Mass communication has been around since ancient times and can be traced back as far as 3300 B.C., when Egyptians created hieroglyphics and produced murals, statues, and carvings. This form of communication continued evolving throughout ancient times with kings patronizing writers to write books and dramas. The creation of the alphabet with consonants by the Semites in 1500 B.C followed by the creation of the alphabet with vowels by the Greeks in 800 B.C was a catalyst for news, thoughts, stories, and ideas to be spread.
Mass communication really took off in 1400 A.D when Johannes Gutenberg, who was a German goldsmith, invented the printing press. This invention allowed books to be printed in large quantities and shared with the masses for reasonable prices. In 1600 A.D the newspaper was developed, but it took a century for this form of mass communication to become an influential form of communication to the masses.
While forms of mass communication have been around since ancient time periods and developed over time, the term mainstream media didn't enter the scene until the term was "strategically promoted" by Richard Nixon when he was President of the United States in 1969.
Nowadays mainstream media consists of television, print, radio, and internet sources that provide news and information to large groups of people. Most mainstream media in the United States are owned and operated by a few conglomerates such as CBS, News Corps, Time Warner, and Disney. Since a majority of Americans own televisions and electronic devices like computers and smartphones it is easier now than ever before for mainstream media to reach large audiences. What makes mainstream media different than other media is that it is traditional broadcasting and or a print model of disseminating information and entertainment typically catered towards mass markets that has developed overtime into being leftward leaning in its political stance rather than sources that people self-select to cater to and curate their sources based on their interests and political views. With mainstream media there are select gatekeepers who decide what news and information you need to know whereas other media typically offer more transparency. These days mainstream media is commonly referred to as legacy media, and many people predict that the current media formats used today is on a decline and will be replaced with new media formats within the next decade.
A positive impact of mainstream media is that with the click of a button, people can become informed on local, national, and international current affairs. Mainstream media can also provide entertainment and be a relaxing pastime for viewers. Mainstream media can also share heartfelt and inspiring stories and information that can be very motivating and encouraging to viewers. Lastly, mainstream media can be a very good platform for advertising agencies promote products on. Since mainstream media has a large audience, advertising on these platforms can bring in a lot of revenue which helps individual workers and the economy.
A negative impact of mainstream media is that most media has a very biased political stance, so information and news can be manipulated and portrayed in an unfair way. For this reason, it is hard to know if mainstream media sources are being completely transparent and honest with the information and news they share. Mainstream media can also cause division between political parties and pin one party against the other. It is also hard for conservatives to consume content from mainstream media without hearing it from a liberal standpoint since even the media that claims to be conservative such as Fox tends to lean left. Lastly, the mainstream media can have a negative effect on elections by presenting opinions and predictions as if they were facts. For instance, mainstream media has announced that Joe Biden has been declared the next President of the United States when the electoral college hasn't actually announced that he is officially the winner. This causes misinformation to be spread to the masses and soon people take the media's opinions and make them truths.
Mass communication has evolved so much overtime, and I think it is interesting to see how this evolution has lead to what the mainstream media is today. While the system has many flaws, it is amazing that people can be informed about the news and find entertainment at the touch of a button.
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