This exciting new text traces the common themes in the long and complex history of mass communication. It shows how the means of communicating grew out of their eras, how they developed, how they influenced the societies of those eras, and how they have continued to exert their influence upon subsequent generations. The book is divided into six periods which are identified as 'Information Revolutions' writing, printing, mass media, entertainment, the 'toolshed' (which we call 'home' now), and the Information Highway. In looking at the ways in which the tools of communication have influenced and been influenced by social change, A History of Mass Communication provides students of media and journalism with a strong sense of the way their chosen field affects how society functions. Providing a broad-based approach to media history, Dr. Fang encourages the reader to take a careful look at where our culture is headed through the tools we use to communicate with one another. A History of Mass Communication is not only the most current text on communication history, but also an invaluable resource for anyone interested in how methods of communication affect society.
The history of colonial copyright is most often told from the perspective of the colonizers. Reversing the trend, this study of the early roots of copyright in the British Empire provides a sophisticated theoretical framework, contextualizing early copyright law as a form of globalization and examining its impact on colonial affairs and modern law.
. . . a well-researched and well-written book, with some nice anecdotal detail and a crisp turn of phrase. The contextual detail of events is excellent. Toni Weller, Library and Information History In this tour de force, Leonard Dudley makes a persuasive and exciting case that changes in information and communication technologies were a driving force behind a series of political, social, and economic transformations over the last millennium, starting with the collapse of the Carolingian Empire and ending with the dissolution of the Soviet block. His case that the relevant ICT change was an important cause in each transformation seems overwhelming to me, while his more contentious implied case that each was the prime cause deserves serious consideration. Richard Lipsey, Simon Fraser University, Canada Readers who love sweeping history, bold ideas, and provocative arguments will find a treasure trove here. Dudley examines major revolutions in communications technology standardized written script, printing, radio/TV, and the internet and demonstrates their impact on how societies have been organized throughout history. Taking us from Charlemagne s Empire and the Norman invasion of England to the collapse of communism and the rise of post-9/11 global terrorism, Dudley demonstrates how innovations in communications have moved states and empires. Jack A. Goldstone, George Mason University, US Can new information technologies explain the discontinuities in the history of the West? This innovative book presents evidence of an overall pattern generated by radical changes in media, arguing that the major social revolutions in the West have been preceded by innovations that drastically alter the relative importance of informational scale economies (the impact of production volume on unit cost) and network effects (the gain to each member of a network when a new agent joins). These factors establish the optimal structure of a society by determining whether decision-making is centralized, decentralized or instead distributed across multiple agents. Dudley contends that an innovation that alters the balance between scale economies and network effects initially has a dramatic result, blasting apart existing interpersonal networks; however later, out of the debris, a new society emerges. The latest of these innovations the integrated circuit is currently generating a wave of creative destruction that is spilling over into the rest of the world. To understand the rebirth that seems likely to follow, we must examine not the recent past but the Dark Ages of European history and the intervening centuries. With detailed case studies addressing the sources of innovation in information technology, along with a conceptual framework to explain their effects, this book will be of interest to students and teachers of Western economic and social history, as well as to the general reader with an interest in the social impact of innovation.
The definitive and “utterly absorbing” biography of America’s first news media baron based on newly released private and business documents (Vanity Fair). William Randolph Hearst, known to his staff as the Chief, was a brilliant business strategist and a man of prodigious appetites. By the 1930s, he controlled the largest publishing empire in the United States, including twenty-eight newspapers, the Cosmopolitan Picture Studio, radio stations, and thirteen magazines. He quickly learned how to use this media stronghold to achieve unprecedented political power. The son of a gold miner, Hearst underwent a public metamorphosis from Harvard dropout to political kingmaker; from outspoken populist to opponent of the New Deal; and from citizen to congressman. In The Chief, David Nasaw presents an intimate portrait of the man famously characterized in the classic film Citizen Kane. With unprecedented access to Hearst’s personal and business papers, Nasaw details Heart’s relationship with his wife Millicent and his romance with Marion Davies; his interactions with Hitler, Mussolini, Churchill, and every American president from Grover Cleveland to Franklin Roosevelt; and his acquaintance with movie giants such as Louis B. Mayer, Jack Warner, and Irving Thalberg. An “absorbing, sympathetic portrait of an American original,” The Chief sheds light on the private life of a very public man (Chicago Tribune).
In a fascinating and comprehensive intellectual history of modern communication in America, Daniel Czitrom examines the continuing contradictions between the progressive possibilities that new communications technologies offer and their use as instruments of domination and exploitation.
News consumers made cynical by sensationalist banners--"AMERICA STRIKES BACK," "THE TERROR OF ANTHRAX"--and lurid leads might be surprised to learn that in 1690, the newspaper Publick Occurrences gossiped about the sexual indiscretions of French royalty or seasoned the story of missing children by adding that "barbarous Indians were lurking about" before the disappearance. Surprising, too, might be the media's steady adherence to, if continual tugging at, its philosophical and ethical moorings. These 39 essays, written and edited by the nation's leading professors of journalism, cover the theory and practice of print, radio, and TV news reporting. Politics and partisanship, press and the government, gender and the press corps, presidential coverage, war reportage, technology and news gathering, sensationalism: each subject is treated individually. Appropriate for interested lay persons, students, professors and reporters. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.
When News was New investigates how news has re-invented itself at different historical moments--from medieval storytellers to 19th century telegraph news agencies to 21st century bloggers. Tracks the evolution of news through history Explores the regular reconstruction of news, the salability of news, and whether objectivity matters Provides an innovative approach to the history of news; clear, succinct writing; and effective use of photographs, maps, and tables which have strong appeal to the student reader Offers a new way of understanding news in our history and culture
In the early 1990s, people predicted the death of privacy, an end to the current concept of 'property, ' a paperless society, 500 channels of high-definition interactive television, world peace, and the extinction of the human race after a takeover engineered by intelligent machines. Imagining the Internet zeroes in on predictions about the Internet's future and revisits past predictions--and how they turned out. It gives the history of communications in a nutshell, illustrating the serious impact of pervasive networks and how they will change our lives over the next century.
Maps with the News is a lively assessment of the role of cartography in American journalism. Tracing the use of maps in American news reporting from the eighteenth century to the 1980s, Mark Monmonier explores why and how journalistic maps have achieved such importance. "A most welcome and thorough investigation of a neglected aspect of both the history of cartography and modern cartographic practice."—Mapline "A well-written, scholarly treatment of journalistic cartography. . . . It is well researched, thoroughly indexed and referenced . . . amply illustrated."—Judith A. Tyner, Imago Mundi "There is little doubt that Maps with the News should be part of the training and on the desks of all those concerned with producing maps for mass consumption, and also on the bookshelves of all journalists, graphic artists, historians of cartography, and geographic educators."—W. G. V. Balchin, Geographical Journal "A definitive work on journalistic cartography."—Virginia Chipperfield, Society of University Cartographers Bulletin
A complete history of how the telegraph revolutionized technological practice and life in America. Telegraphy in the nineteenth century approximated the internet in our own day. Historian and electrical engineer David Hochfelder offers readers a comprehensive history of this groundbreaking technology, which employs breaks in an electrical current to send code along miles of wire. The Telegraph in America, 1832–1920 examines the correlation between technological innovation and social change and shows how this transformative relationship helps us to understand and perhaps define modernity. The telegraph revolutionized the spread of information—speeding personal messages, news of public events, and details of stock fluctuations. During the Civil War, telegraphed intelligence and high-level directives gave the Union war effort a critical advantage. Afterward, the telegraph helped build and break fortunes and, along with the railroad, altered the way Americans thought about time and space. With this book, Hochfelder supplies us with an introduction to the early stirrings of the information age.
