We explain the origin of the media and how they changed the way humanity relates.
What is the origin of the media?
The media play an indispensable role in industrialized society. They are the responsible for the circulation of information and the formation of public opinion and, to some extent, they serve as platforms for debate and visibility of public issues. However, they did not always exist as we understand them today.
Since the dawn of civilization, Human beings have had the need to communicate with other members of their species. So much so that this is where the invention of verbal language lies and, later, of the first means of representing thought, such as cave paintings.
But it was not until the time of the great empires of Antiquity when, once writing had already been invented, that communication could be made public and constant. Examples are the hieroglyphics on pharaonic tombs, the reflections of Hellenic Greek philosophers, and the imperial edicts published on the streets of ancient Rome.
- See also: Media
The invention of the printing press
For centuries, there was no independent media of any kind, so issues of public interest were generally addressed through advertisements from the ruling political class. During the Middle Ages, for example, the role of forming opinions and communicating with the masses fell to the Church, which called its parishioners to mass to hear the reflections of the parish priest.
The invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440 revolutionized the field of books and communication. This machine made it possible not only to mechanically replace the scribes of the Middle Ages, who copied texts by hand, but also to allowed the same book to be printed many times in a short time, and thus distributed to the public. Thanks to this, books were no longer a scarce commodity.
In June 1605, this same artifact allowed the printing of the first newspaper in historyby the young John Carolus (1575-1634) and titled Relation aller Fürnemmen und gedenckwürdigen Historien (“Collection of all distinguished news”). The editor summarized there the news that his network of informants transmitted to him and that until then he copied manually in the pamphlets that he distributed himself.
This was a very important change, since for the first time recent news could be circulated among the public. This first newspaper was succeeded by Weekley News of London (“London Weekly News”) in 1622, and later the Boston News-Letter (“Boston Written News”) in 1704, which was also the first newspaper with a continuous circulation. From then on, the proliferation of printed newspapers was worldwide.
At the invention of the printing press, the invention of lithography continued in 1796 by Johann Aloys Senefelder (1771-1834), which allowed the reproduction of illustrations, maps and musical scores.
From print to wireless telegraphy
Future inventions and discoveries allowed, starting in the 19th century, the emergence of the first mass media. Photography, for example, developed in the 18th century, gave way to cinema, which emerged at the end of the 19th century in France, thanks to the experiences of the Brothers Auguste (1862-1954) and Louis Lumiére (1864-1948). The massification of cinema, however, had to wait for the invention of electricity, a few years later.
The discovery of electricity was the event that had the greatest impact in the history of mass media. Electrification not only served for public lighting, but also allowed the creation of the telegraph, around 1836the first fast method of transmitting information over a distance. Shortly after, He also promoted the invention of “wireless” telegraphy, which would give rise to radio in 1896..
In 1901, the first artificial transmission of the human voice occurred. From then on, and for the first time in history, human beings could transmit visual or sound messages throughout time and space, without being forced to resort to writing. From that moment until the invention of television, less than half a century would pass. The first television broadcasts in history were those of the BBC in Londonwhich in 1936 began its regular programming.
- It may help you: Types of media
Communication and mass culture
The massification of television was another leap in the history of the media and a key point for the emergence of mass culture. The presence of a television in every house, where there used to be a radio, allowed people to be continually informed and entertainedwhether through the transmission of previously recorded information or happening live somewhere else on the planet.
Television, radio and newspapers were the main means of communication during the 20th centuryresponsible for creating a true mass culture of communication. Never before had so many been reached, so quickly and simultaneously.
Finally, the appearance of the Internet in the 1980s and computerized digital technologies in the 1990s further enhanced the communicative capacity of human beings. So much so, that at the beginning of the 21st century, These new technologies ended up displacing the rest of the traditional media.
The Internet allowed information to be shared through social networks, email sending and other cyber community formats, which constituted great contributions to human communication. With the internet, in addition, Mass communications became interactive, customizable and globalwhich was key to the emergence of globalization.
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References
- Briggs, A., & Burke, P. (2002). From Gutenberg to the Internet. A social history of the media. Taurus.
- McLuhan, M. (2009). Understand the media. The extensions of the human being. Planet.
