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Effects of Mass Media

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Effects of Mass Media
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Effects of Mass Media
Over the past one hundred years, media has evolved from what some would now likely describe as archaic forms of communication to a surge of high-tech forms of communication in the last twenty-five to thirty years. In the 1920’s radio was the primary source of media, and families would gather around the radio in living rooms to catch their favorite shows or news programs. When broadcast television came into the picture in the late 1940’s, radio started to make a shift toward more of a music format. Television became the mode of mass communication, and people were now seeing images and stories in their living rooms, such as the depiction of the Vietnam war, political advertisements, and presidential addresses, which were never available to them in that format before. Now, they had live action to go along with the words that they had previously only read in newspapers or hear spoken on the radio. It has been said that President Kennedy won his election because he looked better on television that Richard Nixon did. Radio did not go away, however, to this day radio is still the medium that is used for the news on the morning drive at work, or music on a long trip. There is an abundance of radio stations to pick from nowadays from news talk stations such as the popular NPR, and countless country, rock and roll, hip hop, and religious channels for the listener from which to pick.
Television technology kept improving over the years, going from black and white to color, and was revolutionized by cable television, which offered many more options. The number of channels available grew to dozens, then hundreds. The VCR was invented and then the public could record their favorite shows or go to the video store and pick up videos of what they wanted to watch when they wanted to watch it. There was a growing trend of freedom with television; people weren’t tied to having to watch their favorite show when it was on, they could record it and watch it whenever they wished. Television was further enhanced by the digital video recorder and the compact disc, so consumers were no longer burdened with bulky VHS tapes.
Next up is the invention of the Internet; a system of computer networks all over the world that store media that is accessible by almost everyone. The internet is arguably the single most-extreme development in the evolution of mass media in recent history. It has become almost an appliance in most American households. Need to know the weather forecast next week? Before the internet, one would have to wait for the weather to come on at the end of the newscast on television. After the internet, it is at the fingertips of the public with a couple of clicks of the mouse. News, travel, research, school, shopping, reading; name it, and it can be found in some shape or form on the internet. Online social networking has become one of the fastest vehicles for getting information out to a large audience. If it is worth reading or watching, it is shared by thousands or more within hours, sometimes within minutes of it being posted in a public social networking site.
Media convergence is defined as a joining of many forms of media, such as print, radio, television, and internet. News and information are communicated through these various sources and blankets the population. An example of media convergence is hearing a sound bite of a story on the radio, and then being able to access that story in multiple places, such as the internet, the local newspaper or magazine, or the evening news. This media convergence affects everyday life, because the public is constantly exposed to the various types of information. If one does not get the newspaper, they are certain to hear about an article another way throughout the course of the day. By accessing one of the various vehicles of information available to them, they then can learn more about it.
Mass media is an enormous responsibility, not only for the people that consume it, but also for the people and organizations that put all of this information out there for consumption. Unfortunately, especially in regards to the internet, there are no entities that monitor or regulate the information that resides there. It is up to the reader to be responsible for what they are absorbing and ensure that they are getting their information from a reliable source, as well as not propagating information that has not been corroborated. By doing this, they can help reduce the amount of misinformation that is publicized.

References
Campbell, R. (2014). Media and Culture: Mass Communication in a Digital Age, 9e. Publisher Bedford/St. Martins.
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