MODULE 2 UNIT 2 OLD MEDIA OF COMMUNICATION

We had earlier established that before the introduction of new media technologies, certain media existed. We have critically examined traditional media of communication. Now we will briefly look at the old media of communication with a view of understanding the emergence of new media (technologies). By old media, we mean communication devices that were available before the introduction of new media technologies for communication.

Old media are those media of communication where information/messages are disseminated through the mass media before the introduction of the internet (technologies). The mass media refers to communicating with large number of people without direct contact. The mass media are divided into print and broadcast media. Print media include, newspapers, books, journals, pamphlets etc., while broadcast media include radio, TV, movies etc. These type of media preceded the new media technologies.

Broadcast Media

These include media that broadcast its messages or information to a large heterogeneous audience. The media include radio and television. With time, other additions include video cassette recorders (VCRs) Radio broadcast were more common because many people owned radio sets, even if they were small. During this era, only a few people owned television sets. Interestingly, television sets were massive; some were small but were characterized with colourless pictures and broadcasts. Unlike what we have now, there were no remote controls in the past. These television sets were analog and operated manually.

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Television set (coloured) with a radio cassette player Video cassette

Print media Print media are those media through which information or messages were passed through printed materials. These media include, newspapers, magazines, books, pamphlets, journals etc. in the early days of the old media, the print media were unattractive because pictures and printed materials were printed with only black ink on white papers. In addition, the process of printing materials, during that era, took a long time, unlike what we have today.

These days, the print media has evolved over the years with more easy and user friendly technologies. In fact, the old print media, rather than fade away, evolved with new media technologies.

The old media are characterized with one-way technologies to a large heterogeneous (diverse) audience. There was largely delayed or no feedback from the media audiences at that time. For example, when audiences listened to radio programmes or news, they listened for the information sake. They listened to get informed and updated on happenings within their societies. There was hardly any way audiences could call in (like we have now) to give feedback. Rather, audiences could go to the respective radio stations to give feedback. Today, old media are almost always paired with new media – newspapers and magazines have online versions, as well as their own blogs, television networks produce a great deal of online content related to their programming, etc.

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