Media (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what they are, what they are and what characteristics the media have. Also, how they emerged, how they are classified and what is their importance.

What are the media?

a means of communication It is a technical system used to transmit information of any type to society that is, to communicate with people.

This term normally refers to media that are massive in nature that is, those whose content reaches a large number of people at the same time. For example: radio, television or the written press.

However, there are media that are not mass media, but interpersonal. These facilitate communication between individuals, in a unique and often personalized way. For example: telephone, postal mail or instant messaging.

In general, individuals and communities use the media to receive information material. Thus, they have access to descriptions, explanations and analysis of data and political, economic, social or cultural events that are of interest to them.

Media characteristics

In general terms, the media are characterized by the following:

They transmit a message or information. This message can be of different nature, length and nature, but it is generally of interest to the interlocutor(s).
They can have massive reach. Depending on their nature, they can reach one, several or thousands of people at the same time.
They use different channels. They can use different types of channels, such as sheets of paper, radio spectrum waves, among others.
They may or may not be interactive. Generally, mass media are unidirectional, that is, they allow the flow of information in only one direction: from the sender to multiple receivers. However, there are also other media that allow the recipient to broadcast their own message, as is the case with the Internet.

Types of media

The media can be of different types, depending on their nature and what mechanisms they use to communicate. Broadly speaking, they can be classified into print, sound, audiovisual and digital media.

Print media

Printed media are those that use paper as a support and are usually produced through printing presses or similar devices. Therefore, they depend on writing and photography or illustration.

These were the main means of mass communication for centuries, since the written message is more durable and reliable than the spoken word and can be read by many people, either at the same time or successively.

Among the most prominent print media are:

The newspapers. These are printed matter that collect the news and developments of the day (daily) or week (weekly) that may be of interest to the reading public. They are usually printed on inexpensive paper as they become outdated quickly over time.
The magazines. These are intermediate publications between the newspaper and the book, whose content can be dedicated to a single topic or a set of them, normally combining text and images.
The brochures. These are printed matter with a specific format and purpose, intended for quick and brief reading (between one and twenty-four pages), frequently used for marketing or advertising.
Posters or posters. These are images accompanied by text that are printed and placed in public spaces to inform passersby about an event, promote a product or provide some type of news.
postal mail. It is a system of sending letters and postcards in physical format, usually written by hand by a person in one part of the world and received by another to whose postal address it is sent.

sound media

Media - Radio — Radio is based exclusively on information transmitted in sound format.

Sound media are those that transmit information through sound waves, that is, they can be heard. This requires a technological process that allows the recording, amplification and transmission of the human voice or music by electrical impulses or electromagnetic waves. Thus, the same transmitter can reach entire crowds at the same time.

You may be interested: Telecommunications

Among the sound media are:

The radio. It is a sound diffusion system through the spectrum of electromagnetic waves, which links listeners, through receiving devices, with stations that transmit news, music, advertising and entire programs for their information and entertainment.
Shortwave radio (or amateur radio). It is a communication system over short and medium distances, initially used during the 20th century in military environments and later popularized among the civilian population. It uses short-range transmitter/receiver devices and a turn-based communication system.
the phone. It is a device capable of transmitting voice through electrical impulses from one end of the line to the other. Initially, it required copper wiring to operate, but over time it has been replaced by more efficient versions, such as the mobile or cell phone.

Audiovisual media

Audiovisual media are those whose messages can be seen and heard simultaneously. They are based on technological devices that allow the recording, transmission and reproduction of sounds and images (usually in motion), either live or recorded.

Audiovisual media include:

television. It is a system for transmitting moving images and sounds synchronized with them, whose appearance in the mid-20th century revolutionized the field of telecommunications and entertainment. It represented a step forward with respect to radio and follows the same transmission principle: a set of stations transmit movies, programs and advertising to the public who receive it in their homes through a television.
the cinema. It is a method of reproducing moving images and synchronized sound, but it occurs in a particular place: the movie theater. Unlike other audiovisual media, it focuses on the projection of fiction films and documentaries, and continues to be an important source of entertainment in the world.

Digital media

Digital media are the most recent aspect of the media, since they take advantage of the enormous advantages of the Internet. Emerging in the 1990s, these new communication technologies have revolutionized the way information is understood in society, since they have a reach, speed and interactivity never seen before. This has caused digital media to end up absorbing traditional media of different types.

Among the digital media are:

Web news portals. These are the websites of large, medium and small newspapers, press offices and other media services, which provide the Internet user with news, reports and other journalistic and variety materials.
The podcasts. These are the digital evolution of radio, that is, they are documentary and variety programs transmitted mainly through voice and sounds, and distributed over the Internet. Unlike radio programs, which were broadcast on a specific date and time, podcasts can be listened to whenever each user decides.
Email or e-mail. It is the digital version of postal mail, that is, a system for writing and sending written notes in virtual format. This service allows the sending of written messages and attachments to any user whose email address is known.
Social networks. These are forums for exchanging comments, information and all types of content between registered users. To a large extent, these spaces serve to centralize social interaction on the Internet and have become fundamental elements in the contemporary world.
Instant messaging services. These are different services for sending and receiving messages in real time, usually through the Internet (or the telephone line, in the case of SMS), which are usually used on the cell phone or computer.
He streaming. It is a system for transmitting audiovisual content (such as movies, programs, advertising, animation, among others) over the Internet, normally through a paid subscription.
Forums and p2p services (peer-to-peer). These are other digital spaces available on the Internet for the more or less organized exchange of information, data, messages and even software between one computer user and another.

Importance of the media

The media have had a predominant role in the constitution of societies throughout history. On the one hand, have allowed communication between individuals separated by distance initially through writing and then through voice and image, with increasing ease and immediacy. This changed the way people relate, since it allowed ties to be sustained beyond time and distance.

Evolution of the media

Since ancient times, oral discourse was the source of transmission of myths and fables, which were used as a way of disseminating social values that were passed from generation to generation.

In many ancient societies, the figure of the crier was important, who was dedicated to shouting news of interest to the people. Written communication was added to this, either through the dissemination of manuscripts or the public display of messages on walls and monuments.

These methods changed drastically after the appearance of the printing press in the 15th century. This milestone is considered the historic beginning of the media, since it allowed the circulation of the first pamphlets and newspapers. The following details how these modern forms of mass communication emerged.

The emergence of the written press

For centuries, the only great means of mass communication was the written press, that is, the newspaper and other similar publications. This type of mass-produced print could, for the first time in history, reach thousands or even millions of people, depending on the speed with which it could be distributed.

The first known periodical appeared in 1605 in the Flemish city of Antwerp, but it was in 1884, with the invention of the linotype, that the written press really became popular and became one of the great means of mass communication.

The invention of radio

The first complete radio transmission system appeared in 1894, the work of Italian inventor Guglielmo Marconi (1874-1937). With this system, dedicated almost entirely to military communication, the first transatlantic radio communication was achieved in 1901.

In the later decades of the 20th century, radio broadcasting grew in popularity to become the primary means of mass communication. Homes, offices and businesses were equipped with radio receivers with which they listened to music, news and even dramas known as radio soap operas.

The appearance of television

The dominance of radio as the main communication medium was challenged in the mid-20th century by the appearance of television, a similar system, but which incorporated moving images into sound.

The rise of the Internet

The Internet was the greatest revolution in the world of mass communications since the invention of the printing press. Originally, it consisted of an academic project to interconnect computers. The first computer network in history was ARPANET, created by the United States Department of Defense in order to instantly communicate between different American military institutions.

As more and more civil actors developed the same idea, the great global network that we know today as the Internet was built, in its WWW (World Wide Web) protocol, which emerged in the 1990s. From then on, it became enormously popular, because access to information by the general public became easier and faster.

Finally, in 1994, the first web search engine appeared, called WebCrawler. Already at that time it was becoming evident that all the large newspapers and radio and TV stations would migrate their platforms to the Internet, and that this medium would become the great information transmission mechanism that it is today.

Old media

Since the dawn of civilization, human beings have developed different ways of communicating through different means and strategies that today could be archaic or primitive, but that were very useful at the time.

Ancient media include:

The cave paintings. Prehistoric art forms can be considered mechanisms for transmitting and communicating stories, traditions or events of interest to a tribe, such as the hunt for a large animal.
The ringing of the bells. The ringing of church bells functioned for a long time as a way not only to summon the congregation of the faithful, but also to notify about an event or to draw the attention of the locals.
The bugle or horn. Through this instrument, the attention of expeditionaries, armies or hunters of ancient societies was usually called, to warn of some danger or reveal one's own position from a distance.
The messengers. In ancient times, there were important messaging networks, made up of individuals whose role was to travel a distance on foot or horseback to personally transmit an oral or written message.
carrier pigeons. They were a type of trained pigeons that flew long distances carrying with them a message written on a piece of paper that they carried with them.
Smoke signals. This method of communication involved the use of a small bonfire that was covered with a blanket to send clusters of smoke into the air, which the receiver knew how to interpret by observing them from a distance.
The telegraph. The direct precursor of radio and television, the telegraph was a system of transmitting electrical impulses through a wiring network. These impulses could be emitted, received and interpreted thanks to the Morse code, created by Samuel Morse (1791-1872) around 1844.

References

Duignan, B. (2024). Mass Media. Encyclopaedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/
Fernández García, T. and García Rico, A. (Coords.). (2001). Media, society and education. Editions of the University of Castilla-La Mancha.
Rueda Laffond, JC, Galán Fajardo, E. and Rubio Moraga, AL (2014). History of the media. Alliance.