunner to today’s gossip-hungry tabloids.
A Brief History of Mass Media and
Culture
• In the early decades of the 20th century, the first major nonprint form of
mass media—radio—exploded in popularity.
• Radios, which were less expensive than telephones and widely available
by the 1920s, had the unprecedented ability of allowing huge numbers of
people to listen to the same event at the same time.
A Brief History of Mass Media and
Culture
• The post–World War II era in the United States was marked by
prosperity, and by the introduction of a seductive new form of mass
communication: television.
• Broadcast technology, including radio and television, had such a hold on
our imagination that newspapers and other print media found
themselves having to adapt to the new media landscape.
A Brief History of Mass Media and
Culture
• Print media was more durable and easily archived, and it allowed users
more flexibility in terms of time—once a person had purchased a
magazine, he or she could read it whenever and wherever. Broadcast
media, in contrast, usually aired programs on a fixed schedule, which
allowed it to both provide a sense of immediacy and fleetingness. Until
the advent of digital video recorders in the late 1990s, it was impossible
to pause and rewind a live television broadcast.
• The media world faced drastic changes once again in the 1980s and
1990s with the spread of cable television.
Technological Factors of Media
Evolution
• New media technologies both spring from and cause social changes.
• Technological innovations such as the steam engine, electricity, wireless
communication, and the Internet have all had lasting and significant
effects on our culture.
• As media historians Asa Briggs and Peter Burke note, every crucial
invention came with “a change in historical perspectives.” Electricity
altered the way people thought about time because work and play were
no longer dependent on the daily rhythms of sunrise and sunset;
wireless communication collapsed distance; the Internet revolutionized
the way we store and retrieve information.