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Period: Jan 1, 1401 to Jan 1, 1500
Handwritten Media
Before the first breakthrough in mass media that occurred during the 15th century, all media previously developed had to have been handwritten. During this time, the mass distribution of print media was practically and economically impossible. -
Period: Jan 1, 1493 to Dec 31, 1493
Movable Type
Johannes Gutenberg, a German inventor, was fascinated by printing and experimented with various methods of print throughout the 1430's. After gaining financial support, Gutenburg developed and introduced the first movable type into Europe, which allowed for the start of mass-distributed print media to usher in incredibly important times in history, such as the Renaissance and the Protestant Reformation -
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Rise of the Newspaper
The increased efficiency of printed media led to the steady rise of newspapers during the 19th century, particularly in the urbanised communities of America. The intended audience were the Americans who were lost in a rapidly changing world, and the newspaper allowed them to stay up on the current events as opposed to the traditional way of verbal gossip -
Industrialisation of Printed Media
During the year 1810, another famed German printer Friedrich Koenig furthered the latest developed in print media when he combined the efficiency of the steam engine with to the movable type printing press, ushering in the industrialisation of the printed media. Koenig's machine more than doubled the standard rate at which pages could be printed to almost 100 pages per hour -
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Penny Papers
Newspapers were at a severe threat of becoming metaphorically extinct during the 1830's due to the introduction of penny papers. Penny papers were broadsheets very similar in style and content to newspapers, however they were significantly cheaper and contained more exciting political news than what was seen in the standard newspaper. The penny papers also favoured the middle and lower classes as standard newspaper usually contained events concerning the upper-class -
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Radio
The first major non-print form of media had officially skyrocketed in popularity across the world in the form of the radio. Not only were they quite cheap in comparison to telephones, but they also had the ability to transcend geographical boundaries and talk to people across the world at the same time. It was also a great place for advertisers, who now had their biggest audiences ever -
Television
In a time characterised by prosperity, the post-WWIII era saw the introduction of another breakthrough form of mass media: the television. The first electronic television was displayed on the 1st of September, 1927 at San Francisco and it's popularity rapidly grew, evidenced by the statistic that showed around 17000 T.V. sets were used in America during the year 1946. It's main reason for being invented was to contribute to the American economy, which flourished at the time -
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Social Media
The 21st century is a time known to be dominated by spectacular technological advancements and this can be seen in the rise of social networking. The main form of media nowadays is the countless social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, that allow everyone in the digital age to connect and view what's going on around the world