How has mass media and advancement of technology impacted history American society and the documentation of events?

Answer 1

That is a wonderful question for an exam (I've asked it of my own students). So think about mass media as having a printed form (books, magazines, and internet publications) and also an electronic form (radio and television, for example). In the old days, events could only be documented verbally, by people who witnessed them. Whether you believe The Bible is true or whether you think it's a bunch of stories, it has some fascinating examples of how "news" was transmitted in those pre-media days. A leader like Moses would tell the people what happened, and then other leaders (Aaron, Miriam) would go out share the story with those who were not there when Moses spoke. The problem with oral society is that things change as the story is told and re-told. But for that time, story-telling was an art, and those who did it the best were admired.

Once the printing press was invented, we moved beyond storytelling (with its frequent changes, errors, exaggerations, and dramatic flourishes-- based on the style of the storyteller) and into preserving the story in one version. Yes, there are many translations and many perspectives now, but these various ways to tell the story are also preserved. I can read a copy of The Boston News-Letter even though it was written in the early 1700s; I can go back in time to other centuries and read what was reported at that time. Of course, the move away from storytelling meant that literacy was crucial (a wonderful book about this is by Walter Ong, "Orality and Literacy"), and not everyone could read. Also, the story was told very differently when told for the printed page versus being told by a live human. But mass production of print publications got the same story out to more people all over the country. It wasn't in real-time, but nobody expected it to be. They were just happy to have it at all.

In those days, there was no such term as "mass media"-- in fact, the newspapers and magazines were called "the press," a sort of tribute to the machine that made Mass Communication possible-- the printing press. When radio came along in 1920 and when TV began to be popular in the USA in the late 1940s, mass communication was extended even further. Unlike the newspapers of that time, radio took you directly to the event in real-time and let you hear it; TV took you there and let you see it. And of course, today, the internet takes you there even faster and lets you have the news from sources all over the world. So we have gone from the storyteller, who went from place to place telling the news in a way that may or may not be accurate and was reliant on transportation that could only get him or her there slowly; to the mass-produced newspapers and magazines of the 1700s-1800s (still slow, but at least consistent in what they reported); to radio, beginning in 1920 (you didn't need to know how to read, and it brought you to the event and let you hear it, a gift for blind people and for immigrants still learning English); to television (which let you see and hear the event, assuming a station had reporters on the scene) to today's newest technologies like social media that not only take you to the event but let you comment on it in real time.

The good news about all of this new technology is that we get information faster now and have so many sources and ways to gather that information; the bad news is that error, rumor, and disinformation compete with actual and fact-based stories, and that people now expect instant news rather than waiting till all the facts are known.

Answer 2

Mass media and technology have greatly impacted American society by shaping public opinion, influencing political discourse, and providing immediate access to information. The speed and reach of mass media have increased the spread of news and changed the way historical events are documented and interpreted by providing multiple perspectives through various forms of media such as television, internet, and social media. Additionally, advancements in technology have made it easier to preserve and disseminate historical information, allowing for greater accessibility and interaction with historical events.