Chapter 4: a history of media, communication,
and communication sciences
1. Media history: media and/in social change
The central theme is how media have shaped people’s perception of time and space, which are the
basic coordinates of social organization. To what extent did these developments change social
relations between people? We will continually attempt to make a distinction between the social
importance and the social implication of a new medium or communication technology. Social
importance relates to the value, meaning, and relevance of something. The social implication is a
consequence of that something and refers to the effect of that something over the long term.
1.1 The forerunners of communication and media technologies: oral and written culture
1.1.1 Oral culture: spoken language
Oral culture is of massive social significance since language was necessary for the development of
thinking and consciousness, which can be explained by the natural aptitude of people for language
and its use. The use of language makes it possible for us as humans to distinguish ourselves from
animals. There are various theories to explain the functionality of oral culture. Firstly, it was thought for
many years that spoken language was limited to the communication of names and that the prime
social function of language was its ability to help create a group. Secondly, the evidence of the early
development of an economic dimension should be taken into account, in which language was a
useful tool for explaining the use of tools and weapons. The last one was the use of spoken language
in the context of rituals and magic.
Characteristics of oral culture:
(1) The awareness of time, which is limited to the present. There is no possibility to store
knowledge and information, memories cannot be preserved. Everything is based on verbal
transmission.
(2) This memory system was not focused on the repetition of the same words but was organized
in a more thematic and formulaic manner. You can compare it to telling your friend about a
film you have seen. Oral communication does not lead to the stable reproduction of
knowledge.
(3) The absence of authors. Because of the specific way in which they are handed down, stories
and information cannot be attributed to specific originators or authors. Each new performance
or interpretation of a verbal ‘text’ is different and is dependent on a wide range of variables,
including the aims and abilities of the performer.
1.1.2 Written culture
Danesi refers to the use of pictography in oral cultures as the key step in the transition to written
culture. It is ‘the most ancient writing system known’. It includes all forms of drawings on surfaces such
as cave walls, rocks, and tree bark (the hardware), in which objects from the immediate environment
– the sun, the moon, the animal's people hunted, etc. (the software) - are depicted. Even so, these
‘images’ were still not an expression of spoken language. However, it does help to explain why the first
forms of written language were essentially visual or symbol-based language.
There were also important evolutions concerning the materials used: the hardware. Rocks and bits of
stone were being replaced by the introduction of clay, wax, and, eventually, papyrus. This was later
followed by parchment and paper. The hardware was getting progressively lighter, although this also
made it more vulnerable to damage and destruction.
The next major step was the transition from a visual language based on symbols to a phonetic
alphabet, in which specific sounds were represented by pictographic words or letters, allowing more
rapid and more efficient communication than ever before. The first form of a phonetic alphabet had just
ten characters and letters. This was later taken up by the Greeks, who developed the first full
alphabet. It made the transmission of knowledge faster and easier, by the limited number of letters or
characters with which words could be formed.
, Social implications that came with the written culture:
(1) Political power, writing offered the possibility to extend the range of that power. The
organization of society became much more rigid and less flexible.
(2) In the academic and scientific context, writing not only made possible abstract thought but
also allowed knowledge to be recorded and repeatedly tested on an empirical basis.
(3) Social field, writing gradually resulted in the disappearance of the social rituals and group
solidarity that typified oral cultures.
(4) The writing was responsible for the evolution of a completely new psychological
conceptualization of time and space. ‘replacing myth by history’
1.2 Printed media
The term ‘printed media’ covers several different forms, ranging from books through newspapers to
magazines.
1.2.1 Printing
The first book that was printed and distributed on a large scale what the Bible in 1456. From this date
onwards, some media historians speak of the first mass medium, although it is probably fairer to say
that it marks an important turning point. Initially, books remained the privilege of the small literate elite
who were able to afford them. The increasingly cheaper production of paper made possible much
wider distribution of books – and therefore knowledge. This is yet another instance of how limitations
in time and space were overcome as a result of technical innovation. Printing also reduced the
likelihood of errors, mistakes, and omissions. This strengthened the position of the communicator. For
the first time, a text was given a definitive form associated with a single, known author.
Layman and public printing presses gradually began to exert a growing influence on the production
and distribution of books of all kinds. The number of publishing houses increased dramatically so that
more and more books were available to an even wider public. As a result of which, people began to
realize the importance of learning to read. This unique situation formed the basis for a series of social,
political, religious, and scientific (r)evolutions. This paradigm shift is often associated with matters as
diverse as the secularization of society and the democratization of knowledge. These social-
psychological consequences are summarized in the concept of the typographical man, a person
characterized by a sharpened sense of awareness and precision, a factor that was crucial for the
development of science and learning. The typographical man was increasingly individualistic and had
for the first time a notion of privacy.
1.2.2 Newspapers and the daily press
The social context played a key role in determining the further development of the daily press. The
industrial revolution had an impact on technology (faster printing); the economy (the development of
a postal system for distribution, the fall in paper prices, the breakthrough of the middle class as a new
social player of importance); and culture (the growing availability of education and the fight against
illiteracy).
1.3 Images and visual media
Visual media only arrived on the scene relatively recently, in the absence of adequate technical
means to capture, preserve and reproduce images.
1.3.1 Registering the image: photography
Except for some forerunners as camera obscura (a system using a dark room with minimal lighting
for projections) the beginning of photography is dated in 1826 when Joseph Niépce constructed the
first camera worthy of that name. In the course of the second half of the 19 th century, the cost of
photography decreased to such an extent that it became available to a much wider public, although
the real breakthrough only came at the end of the century, when newspapers and magazines also
began to make full use of new photographic technology. This led to a new type of journalism, in which
the visual aspect and the sensational nature of reporting was destined to play a bigger role.
and communication sciences
1. Media history: media and/in social change
The central theme is how media have shaped people’s perception of time and space, which are the
basic coordinates of social organization. To what extent did these developments change social
relations between people? We will continually attempt to make a distinction between the social
importance and the social implication of a new medium or communication technology. Social
importance relates to the value, meaning, and relevance of something. The social implication is a
consequence of that something and refers to the effect of that something over the long term.
1.1 The forerunners of communication and media technologies: oral and written culture
1.1.1 Oral culture: spoken language
Oral culture is of massive social significance since language was necessary for the development of
thinking and consciousness, which can be explained by the natural aptitude of people for language
and its use. The use of language makes it possible for us as humans to distinguish ourselves from
animals. There are various theories to explain the functionality of oral culture. Firstly, it was thought for
many years that spoken language was limited to the communication of names and that the prime
social function of language was its ability to help create a group. Secondly, the evidence of the early
development of an economic dimension should be taken into account, in which language was a
useful tool for explaining the use of tools and weapons. The last one was the use of spoken language
in the context of rituals and magic.
Characteristics of oral culture:
(1) The awareness of time, which is limited to the present. There is no possibility to store
knowledge and information, memories cannot be preserved. Everything is based on verbal
transmission.
(2) This memory system was not focused on the repetition of the same words but was organized
in a more thematic and formulaic manner. You can compare it to telling your friend about a
film you have seen. Oral communication does not lead to the stable reproduction of
knowledge.
(3) The absence of authors. Because of the specific way in which they are handed down, stories
and information cannot be attributed to specific originators or authors. Each new performance
or interpretation of a verbal ‘text’ is different and is dependent on a wide range of variables,
including the aims and abilities of the performer.
1.1.2 Written culture
Danesi refers to the use of pictography in oral cultures as the key step in the transition to written
culture. It is ‘the most ancient writing system known’. It includes all forms of drawings on surfaces such
as cave walls, rocks, and tree bark (the hardware), in which objects from the immediate environment
– the sun, the moon, the animal's people hunted, etc. (the software) - are depicted. Even so, these
‘images’ were still not an expression of spoken language. However, it does help to explain why the first
forms of written language were essentially visual or symbol-based language.
There were also important evolutions concerning the materials used: the hardware. Rocks and bits of
stone were being replaced by the introduction of clay, wax, and, eventually, papyrus. This was later
followed by parchment and paper. The hardware was getting progressively lighter, although this also
made it more vulnerable to damage and destruction.
The next major step was the transition from a visual language based on symbols to a phonetic
alphabet, in which specific sounds were represented by pictographic words or letters, allowing more
rapid and more efficient communication than ever before. The first form of a phonetic alphabet had just
ten characters and letters. This was later taken up by the Greeks, who developed the first full
alphabet. It made the transmission of knowledge faster and easier, by the limited number of letters or
characters with which words could be formed.
, Social implications that came with the written culture:
(1) Political power, writing offered the possibility to extend the range of that power. The
organization of society became much more rigid and less flexible.
(2) In the academic and scientific context, writing not only made possible abstract thought but
also allowed knowledge to be recorded and repeatedly tested on an empirical basis.
(3) Social field, writing gradually resulted in the disappearance of the social rituals and group
solidarity that typified oral cultures.
(4) The writing was responsible for the evolution of a completely new psychological
conceptualization of time and space. ‘replacing myth by history’
1.2 Printed media
The term ‘printed media’ covers several different forms, ranging from books through newspapers to
magazines.
1.2.1 Printing
The first book that was printed and distributed on a large scale what the Bible in 1456. From this date
onwards, some media historians speak of the first mass medium, although it is probably fairer to say
that it marks an important turning point. Initially, books remained the privilege of the small literate elite
who were able to afford them. The increasingly cheaper production of paper made possible much
wider distribution of books – and therefore knowledge. This is yet another instance of how limitations
in time and space were overcome as a result of technical innovation. Printing also reduced the
likelihood of errors, mistakes, and omissions. This strengthened the position of the communicator. For
the first time, a text was given a definitive form associated with a single, known author.
Layman and public printing presses gradually began to exert a growing influence on the production
and distribution of books of all kinds. The number of publishing houses increased dramatically so that
more and more books were available to an even wider public. As a result of which, people began to
realize the importance of learning to read. This unique situation formed the basis for a series of social,
political, religious, and scientific (r)evolutions. This paradigm shift is often associated with matters as
diverse as the secularization of society and the democratization of knowledge. These social-
psychological consequences are summarized in the concept of the typographical man, a person
characterized by a sharpened sense of awareness and precision, a factor that was crucial for the
development of science and learning. The typographical man was increasingly individualistic and had
for the first time a notion of privacy.
1.2.2 Newspapers and the daily press
The social context played a key role in determining the further development of the daily press. The
industrial revolution had an impact on technology (faster printing); the economy (the development of
a postal system for distribution, the fall in paper prices, the breakthrough of the middle class as a new
social player of importance); and culture (the growing availability of education and the fight against
illiteracy).
1.3 Images and visual media
Visual media only arrived on the scene relatively recently, in the absence of adequate technical
means to capture, preserve and reproduce images.
1.3.1 Registering the image: photography
Except for some forerunners as camera obscura (a system using a dark room with minimal lighting
for projections) the beginning of photography is dated in 1826 when Joseph Niépce constructed the
first camera worthy of that name. In the course of the second half of the 19 th century, the cost of
photography decreased to such an extent that it became available to a much wider public, although
the real breakthrough only came at the end of the century, when newspapers and magazines also
began to make full use of new photographic technology. This led to a new type of journalism, in which
the visual aspect and the sensational nature of reporting was destined to play a bigger role.
