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History

Following some historical events in time, communication with distribution of information were really essential factors in promoting commerce and economic activities. Moreover, there was a need for cultural dramas, performed during the ancient time to be extended and broadcasted to larger audience. Consequently, the phrase “Mass Media” came into play. Mass media is a collection of media technologies which help to reach out to larger communities, that is, through the means of mass communication. Dated back to the 15th and late 20th century, mass media played a key role in spreading information across society. Mass media could be classified into various areas, which comprise of “print, broadcast, outdoor, and digital media”. Print media, the most common and the earliest form came into existence in the late 15th century. It uses hard copies such as newspapers, magazine, books etc. as a medium to provide and distribute information within society. Printing press allows for mass production of hard copies in the 15th century especially in Europe; it was said to be coined by the man known as Johannes Gensfleisch. His invention gave birth to printing press and subsequently, regarded as one of the forms of mass communication. During the early 19th century, there was a need for cultural dramas to be broadcast to a larger audience. This in turn gave birth to broadcast media. Typically, broadcast media transmits information electronically and is commonly in form of recordings, cinema cassettes, magnetic tapes, gramophone records, and etc. In the mid-19th century, was radio and television; they both gave new ideology for mass communication because they were actually considered a mass medium for entertainment, news and education. Also in the late 19th century was the introduction of outdoor media; usually, it’s mainly advertisement done outdoors to promote goods and services. The most common types of outdoor media were hoarding; “exterior and interior” bus, benches, taxis and business vehicles” adverts etc. And just to let you know, they haven’t really become obsolete per say in spite of the cost; in recent times, some companies/corporations especially from the entertainment and fashion industry still use them to advertise their products or shows. We have often seen this type of media wildly adopted in cities like New York, London, and Milan where adverts are displayed on giant screens, buses, taxis' and even subway carts. However, digital media revolutionized and modernized mass media completely. By definition, they are said to be any form of media that are “encoded in a machine-readable format”. This idea was believed to be traced to a scientist and engineer Vannevar Bush who “envisioned a system of devices that could be used to help scientists, doctors, historians and others to store, analyze and communicate information”. From late 19th to early 21st century, digital media became so known and widely accepted such that, through devices like personal computing, smartphone, digital cameras, and etc. has helped put data and information access in the hands of billions of people. Also, with the advent of World Wide Web (www) and the Internet, there was a complete transformation, that is, from ‘industrial economy” to “information-based economy”; in other words, digital media gave birth to what is known as the “Information Age”…. “a period in human history characterized by the shift from traditional industry that the Industrial Revolution brought through industrialization, to an economy based on information computerization”

Mass Media

Mass Media

Mass Media reaches the masses through various outlets, it is also referred to as old media or traditional media. For several generations mass media was the way in which.Mass Media is communication that reaches a large number of people through televisions, radio, and newspaper. For several generations mass media was the way in which people found out what exactly was going on in the world. Mass media can be deceptive, it has no constraints on the information that is providing to the public. This is a fast and easy method of spreading words to the public. Radio, television, films, and music are broadcast medias that transmit their information electronically. The spread of information is through electronic devices. Another form of mass media is print media, which are newspapers, pamphlets, and books. These are hard copy forms of information that people can pick up and read about news or information that they were not aware of. Another form of mass media is the outdoor media. This type of media contains billboards, signs, and placards placed outside of commercial buildings or sports stadiums. People who put up advertisements around these buildings are places where many people pass by or see. There are many other types of mass medias such as public speaking and blogs. As simple as it sounds, mass media is any form of media that spreads words to the general public.[1]

New Media

New Media

New Media refers to the technology that can be accessed anytime and anywhere. Most new media technologies are digital so it includes iPads and iPhones. Many people argue that phones are not a type of new media, but rather just a regeneration of the old mobiles. Although this is debatable, old cellphones were big in size and inconvenient. New technologies are now concise and very portable. This is the best part of the new media. It is easy to access and convenient to carry around. For example, Terry Flew comments that there are many new aspects of new media aside from just technologies. Some examples are convergence, globalization, cyberspace, digital capitalism, interactivity, and security. Other new media include the internet, video games, and social networking sites such as Linkedin and Facebook. Old media consist of newspapers, books, television programs, magazines, and films. For example, Wikipedia is a new media which contacts information and database on topics that you can find quickly through the Internet. The process is a lot more convenient compared to going to the library to find the book on the topic you are researching. New Media has made life a lot more comfortable and accessible.[2]

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Before new media, companies would use billboard ads or TV ads. However, these methods wouldn’t be efficient in the nowadays reality. People walk on the streets looking at their phones, and they rarely lift their head to look at billboards on the street. Also, according to studies the amount of people who still watch television and have a cable subscription is decreasing more and more with the use of the internet. Almost everyone nowadays is present in social media. Whether it is Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or any other of the very large amount of possibilities, we almost always are able to follow each other’s accounts. Social media's reach has become so prominent, that it is getting challenging for businesses to find a better way to market their products. Media can shape the public's opinion in different ways depending on the content the reader is being disposed of. Creating influences on public opinion, advertisement plays a big role in mass media. Companies pay millions of dollars in revenues to market their products and company image. The media receives billions of dollars from companies and people who need mass media fast and quick. Advertisements are usually seen during popular television channels or billboards that are frequently spotted by consumers. Advertisements try to convince the public, what products and services we should buy and what is the best brand. Because of a large amount of persuasive advertisement, consumers resort to other sorts of mass media to make their decisions when they are unable to decide by themselves. People tend to buy products based on brands or something they have heard about when they are unsure of what to buy. This is where mass media comes to play. These ads frequently make us feel like the product or services are wanted and other people are using it as well. We tend to buy things other people have or like. Companies use famous celebrities to market their products because they know that people like to buy things that famous people use to feel closer to them. These are all part of the mass media.

Hoarding
Bus-stop-ads
Subway Ads

[3]


An important role that is often ascribed to the media is that of agenda-setter. Wasserman describes this as "putting together an agenda of national priorities — what should be taken seriously, what lightly, what not at all".

Advantages of Advertising

Advertising is a great source for a company to introduce a product into the market. It helps people find new products, increases sales, fights off competition, educates consumers, etc. It provides companies with a broad reach because the advertisement can reach all sorts of people around the world when it's placed on the tv, newspaper, people's doorstep, etc. Nowadays, people are taking advertisements to the next level. People put logos on shirts, publishing books, spray-painting signs, etc. With the advent of Internet and boom of social media, most of the advertisements take place online. Still, advertisement is nothing without people whether it be the people organizing the advertisement or the target audience of the advertisement.

Disadvantages of Advertising

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Advertising helps the company with broad reach. Many people can get access to data about the product. But there are some costs to Advertising. It is very expensive. An organization spends a lot of money on advertisements and to meet this expenditure, the price of the product is increased. In some ways, the broad reach advertisement provides is a disadvantage. For example, the content of the advertisement can contain pictures that are not suitable for children. Some advertisers may use sexy girls to commercialize their products. The children tend to influence by the advertisement without any parental guide.[4]

Another major disadvantage of new media advertising is the concerns it raises towards online privacy issues. Data collecting software applications tend to use customer’s personal information and sell them for a profit. This is an invasion of privacy and can be harmful if it is not used in an ethical way. Also, many people are not comfortable with their personal information and interests being tracked and spied by others, for personal benefits. Since the advancement of the Internet and an increase in availability, advertisers can collect more information about their customers. Therefore, they will create a more customized advertisement, which targets their specific target segment. However, it can sometimes interfere with their customer's privacy. For example, a couple of years ago, one pregnant teenager shopped baby products at Target. Then from her purchase history, Target advertised baby products to her via email, mails, and coupons. Therefore, her parents found about her pregnancy, which she did not want to reveal. This is one major problem with today's advertising [5]

Is Google Always Listening?

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Since Google is one of the biggest search browsers, everyone had used Google before too and probably still using now. But did anyone knows that Google is always listening? A Youtuber Mitchollow made a live test about Is Google always listening on Apr 12, 2018.[6] Youtuber Mitchollow did not own a dog or had mentioned about "dog toys" before. So first he showed the audiences what advertisements he had on some random websites which obviously nothing related to the topic he chose. Afterward, he closed up all the browsers and started to talk about "dog toys" pretending he was talking to a friend like a couple of minutes. Then he opened the google browser and randomly opened some websites, most of the websites he opened had "dog toys" advertisements all over the ads area. Based on this test, the answer to "Is Google Always Listening?" is true. Although this may just use for browser finding the right advertisements or what the users want. But this actually violates users' privacy and no one knows was this "listening" only use for advertisement or may use in other ways.

Online Newspapers

An online newspaper is one that available on the Internet. It is also know as a web newspaper. Online newspapers are steadily becoming popular in today’s world. An online newspaper gives its readers fast and important news in no time. A reader can easily have access to news anytime he wants to whether he is at home or at work, without having to buy the paper first from any store. Now a days, almost everyone has access to internet, which makes news only one click away from the readers.

They are made more attractive in order to gain attention of people with bright, vibrant colors, whereas the traditional printed newspapers usually have light colors. Furthermore, more pictures, videos, magazines and news links are incorporated in online newspapers so that people may satisfy their curiosity by reading from other sources as well [7] . Apart from this most of these papers are free by subscribing but they are frequently updated with latest breaking news and happenings around the world. Following are the some of the famous online newspapers from around the Globe [8]: • [The New York Times] (United States) • Washington Post (United States) • Boston Herald (United States) • Daily Express (Pakistan) • International Herald Tribune (Britain) • The Sun (Britain)

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Advantages of Online Newspapers

Today people favor online newspapers more than the printed old ones. One of the major reason of this preference is because of the trouble-free access through which we can get news on hourly bases. People do not have to wait for tomorrow to get information on a certain event - within seconds news is updated on the sites. Furthermore online newspapers are most of the time free for cost which makes it even more appealing. People who are busy in work and do not have the time to go to the outlets can now read news at the comforts of their homes or workplaces [9]. Moreover an online newspaper offers the readers to contribute in it by giving them chance to discuss the political or social issues, giving them a medium to voice their views and ideas. Print newspapers are often criticized by environmentalists for the huge wastage of paper that is created when they are discarded and disposed, which enhances the effects of global warming on the planet. This makes online newspapers environment friendly.

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Disadvantages of Online Newspapers

On the other hand, one of the biggest disadvantages of online newspaper is that they are not cited as being very reliable. In an online newspaper, the limit to write information on any incident or news is often more than a traditional news paper. These newspapers can sometimes become misleading as they add more of their own and provide less authentic information on the actual occurrence. However, a traditional newspaper has a limit of giving the news more credibility and less room for fake information. Still many people belonging to third world countries have no internet access. Which essentially makes it impossible for them to access of an online newspaper [10]. Online newspapers help promote in the sense that it provides them with direct reach to updated information. They are easy to carry and even easier to share with friends and others through Facebook, Twitter etc. However, there are many still who like to read newspapers and discuss it with others while eating breakfast every morning.

Magazines

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Magazines are another type of popular culture print media. They usually cater to a specific type of audience who are looking for information based on a particular subject. Magazines cover a plethora of topics, like current affairs, business, finance, consumers, gadgets, self-help, luxury, lifestyle, beauty, fashion, entertainment, travel, etc. Magazines like TIME and Reader's Digest include information, which is all-pervasive. The frequency of magazines can be weekly, fortnightly, bi-monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, or yearly. These magazines are the best forum for advertisers, as they have a niche readership. The readers look for a specific type of information, say for example, a camera ad in a Gadget magazine will definitely have a direct brand impact on the reader who wants to buy a camera. Also, the shelf life and brand recall of magazines is far better than newspapers, which have a short life span.[11]

History of Magazines

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In 1663, German theologian and poet Johann Rist created a periodical called Erbauliche Monaths-Unterredungen (“Edifying Monthly Discussions”). Widely considered to be one of the earliest examples of a modern magazine, the gazette lasted for five years and spanned a myriad of similar journals in England, France and Italy. Cultured young intellectuals readily devoured the periodicals, which summarized new books and welcomed scholarly articles.In 1672, the first “periodical of amusement” was published. Le Mercure Galant (later called Mercure de France), was created by French writer and playwright Jean Donneau de Vizé. The publication contained news, songs, short verses and gossip. Despite being disparaged by other writers of the day for its amusing rather than intellectual content, the periodical became very popular in France.In 1842, British newsagent Herbert Ingram created the first illustrated magazine. After realizing that colorful sketches and illustrations contributed to magazine sales, Ingram began publishing The Illustrated London News. The weekly news and arts periodical was filled with dozens of woodcut designs. The Illustrated London News also earned the distinction of being the first magazine to incorporate photos.

The first American magazines were published in 1741. Philadelphia printers Andrew Bradford and Benjamin Franklin—who owned rivaling newspapers—both raced to publish the first American magazine. Bradford ultimately claimed the honor by publishing American Magazine first. Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine was published three days later. Neither magazine met with much success: Bradford’s publication folded after three months, and Franklin’s lasted only six months. Despite these short-lived ventures, magazines became incredibly popular in America. By the end of the 18th century, there were more than 100 magazines in the United States. Some of the most influential early American magazines were the Pennsylvania Magazine, which was edited by Thomas Paine, and the Massachusetts Magazine. Early periodicals were so expensive that only the wealthy could afford them. As a result, early publications were geared toward the most learned, cultured and sophisticated individuals of the day. By the 1830s, however, less expensive magazines aimed at the general public began to emerge. Rather than maintaining the intellectual air of their predecessors, these magazines focused on amusement and entertainment.[12]

Today, there are thousands of magazines worldwide. Magazines inspire, inform, educate and entertain audiences across the globe. Nearly 600 years after the advent of the printing press, magazines continue to change the nature of things throughout the world.

Advantages of Magazines

1. The cover page of the magazine is often attractive.

2. The magazine has a longer life compared to the newspaper.

3. Some magazines are good and attract lots of new customers hence good for advertisement business.

4. The paper and image quality is generally good in magazine hence good for product-oriented advertisement as ads look better in a magazine.

5. More attention is paid to advertisement because of high reader involvement.

Disadvantages of Magazines

1. Sometimes you have to book the space for the advertisement for one month or one week in advance.

2. Magazines are expensive compared to newspapers.

3. Less population read magazine compared to the newspaper.

4. The advertisement cost is high compared to the newspaper.

5. There is too much content within a magazine which is hard for each content to stand out.

5.Limited flexibility for the ads placement and the format used.[13]

Digital Magazines

Magazines like newspapers published online. Because there is a large amount of U.S. adults and kids that view the web every day. Majority of these people spend time on the Internet to surf for their topic of interest. And there are a lot of advantages of online magazines:

1. Use free e-mail recirculation to advertise Web site

2.Small amounts of actual, serious competitors for the same market

3.Archive are available in a convenient manner

4. The web allows publishers to make databases, listings, and indexes available to visitors. This cannot be done as fast or easily in print publications.

5. If the publication has both an online and print version then this can be very profitable for the magazine. Having both of these mediums working for a publication gets them more time with their readers and less time for them to read other publications.

6.Can create unique information services and formats, which readers enjoy viewing, and want.

7.Interactivity[14]

The online source provides more for society, costs less, and it is easier to reach a much bigger target audience.

New Media Radio

NPR

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NPR - is a membership media that consists of 900 public radio stations that was launched in 1970 [15]. Its main content represent news, as well as informational and entertaining programs. NPR mainly uses the new media sources such as its website and podcasts. This makes NPR one of the most successful media in the US [16]. Since its creation, NPR received many awards, such as awards from White House and Webby awards.

NPR Member Stations are independent, locally owned and operated broadcasters. In an era of media consolidation and corporate ownership, these local stations are becoming an increasingly rare and even more vital source of local news and information for the communities they serve. About two-thirds of stations are licensed to, or are affiliated with, colleges or universities. The remaining third are governed by community-based boards. Some stations are operated jointly with public TV stations. Each Member Station determines its own format and schedule. Stations create their schedules based on the interests and needs of their local audience. Some stations focus on news and information while others follow a music format – with programming ranging from classical, to jazz, to AAA or world music.[17]

References