History of Communication

Historians Fallacy

Assuming people in the past had the knowledge we have today which leads to unwarranted cause and effects.

Four Stages of the Press

Authoritarian, Partisan, Commercial, and Organized Intelligence (Lippmann, 1922)

Earliest Writing

Clay tokens dating to 8500 BCE in Mesopotamia, and possibly early China which kept track of resources. Hieroglyphics merged in Egypt around 3500 BCE. Formal Chinese around 1500-1200 BCE, though some primitive writing paper goes back to 6600 BCE. Olmec, Zapotec, and Mayan writing emerged in Mexico in 1000-300 BCE. First alphabetic writing date to 1800 BCE around Sinai Peninsula.

COM708 W2Q1 "What specifically did Ong mean by writing "dramatically transforming human consciousness? What have been the benefits of these shifts in predominant mode of communication over the course of Western history and what has been lost in this sense? In what specific ways do the shifts from oral to literary to print to electronic cultures over time help explain the characteristics and effects of our current media environment and communication technologies, and perhaps the nature, uses and effects of Internet-related communication in particular?"

Ong (2002) makes a strong case for how the medium and practice of moving from an oral/aural culture to a literary/visual one changes our ontology. He writes, "More than any other single invention, writing has transformed human consciousness" (p. 77). Ong says "writing establishes a discourse "that cannot be directly questioned or contested as oral speech can be because written discourse has been detached from its author" (Ibid). Ong suggests that "literate human beings really are: beings whose thought processes do not grow out of simply natural powers but out of these powers as structured, directly or indirectly, by the technology of writing" (Ibid). This resonates with Wolfe (2008) observation that, "We were never born to read" (p. 2) and "children learn the unnatural skill of reading in structured environments" (p. 19). Ong (2002) says, "The act of writing "heightens consciousness" and allows "alienation from a natural milieu" which "can be good for us and indeed is in many ways essential for full human life" (p. 81). The transitions from oral to literary culture shifts our way of thinking is well illustrated by Ong when he notices how the act of writing words "locks them into a visual field forever" and how a " literate person, asked to think of the word 'nevertheless', will normally (and I strongly suspect always) have some image, at least vague, of the spelled-out word" (p. 12). Detweiler (2013) says social media may encourage "treating friends more like an audience" (138) and thereby teach us to "exploit our friends" (149). Dyson (2012) commenting on the evolution of the Internet, asks, "Are we searching search engines, or are search engines searching us?" (p. 264).church is not, and will never be, simply a cognitive society, and the logic of grace is different from that of information (Spadaro, 2014, p. 68).

Technological Fallacies

Predictions about technology that don't come true

Brown's History of the Field

Plato 370-375 BCE 10 books introduce thinking about communication through dialogue with Socrates. 350 BCE Aristotle's rhetoric. Followed by Sophists, Isocrates, Cicero, and Quintillian, etc. Will Bleyer launched fist J. Dept. in WI in 1912; estb. J. School at WI in 1927. Students become directors of J. Depts. introduce social science in curriculum. Wilbur Schramm, writer PhD in English, learned quant. Directed U. of IA Writers Workshop. Critical war needs for com, social scientists convene in DC, no doc programs for com. Rockefeler Found. com seminars, Lasswells model 1940 (who, says what, in which channel, to whom, with what effect). Schramm increase morale and support, used surveys, learned key questions should ask about com, becomes director of Journalism school, IA: PhD speech and dramatic arts (1930), mass com (1947). U. IA J. School 1924, Scramm combines social science with journalism = mass com. EU Roots = Darwin (nonverbal), Freud (unconscious/psych/transfer and identification), Marx (critical theory). Palo Alto Group moves from Freud to relationship and interaction. U. Chicago = Rockefeller establishes, school of sociology flourishes, PhD in Sociology 1/3 of all in 1929. Cooley, Dewey, Mead, and Park strengthen qualitative. Applied research on com problems. Laswell eclectic scholar who develops content analysis and studied propaganda, empirical social science, role of media and society. 5 Q model, qual and quant q's, pioneered propaganda analysis, worked with Lippmann. Paul Lazersfeld, interdisciplinary scholar applied math PhD. Sought to break divide between qual and quant. Dev. and advocated use of triangulation, obtrusive and unobtrusive. Other scholars follow. Weiner launches cybernetics. Shannon works at Bell Labs and works with Weaver on mathematical theory of com. which standardizes com processes. Field established, research depts. at U's was key. Today: interdisciplinary field still growing, dominated by social science but cultural studies growing, diversity increasing with new methods, strongest schools land-grant, weak at Ivy League.

Cinema: The Image Comes Alive

Originated with magic lantern shows in the 1600s. Thomas Edison invented the kinetoscope and featured it at World's Fair in 1893. The basic film shorts could be seen in nickelodeons, which were machines in halls that resemble arcades. Antoine Lumiere saw on of these machines in 1894 and improved on it with the Cinematographe in 1895 which released the picture from the box for projection into theaters. Silent films began integrating special affects (A Trip to the Moon, 1902) and business took off, threatening cultural elites. Edison in 1908 created a patent to force everyone to work with him, Edison Trust. In 1909 courts ruled that theaters could not be shut down by the mayor. Racisms and censorship erupted in the 1910s ("the great white hope") and in 1915 courts ruled films not protected by 1st Amendment. The film industry formed the MPAA in 1922 and passed regulations with strict moral codes, and made it hard for smaller filmmakers to compete. They introduced ratings in the 1960s. Silent film gave way to sound in 1927 with Jack Warner. By 1930s cinema was booming with six genres: comedies, musicals, cartoons, horror, gangster, and western. Studio system worked like factory and became Golden Age. The earliest animated film was stop-motion call to support British soldiers in Boer War of 1899. In the US McCay's Gertie the Dinosaur debuted in 1914. Cartoon stars such as Felix the Cat and Mickey Mouse showed up after that with Disney introducing sound with animation in 1928, and releasing feature length Snow White in 1938. Social messages began appearing in late 30s/40s. Propaganda films golden age was WW2 era. Triumph of the Will in 1935 was a Nazi classic with the director Riefenstahl imprisoned after the war. Even worse was The Eternal Jew in 1940. Counter propaganda films such as Chaplin's The Great Dictator lampooned Nazism in the 40s. In 1947 a concern arose over potential communists in Hollywood influencing Americans with congressional hearings. Racial reconciliation films arrive in 50s and 60, and social upheaval and anti-heroes take stage in the 60s. War movies and Westerns also become popular through 70s, with Science Fiction right behind. Blockbusters are next, and on demand viewing creates legal issues and a loss of the "mass audience" with movie going on major decline compare to 1920s-30s.

"PR: A Social History of Spin"

Stewart Ewan (1996) Skeptical look at the history of PR, things much more ethical now. Opening illustration of how Joseph Goebbels (Nazi Propaganda) was influenced by Bernays work and writings. Edward Bernays talks about "engineering consent" and fountainhead for American PR. PR is not value free. Middle class wanted new national dialogue amid changes like Industrial Revolution. Lippman feared lower class revolt due to journalism challenging middle class and working conditions. The public was becoming more abstract and disembodied, needed guidance. "Media are cognitive connecting points." Discusses Vail's work to help ATT restore its image and furnish "an alternative truth." Discusses efforts such as the "four-minute men" in theaters. calls for media literacy as education--"imagine ourselves as a greater public"

9 Technologies of Writing

Stone, Clay, Papyrus, Wax Tablets, Parchment, Silk, Paper, Scrolls, Codex (book). Now we have digital text as well.

Historiography

Study of history

First Electronic Revolution: Telegraph and Telephone

Telegraph arrived mid-1840s. The term was coined in 1792 by French Claude Chappe for an invention of his involving shutters on towers. Flag signals on ships followed, and then carrier pigeons. Samuel Morse invented the code (software) that made it easy to use telegraphic devices and improved on current electrical tech, he got the idea from a printing factory which assigned dots and dashes to letters. Congress funds a national line in 1842, and the first messages was sent in 1844, "What Hath God Wrought" a later that month. 1851 first long undersea cable linked Paris and London, and International lines in 1858. Many enthusiasts saw it as a victory for Christianity. It also became primary metaphor for spiritualism. Telegraph turns emphasize timelines and standardization of info vs. storytelling. 25 years later US had built 120,000 miles of telegraph line. Western Union developed monopoly that had shady practices with AP, which formed during Mexican-American War. 1890s US Congress began breaking up commodity trusts. AP resisted until 1945. Europe developed a wire service cartel that involved a deal between Reuters and AP. The invention of the telephone in 1876 was a direct reaction to monopoly power of Western Union. Gardiner Hubbard financed a set of experiments by Alexander Graham Bell out of anger at WU/AP monopoly. Bell secured patent rights in 1876, Hubbard organized financing to create Bell Telephone Company. Elisha Graves filed a similar patent only a few hours later that same day. Bell conceited lectures and demonsrtations with his assistant Thomas A. Watson on the other end of the line. They tried to sell to WU who were aghast and critical of it. 1885 American Telephone and Telegraph were cerated and became Bell's parent company in 1899. AT&T denied access to it's line system and cerated it's own monopoly which led to an antitrust investigation. They launched PR claiming natural monopoly but were sued by Justice Dept. in 1974 and broken up in 1982. ATT also lost out as people switched to satellite options. Telegraph peaked in 1930 with 211 million messages exchanged, last one sent in 2009. Carey, medium theorist, observed how they changed language, times, boundaries, and social relations.

History of Com Studies 1930s-1950

The institutionalization of communication studies in U.S. higher education and research has often been traced to Columbia University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where early pioneers such as Paul F. Lazarsfeld, Harold Lasswell, and Wilbur Schramm worked. The Bureau of Applied Social Research was established in 1944 at Columbia University by Paul F. Lazarsfeld. It was a continuation of the Rockefeller Foundation-funded Radio Project that he had led at various institutions (University of Newark, Princeton) from 1937, which had been at Columbia as the Office of Radio Research since 1939. Lazarsfeld and the Bureau mobilized substantial sums for research, and produced, with various co-authors, a series of books and edited volumes that helped define the discipline, such as Personal Influence (1955) which remains a classic in what is called the 'media effects'-tradition. From the 1940s and onwards, the University of Chicago was home to several committees and commissions on communications, as well as programs that educated communication scholars. In contrast to what took place at Columbia, these programs explicitly claimed the name 'communications' for themselves. The Committee on Communication and Public Opinion, also funded by the Rockefeller Foundation, was staffed with, in addition to Lasswell, people such as Douglas Waples, Samuel A. Stouffer, Louis Wirth, and Herbert Blumer, all of whom held positions elsewhere at the university.

Advertising, PR, and the Crafted Image

The rise of the image as central focus of consumer and political culture was identified in 1961 by Daniel Boorstin--reproductions were becoming more "real" and speedo-events replaced real ones. Advertising goes back to street barkers/town criers in ancient market places. Pompeii even had signs with logos advertising goods. Ads made through printed woodcuts are older than moveable type, with churches distributing handbills the 1400s. Classifieds date to 1600s with the first newspaper ad being about a stolen hose in The Weekly News in 1622. Billboards and sandwich boards and the like became so prevalent in London that Charles II banned signage in 1660s. In the 1880s P.T. Barnum opened a museum in 1842 with all kinds of hoaxes and oddities, but burned in 1865. Known as "ballyhoo" extravagant ads continued to arrive with ads like Nabisco's 1898 campaign "Uneeda biscuit" with fragmented ads each day. Brits were critical. Merchandising took off in mid 19th century with department stop like Bainbrdge's in London 1849. The grocer Lipton printed fake money that could be redeemed for cheap produce in the late 1800s, etc. From 1450 to 1830 publishers depended on direct sales. Industrial presses created penny press where they would lose money and needing ad revenue. 4 types of agencies developed (1) Newspaper agency (2) Space jobbing (3) Space wholesaling (4) Advertising concession. As commerce increased specialists arrived. 1st Agency in London 1812 and in US 1841 in NY, Boston, Philadelphia. 1870s ad agencies showed up and offered full service model/development. Thompson and Ayer developed "full service" agency in 1860s. PR began in 1828 with Amos Kendall as Andrew Jackson's advisor who wrote speeches and dealt with the press. Thurlow Weed was another shortly after and was fought by Dorman Eaten who coined "public relations" in 1870 with brutal smear campaigns, including the electric chair fiasco involving Edison, and ads for everything including opium in kids' cough medicine. Around 1906 hen muckrakers exposed the fraudulent claims of the "patent medicine." PR vs Muckrakers continued with the telephone monopoly and tobacco, etc. In 1920s Edward Bernays developed more scientific approach to PR. 1917 Pres. Wilson created Committee on Public Information for government ads as well as developing the "four minute men" concept. WW2 PR and Ads boomed with propaganda. Broadcast ads 1916 and blossomed in 1950s. PR and crisis communication developed in 70s and 80s due to various controversies such as infant formula and Nestle. Ad regulation developed in 1940s and now with several cases of what is allowed. The Internet "unbundled" ads from publishers.

COM708W13Q2 "Are television and film really the principal way people learn about history today? If so, what are the characteristics and implications of this, good or bad?"

The short answer to this question, for me, is no. The television is still prominent in most people's living rooms, but the number of mobile devices outnumbers them. The Internet and streaming services have surpassed television as a source of information. As with any media environmental shift, the way information, such as history is structured and delivered needs to be examined. Media and epistemology scholar Walter Ong believed that communication developed in an evolutionary way and "each culture develops a kind of bias for a particular type of knowledge" (Soukup, 2012, p. 825). Though previous forms of media still linger in new media. In speaking of the television as a source of information and education Gabler (2011) notes that "art imitates life...as one can see from the number of novels, movies and television programs that have been inspired by real-life events" (p. 14). The blending and funneling of information through the medium of television infuses it with certain qualities. Postman (2006) writes, "For, like the printing press, television is nothing less than a philosophy of rhetoric. To talk seriously about television, one must therefore talk of epistemology. All other commentary is in itself trivial" (p. 59). Authors such as Postman observe how communication via television gives an entertainment quality to the presentation. Taking history into the digital era involves consideration of hypertext culture, fake news, and search engine dynamics. Carr (2011), contrasting print media, notes, "The Net has become my all-purpose medium, the conduit for most of the information that flows through my eyes and ears into my mind" (p. 28). Finally, unless one has been given good hermeneutical training, people drift towards sites that fit their presuppositions rather than deal in genuine historical research. Many people don't even read the articles they share, or their friends share, but simply look at the headlines and agree or disagree.

Alphabetic

Where individual characters stand for phonemes (sounds) of the spoken language, requiring fewer symbols.

COM708W10Q1 "Review Wu's MasterSwitch"

Wu (2010) looks at the history of power plays in the world of communication technology and media. Early in the book the author observes, "When the major channels for moving information are loyal to one party, its effects, while often invisible, can be profound" (p. 43). The controversy with Bell and AT&T, as well as film in Hollywood, demonstrate this dynamic. The monopoly of the telephone system or various studios make it difficult for new voices to be heard. Wu discusses the Kronos Effect, "the efforts undertaken by a dominant company to consume its potential successors in their infancy" (p. 45); also noting that "creative destruction" is an element in Capitalism (p. 51). As media powers grow they seek to stifle new voices and innovations that threaten their power—even stifling their own development, as with ATT&T and Bell labs (p.200). Wu (2010) notes the challenge of "barriers to entry...the obstacles that a newcomer must overcome to get into the game" (p. 88). The worlds of new media can have a mob mentality at times and if one doesn't understand the critical theory that drives the culture of mediums such as Twitter, it will be difficult to get a foothold. Wu says, "the state's role, while significant, cannot compare to the power of industry to censor expression or squelch invention" (p. 188). Furthermore, he notes, "The Constitution may protect us from government's limiting our freedom of speech, but it has nothing to say about anything we might do to limit one anothers" (p. 227). Wu states, "the history of American culture is as often as a story of financing as of artistic merit" (p. 133). Moreover, "a rift that will appear in virtually every information industry, the fault line between virtues of centralized and decentralized decision making" (p. 179). A lot of art that goes viral isn't financed, but is later supported by media companies with financial resources. More research into this shift, perhaps a quantitative study of viral artists who make it big, would prove fascinating.

Classifying Media Services

A four section grid with reception time and place on the left side (broken into individual and central control) and on the top source of information (broken into central and individual). From top left to right top-down programs (traditional mass media) and virtual market (eBay, etc) and at the bottom left rich content and social media.

Social Constructionists

See a stronger influence for economics, politics, and culture that control technological development.

Harold Innis

(1894-1952) economic historian who said Western Civilization has been influenced by communication technologies. Civilizations using durable media oriented towards time and religious orthodoxy (Babylon) while others with flexible media (Rome, Greece, modern) were oriented towards control f space and a secular approach to life.

The Kronos Effect

The Kronos Effect: The efforts taken by a dominant company to consume its potential successors in their infancy.

Television: A New Window On the World

1898 HG Wells wrote about man waking up 200 years later to tech which is a screen with images. In 1925 people still imaging what life would be like. Building on light sensitive proper tie of element selenium, Arthur Korn scanned photos and sent signal trough wires. Demos in 1907 convince police to use to exchange pics of criminals (photo-telegprah). In 1928 Philo Farnsworth demonstrated the television, but also competed with Westinghouse which led to patent fight that he won. TV birthed at World's Fair in 1939, RCA developed four models (Zworykin engineer) on sale at fair. Prices = new car. End of WW2 led to reverse of FCC Mayflower decision in 1949 allowing TV/Radio broadcasters to take sides on issues through as long as balanced approach, lasted through mid 1980s. 1940s/50s FCC disagreed with Hutchins Commission and constrained number of broadcasters in name of quality. 108 stations by 1948, 1952 1/3 homes had TV. Joseph McCarthy claimed to have list of communist in 1950, but his exposure on TV swayed people against him. Oct 6 1957 Soviets launch satellite shocked the West. The space race helped launch people and satellites into space. 1964 1st geostationary satellite send TV broadcasts to US from summer Olympics in Japan (ideal telecom relays conceived by sic fi author Arthur C. Clark in 1945). 1970s satellites regularly launched. Critics debated whether TV golden age or wasteland in 1950s+. Quiz show scandal in 1959 revealed contestant scripted and coached which promoted outrage, even from Pres. Eisenhower. TV labeled "vast wasteland" by FCC Commissioner Newton Minow, much early decades not great. PBS introduced in 1967 and aired 1970. TV affected politics by formalizing meetings that had been informal. It also affected opinion based on appearance of politicians, it had a new logic. With JFK assassination, Cronkite took over and gave tearful extempore commentary creating a "chapel" of televisions with Cronkite as clergyman. Debate on political ads ensued and in 2010 spending was deregulated. Vietnam was the first "living room war" with most coverage in early years "upbeat." Lyndon Johnson expressed need to win Cronkite or he'd lose the war. Civil Rights and TV in 50s/were challenging due to Fairness Doctrine. 1954 study on racially biased news on TV in South. May 1963 WLBT made concession allowed Medgar Evars speak about need to end segregation, 3 weeks later assassinated at his home. Same time United Church Christ met with Martin Luther King and others to work on challenging Southern broadcast media and blocked WLBT's license renewal in 1964. UCC lost case but appealed, and in 1966 appeals court ruled FCC conduct public hearings which happened May 1967. FCC renewed license in split decision in 1968. But court of appeals furious and in 1969 ruled FCC's conduct "beyond repair" and ordered WLBT's license revoked. But broadcast of riots hurt Civil Rights. TV ads powerful. 1975 FCC issued new guidelines advertising to children. 1990 Congress passed Children's Television Act to help create children's programming. Two major recommendations for violence led to TV produced for children and rating system. Telecom Acts of 1996 restricted hours of broadcast for mature material and using tech to block offensive material (v-chip) since 1999 and also deregulated ownership rules for broadcasting, and Fairness Doctrine became casualty. Dish/Satellite networks introduced in 1994. 2010 Cable TV peaked, but soon digital systems undermined these with channel and audience fragmentation. Commercial pressure cerated more shrill partisan voices. Narrowcasting has creature more re-tribalization.

COM708 Q4W2 "After reading Part II of the Kovarik book, select ONE topic that particularly interests you within these readings. There is plenty to choose from here from the general to the very specific. Conduct a relatively brief search of literature or other materials that deal with it. Provide a link(s) to any article, visual or other material related to your topic that you find that interests you greatly and which you think would be informative or interesting for our class."

Kovarik (2017) spends a brief moment discussing he influence of F.W. Murnau's contribution to cinema through German expressionism (p. 196-197). His best known work, Nosferatu, influenced Alfred Hitchcock and the modern horror at a time when filmmakers were moving away from romanticism and adventure. However, there is more to Murnau's vampire flick than a tonal shift. His work raises copyright issues, film adaptation issues, and the use of present absences which scholars note is more of a fusion between romanticism and expressionism. Catania (2004) says, "most critics tend to dismiss any thematic connection between novel and film" (p.229). However, Murnau possessed "an awareness that Stoker had appropriated much of Murnau's own aesthetic affinities with the German Romantic spirit in his novel (p. 230). This film gives a good case study in film adaptations. How much is one allowed to change? Murnau explored "absent presence and liminal landscape" as part of his expressionism that he felt matched the spirit of Stoker (Ibid), but otherwise changed several things. Hensley (2002) states that "...the most important transformations in the Dracula story occurred in the German film Nosferatu" (p. 59). Audiences were taken aback by Nosferatu. "The shock value of seeing Dracula in the film is substantial" as reports of people feeling the theater circulated historical records (p. 61). Prager (2000) says that Murnau is a synthesis of traditions and links romanticism and expressionism through the vampire and "combines nineteenth-century and twentieth-century art" as a way to exteriorize internal states (p. 286-288). Most recently, a fictionalized version of the making of the film, Shadow of the Vampire, continues to extol the legendary work of Murnau.

Marshall McLuhan

(1911-80) Jesuit priest and media scholar who became popular with an aphoristic writing style ("the medium is the message") and was influenced by Innis. Believed tech would move us into a "global village." Believed media were extensions/amputations of ourselves and later influenced Walter Ong. Tended towards technological determinism.

Computers

Begins 1821 when Charles Babbage (thought adding machines had been built in 1600s by Pascal and Leibniz), mathematician in London, found error astronomical charts, attempted mechanical device to prevent--a "difference engine" which took final shape as an analog computer in 1849, but only blueprinted and partially built. In 1890 Herman Hollerith tried to make census easier, pushed holes in rolls of paper, but then switched to individual cards patterned after textile guides. Tabulators could read 8,000 cards per day. He cerated International Business Machines (IBM) in 1924. Controversy broke out when IBM German subsidiary helped Nazis identity Jews. Before 1940s a "computer" was a human who computed mathematical problems. 1945 the ENIAC could do the work of 100 human computers in a year in only a couple hours. Post WW2 computer took on machine reference. Complex computations needed for weaponry. 1st electronic computer in Berlin 1941 called Z3. In a mansion in Bletchley Park a computer called Colossus was deciphering German code. Alan Turing went from here to develop his machine that was the forerunner to modern computers, and wrote a paper on AI in 1950. FDR's science advisor Vannevar Bush predicted development of "Memex" a computer that resembled a modern desktop in 1946. 1952 ENIAC spun off into private company and cerated Sperry-Rand Univac computer that debuted on CBS in 1952. Early 1950s Texas Instruments invents cheap transistor making more powerful computers possible. IBM debuts first computer in 1964 which could run multiple programs and began serving a variety of industries. Computer cost declined and other companies/programs began using them, mainframe computing boomed 1960-80. 1969 Noyce and Gordon Moore establish Intel run by engineers. First commercial chip in 1971. People began to fear Orwellian 1984 led to social reaction where engineers pushed computers to have less control and more individual empowerment. 1960s J.C.R. Licklider MIT prof and head of Defense Dept Research suggested computing should be interactive. Douglas Englebart launches demo of the "mouse" in 1968. H.S. students Steve Wozniak and Steve Jobs wanted to make free phone calls, and founded Apple in 1977 and made Apple II computer with spreadsheet program called Visicalc. Almost worked with Xerox, saw vision for ethernet, graphic usr interface, Wysiwyg editor, and programming language. 4 years later new computer with desktop publishing. IBM introduces own PC in 1981 and asked Microsoft to writer underlying OS. IBM focused hardware and MS focused on software and won. Nonlinear video editing arrived with Lucasfilm EditDroid, developed mid-80s. Multiple systems compete for PC market, Apple claimed infringement by MS but lost in 1993, brought back Jobs in 1997 and rethought computers and focused on mobile devices such as iPod 2001 and iPhone 2007 and iPad 2010. By 2012 Apple was worlds largest corporation in terms of market capitalization. They also "curate" apps and not "censor" them. Google and Android launched competing apps with more open architecture.

The New World of Radio

Electric current fascinated scientist in 18th/19th centuries, Luidi Galvani and Alessando Volta in Italy to Ben Franklin in US. Sept. 2 1859 Auroras captured many peoples attention. James Maxwell published paper a few years later on the Edison Effect where one circuit mimics another without touching it. 1880s Heinrich Hertz tested Maxwell's theory by generating electoral-magnetic waves, detecting, and measuring velocity. 1894 Guglielomo Marconi duplicated experiment, but couldn't receive over long distances. He dropped down wave length spectrum and used higher transmitters and showed his system in 1897 to government officials. Over the next few years how wireless system expanded and saved lives and money. Problems with radio played into Titanic disaster, April 14, 1921, by not being the most up to date radio--the delays cost lives. Other inventors improved on his system, but he held them back with patents, and freeze development. In 1912 Radio Acts is passed helping regulate broadcast and technology. In 1906 "radio shacks" sent and received Morse Code over airwaves. By 1920 tuning was improved addition of the "audion." Edwin H. Armstrong contributed the most to radio with a new circuit in 1914 which boosted signal strength. He developed FM and AM. American Radio Relay League forms in 1914 and commercial discussion began but held off due to WW1. After WW1 "radio craze" took off Radio Corp. of America developed more tubes and by 1930s 125 million per month Consumer demand led to patent lawsuits. Before commercial success chaos on air needed fixing, 1927 Congress creates Federal Radio Commission, and in 1928 General Order 40 regulations that split licenses into three classes. 3rd class amateur, medium sized stations, and 25 "clear channel" stations. Censorship debates occurred in 1930s. 30a-40sThe Golden Age of radio followed as it was the new "hearth." McLuhan said it "re-tribalized" and created an electronic return to oral culture and a departing from literacy. Programs Vaudeville style, and also crude and racist with Amos n Andy played by white actors, but most popular. Symphonies and education gave way to drama and comedy. News broadcasts arrived and radio gained advertising power during Depression. The Martian Landing hoax (1938) led to serious discussions about censorship hate speech, especially in light of Coughlin and "Kristallnacht." FCC made the Mayflower Decision in January 1941, a formal policy fairness. WW2 featured news, speeches, and first hand reports. 1946 Blue Book by FCC calling for personal responsibility. 1950s saw TV replace radio, so it reverted to more local content ad music top 40. Late 20th century saw distribution of talk radio (1990s), followed by XFM, podcasts, and Internet radio that customized content and created need for more copyright law.

Gonzo Journalism

Movement in the 1960s began by Hunter S. Thompson (Rolling Stone) that approached journalism as a hilariously critical, first-person view of people twisted by political and social institutions; but at times became a drug induced melange of psychotic episodes.

Literary Journalism

Movement in the 1960s that used novelistic devices like dialogue, omniscient narration, and scene by scene construction to form interesting personal narratives, sometimes mislabeled as "new journalism" but it had been used by Defoe, Dickens, Hemmingway, etc.

Master Switch "Cycle"

When we look carefully at information technologies over the last 150 years, we see a progression of disruptive innovations (those that threaten, rather than simply improve current technology) following a similar path. Each begins with an optimistic and open media and evolves into a closed and controlled industry or monopoly. This process is so typical the author had given it a name - "the Cycle". Part I describes the rise of each new disruptive technology. Part II focuses on the consolidation of each information empire. Part III explains how the stranglehold of information monopoly is broken. Part IV describes how the perennial lure of size and scale spawns new generations of the Cycle. Part V addresses the question of whether our current informational behemoth - the Internet - will follow the Cycle or can it be different?

Ferment in the Field

In 1983, the leading academic journal of media and communication studies took stock: Journal of Communication published a special issue entitled "Ferment in the Field. As noted by the 1993 follow-up special issue of Journal of Communication, entitled "The Future of the Field - Between Fragmentation and Cohesion," communication scholarship continues to find itself at a crossroads. The International Journal of Communication 3 (2009) interviewed HELLE SJØVAAG University of Bergen and HALLVARD MOE University of Bergen in 2007 and concluded: Communications was always, for the most part, a field and not a discipline. That is to say, it did not have a method or even a definite array of alternative methods.

COM708W8Q3 "Based on what you learned about the history of communication in these readings, discuss what implications there may be for the Church and communicating the Christian faith currently and in the near future."

Again, the de-centralizing of authority has massive implications for church communities. Denominational structures and official lines of communication can be bypassed with individual content and personal platforms. Once hard to reach leaders can be tweeted and commented on directly and publically. "This individualized spirituality leads to a decline in institutional authority and a rise in personal autonomy through almost disorderly individual freedom. In a context where being religious takes on a more personal quest, it could imply a loss of communal faith grammar for collective meaning making" (Cloete, 2016, p. 4). This could lead to disunity and tribalism. The good news is that marginalized voices challenging mainstream authority and can create more accountability for religious leadership. Institutions will have to become more transparent. They will also have to become more flexible and "network" more with individual platformers if they want to stay relevant. Brand loyalty and trust in "official" sources isn't always guaranteed anymore.

Luddites

1811 when thousands of British textile workers lost their jobs following the introduction of steam powered machinery. Mobs of starving worked broke into the factory and busted the textile machinery and blamed it on a mythical figure named Ned Ludd. They only intended to break the machines but people were also killed/hurt.

COM708W11Q2 "Second, suppose you were to conduct research for and write a book on the "history of spin" that covered the last half of the 20th century to the present. Keeping Ewen's book, findings and contentions in mind, what specific historical events, trends, issues and examples would you want to study and include in your book, including those that directly involved or affected the Christian community and communication within and by it and why? Create a lengthy list of what you might include in your book in response to the second part of the assignment."

1950s Brown vs. Board of Education The Opening of Disneyland Launching Sputnik/Space Race Fidel Castor Takes Leadership of Cuba 1960s Bay of Pigs Invasion Building Berlin Wall Cuban Missile Crisis March on Washington Civil Rights Act 1964 Nelson Mandela Sentenced to Life in Prison The Beatles Vietnam Malcom X Assassination Martin Luther King Jr. Assasination The First Superbowl Moon Landing Woodstock JFK Assassination Manson Murders 1970s Ban on TV Cigarette Ads Voting Age Moved from 21 to 18 Advent of Microprocessor/Texas Instruments Calculator Opening of Walt Disney World Vietnam/Peace Pact Watergate Roe vs. Wade U.S. Bicentennial celebration Star Wars 1980s Apple/IBM/Computer technology Winter Olympics "Miracle on Ice" Mt. St. Helens Eruption Ronald Reagan Election/Presidency Reagan Assassination Attempt Launch of First Space Shuttle Sandra Day O'Connor Appointment AT&T Settling Lawsuit with U.S. Justice Department Challenger Space Shuttle Explosion 5 Million People Join Hands Across US to Fight Hunger/Homelessness Atari/NES Launches Berlin Wall Torn Down 1990s Video Game Violence Bill Clinton Scandal O.J. Simpson Murder Trial Hubble Telescope Kuwait/Gulf War/Desert Storm David Koresh/Branch Davidians/Waco NAFTA Assault Weapons Ban World Series Cancellation/Player Strike Oklahoma City Bombing As insignificant as it may seem compared to major political crises on this list, Star Wars was an amazing piece of PR that definitely cut against the grain of contemporary film making.

Hot and Cool Media

A term coined by McLuhan in Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (1964). While very subjective the idea is that media that are "cool" require participation from an audience/user while those that are "hot" invite easy participation endless conscious immersion.

Photography: Giving Vision to History

A true overnight sensation. Louis Daguerre invented it in 1839, though Thomas Wedgwood experimented prior in 1792 with light sensitive chemicals and created the first unfixed photograph. The Daguerrotype was replaced by "wet plate" in 1851 by William Talbot. Photo studios cropped up in the 19th century. Pictures helped elect officials and a debate in the 1860s whether it was an art or mechanical process. In 1880s dry plate photography and celluloid plate allowed delayed development. George Eastman created roll film (1884) and the Kodak camera (1888). The pictorials movement began in response to snobbery of French portrait painters an was an art by 1890s. Pics and social reform were brought together by Jacob Riis (1849-1914) using flash photography and halftone printing. His work helped further muckraking. Henry Luce found TIME in 1923 with the conviction people needed magazine to keep informed, followed by Life magazine in 1936. Most famous pic by Dorothea Lange in March 1936 "Migrant Mother." 20th century tightly censored pics in WW1, but still pics horrified people of atrocities of war. Celebrity photos became popular, followed by environmental pictures--including one of earth from space in 1968. Ethics have been debated since "spirit photographers" in the 19th century. Digital photography came out of 50s/60s research and were used by Kodak in 1975, and then digital CD in 1992. Yet that same tech would break the company with smart phone technology, which allows for real time pictures/video of events.

The Visual Revolution

Altamira cave in Spain has images dated 35000 years ago). Visual images are key to memory and guideposts to human psych. Earliest printed images come from cylinder seals in Mesopotamia around 3500 BCE. The first mass produced images in Europe were printed with woodblocks in the 1300s and borrowed subject matter from illustrated Bible stories from medieval times. One of the first pics in newsprint was 1754's "Join or Die" snake cut into 13 pieces rep. 13 colonies. Lithography in 1796 made images more economical to print, but time consuming. Joseph Niece began experimenting with light sensitive chemicals in the 1820s and collaborated with Louis Daguerre to create first practical method of photography. Concerns arose by 1844 that images would replace reading. Lippmann (1922) borrowed the term "stereotype" to describe mental images we form about the world and images led t the shaping of public opinion. This lead to image making and advertising in the early 1900s. With the proliferation of images in digital culture Jean Baudrillard worries we will lose meaning.

COM708 W2Q3 "(1) describe in a couple of paragraphs what insights about oral cultures generally that you gained from this study of this Inca culture; (2) find another scholarly study that deals with oral cultures, past or present, in some way; describe the study briefly and suggest in a couple of paragraphs why this study adds to our understanding of orality and the shift to literacy historically. Provide a link to the study if it is available."

Archer & Archer (Date?) discuss the "quipus system of knots employed by by Incas" that had beginning and ends, as well as vertical levels, and color coding (p. 22). They note, "The material used for a medium in a civilization is often derived from a substance that is common and abundant in its environment" (p. 25). This medium of communication involved the "sense of touch" with its own unique "association with rhythm" (Ibid) and its ability to produce "nonlinear...three dimensional recording (p. 26). The idea of multidimensional/touch-oriented communication fascinates me and I wonder how it relates to concepts such as holograms and VR and their immersive environments. In searching for article on orality I came across a piece by Papacharissi (2014) looking at digital orality in light of Big Data. She writes, "Big Data make their own contribution to the storytelling practices of our time, and in doing so, they afford narratives of knowledge a unique texture, the texture we might understand as a digital orality. They may not change the definition of knowledge, but they do modify how we communicate knowledge (p. 1098). She cites Ong several times, noting his concept of "primary" and "secondary" orality and its inherent distance from the subject

Global Culture

Barries of time and space have been collapsed. A global encyclopedia (Wikipedia) founded in 2001, with first wiki software being developed in 1995. It creates an effect known as crowd psychology. It's success led to the development of Wikileaks in 2006, US reacted negatively despite history of internet support. The Penny Press model of journalism collapsed under the great efficiency of news distribution, collaborative and cities journalists popped up. Social Media further enhanced personal platforms and information outlets. eBay and Craigslist took over classifieds. Semi closed platforms such as Apple have shifted things a bit as well. Long-tail marketing arrives to market to niche markets (opposite of mass marketing), Amazon started this way. Freedom of speech, digital activism, shaming, and international regulations continue to be issues. The ability for people to shape the way tech is used to serve the public interest remains the big 21st century issue.

End of Printing Revolution

Between 2007 and 2014 papers and magazines lost 2/3 traditional ad income, 1/3 circulation, and 3/4 stock value. Problem was broken financial model for newspapers. Plus the news now leads to more divines than unity. Business and political forces helped print move though the 20th century but tech killed it in the 21st century. Online networks challenged print in (1) circulation (2) classified advertising (3) display advertising. They had warnings in the 1990s. The most important feature of digital is that it allowed people to participate.

COM708W3Q2 "2. Once you have read Burke & Orstein's article, first briefly discuss any new insight about print and communication in the Middle Ages you may have gained through the reading. Also, are there any implications based on this article that might be relevant to communication (print or otherwise) in or by the Church or elements of it today and cultural responses to it?"

Burke & Orstein (2007) state, "The ability to read and write and to communicate over distance raised the Christian hierarchs to an extremely powerful position over illiterate kings and princes..." (p. 56). Horsfield (2015) also points out the power shift that occurred when the primacy of writing took hold. Writing left the illiterate at the mercy of those who could read (p. 44). The level of power wielded by early Christians via communication technology is an interesting thought for me to reflect on. The leaders maintaining "mental control" via confession, a form of communication, (p. 57) also raises issues of privacy (p. 58

"The Nature of History"

Cairns, Earl (1979). "Introduction: The nature of history." In God and man in time. Baker House, 11-29. Cairns offers a concise discussion of the nature of history (p. 11) as it relates to scientific inquiry. He observes history "can be known by God alone because for Him there is no time in the sense there is for man" (p. 12). While God can stand objectively outside of time, "One must not forget that the historian always tends in some respects to reflect the opinions of his times or his own outlook on life" (p. 14). So how can scientific? To a degree it can't in terms of assigning meaning, and that is okay, but it can employ scientific methodology in the collection of facts (p. 20). The historian "brings a Weltanschauung...to the task of determining the meaning of his material" (p. 27). We can know, but we cannot know absolutely—this helps the historian retain a sense of humility when putting together narratives of the past.

Syllabaric

Certain symbols stand for syllables. Complex logographic systems like Chinese or Japanese have characters that stand in for syllables.

The Digital Revolution

Conceived in early 19th century Industrial Revolution and born in 20th century chaos of WW2. Early digital computers 1940s cross between adding machines and radios. Networks linked them 1950s. Nerd engineers 1960s, hipster hardware developers 70s, and cyberpunk programmers 80s/90s. No one sure where lead or what applications, and inside the computer revolution the idea of social construct dominated. The story of computers and digital media is the story of creative cultures patching together an improbable system, innovation and cooperation winning over hierarchy.

COM708 W4Q1 "Czitrom claims that the introduction of film into American society and a variety of related trends during this time period led to the development of a popular culture which some found controversial. Discuss how and why this seemed to be the case."

Czitrom (1982) observes that, "Unlike the telegraph, movies never held forth the promise of a pure medium of communication. Whereas the telegraph had inspired mystery and wonder by transforming the nature of communication, the motion picture confronted the accepted standard of culture" (p. 30). Culture was seen as a practice of self-cultivation and maturing through the most refined elements of knowledge (p. 32), but the motion pictures threatened to change all of that. A tension existed "between the belief that culture was the province of an elite and the desire to see culture spread to the great masses of people" (p. 33). The motion picture appeared as a force to cheapen culture and imply become commercialized entertainment. The author notes, "All of the surveys of motion picture popularity...placed movies in a larger context of urban commercial amusements" (p. 43). The darkness of the theater to speculation of unsavory deeds done during the show (p. 45) and "Nickelodeon vaudeville was usually cheap, almost impossible to regulate, and socially objectionable—to the authorities" (p. 47). None of these things represented refined culture that social elites wanted shared. I would like to see a study on the media ecology of the transition from theater attendance to watching movies in a home theater.

Printing Revolution

Dates: 1400s-1814 First unbound pages of Johannes Gutenberg appeared in 1454. He was born 1398 in Germany in time of upheaval. He had a business of making religious badges to give to people on pilgrimages "pilgrim's mirrors." Two investors backed him to improve the process, but due to setbacks with plague he created another opportunity beginning in 1439. Playing with various metals he created a printing system and made Bibles. Others began improving on the system creating psalters. Gutenberg solved the key problem with metal type worked on by many. The need for education and availability of material helped the enterprise grow. People began publish in Venice, known as the "incunabula," [cradle] (John of Speyer and bro Wendelin) in the last 1460s prolifically and Aldus Manutius (1449-1515) began printing at reasonable prices. by 1500 Venice produced 2 mil of the 4 mil of first printing books. Revolutionary since a monk or nun could only copy one double sided page per day. Even in earliest days a crew of 4 typesetter and printers could do 1500 double sided pages per day. Increasing availability and reducing prices.

COM708W12Q1 "As a communication scholar utilizing Peters (2012) history of the idea of communication and the multiple definitions of communication discussed in Speaking into the Air, A History of the Idea of Communication, how would you define communication?"

Every scholar I have read qualifies their attempt at a definition of communication a thousand ways. Peters (2000) says, "Communication is a registry for modern longings" (p. 2). Other scholars suggest, "Communication is the relational process of creating and interpreting messages that elict a response" (Griffin, 2012, p. 6) However, To make it about information falls into a sender/receiver model that doesn't account for cultural differences or unintended communication. The mantra "You can't not communicate" complicates the definition. Exchanging information eliminates the "I-Thou" connection Buber puts forth. Knowing the complexities involved, my working definition is: "Communication is the creation of meaning." This allows for both the intentional and unintentional sending and receiving aspects, while noting the creation aspect that I believe is reflected in Christian communication theology. Meaning also encompasses a wide variety of relational connections. I almost said "practice of creating meaning" but often we aren't that aware of the meanings we are creating. I tried to keep it fairly broad and general since pinning it down removes too may nuances of communication phenomena.

Textbook Outline (Kovarik)

Introduction PART I "The Printing Revolution" 1. The Divine Art 2. The Commercial/Industrial Media Rev. 1814-1900 3. Print Media in the 20th and 21st Centuries PART II "The Visual Revolution" 4. Photography: Giving Vision to History 5. Cinema: The Image Comes Alive 6. Advertising, PR, and the Crafted Image PART III "The Electronic Revolution" 7. The 1st Electronic Rev.: Telegraph and Telephone 8. The New World of Radio 9. Television: A New Window on the World PART IV "The Digital Revolution" 10. Computers 11. Digital Networks 12. Global Culture

COM708W1Q2 "In what ways does the study of communication using historical research methods differ from or seem particularly challenging when compared to other research methodologies used to study communication? How does the Christian who studies the history of communication make use of historical research methods and interpret history differently than other historians that study communication, if at all? How do God and biblical truth fit into the Christian historian's study and interpretation of history? How do Christians who are historians "impart" or report what they find in a way that is deemed credible by others?"

Firstly, I think believers must have extensive knowledge with the language, research, and structure of the academy and discipline within which they work. Turning in poor research that isn't formatted properly is a quick way to ruin one's influence. This dynamic is easily prevented through reading widely in the field. Secondly, as Kovarik (2017) notes, fallacies exist within historical reporting. Two key errors include "judging the present by the past" and "judging the past by the present" (p. 4). Numerous biases also exist in various historical accounts. A careful Christian can uncover those fallacies that lead to new ways of thinking. In Copan, Luley, & Wallace (2003) Zacharias points to a "smuggled in autocracy" (p. 23) within academia, which he labels a "comprehensive reductionism" (p. 24). This description of a scientific naturalist worldview is both frustrating for the believer, but also an opportunity. Kuhn (2012), notes how scientific paradigms function well until an "anomaly" reveals the insufficiency of the paradigm, which leads to a period of "crisis," and eventually the creation of new paradigms (shifts) to accommodate anomalies (68-69). When an ideological hegemony exists, it opens the door for Christian scholars to reveal blind spots (particularly qualitative ones) overlooked by the secular historian—as long as it avoids triumphalism and oversimplification.

Church and the Debate Over Radio 1919-1949

Fortner (Date?) deals with the media ecology of radio in America among Christians. He writes, "So preoccupied was the church with how to make use of this new communications medium in cooperation with the obvious institutional powers of the land, and how to make a place for sectarian positions by avoiding such entanglements, that it failed to contribute to the crucial issues surrounding the application of radio in American life" (p. 231). Working out of a "mythos of technology...caught up in the romance and promise of radio" (p. 233) the church never considered how aligning itself with the FCCCA would shape religious broadcasting. Fortner observes that Christians were "too busy trying to use the medium to be bothered with how its appropriation, financing, or control might ultimately affect the audiences they wished to reach, or even compromise their own use of it" (p. 241). Involvement in covering Scopes Monkey Trial doomed to be in public issues.

COM708W7Q3 "in what specific ways do you think the Christian community/Church in the past century and up to today has characterized and contributed to the entertainment culture and mindset and "mediated self"? How should they be responding to what exists in this respect today?"

Gabler (2011) observes, "If clothing, exercise, and plastic surgery provided the personal aesthetics for the life movie, then architecture provided the set" (p. 387). A new era in self-marketing, featuring domestic divas and infomercial motivational speakers, encouraged people to transform their life to the life they saw on the screen. Many of our best communication mediums have entertainment bias, and being ever open to using new technologies to spread the gospel, the church has run their programming through these mediums. Terlizzese (2009) points out, "The crisis in Evangelicalism's approach to technology lies between the doldrums of academic and intellectual participation and the ready acceptance of all things technological for the sake of evangelization and church growth" (55). A good example of the mediated self today is the proliferation of YouTube evangelists who have built their own platforms apart from any mainline church structure (see Forerunner777 as an example). They have embraced mediating themselves since the televangelists of yesteryear were able to build so much authority and become celebrities, even as they preached Jesus. At times, I have seen people line up after a speaker is done for a signature on their Bibles. I have increasingly felt that today we have more roving rabbis looking for online followers than we have officially endorsed pastors with credentials. Part of the issue is simply education. As Terlizzese points out, we blindly embrace new technology without asking how it alters or changes us (the old "medium is the message" dynamic). We can't become Luddites, but we can become more discerning.

COM708 W7Q1 "First, in what ways do you agree or disagree with Gabler's overall thesis and particular contentions? 3. Third, and again keeping in mind that Gabler's look at history and the present was written decades ago, can you think of particular ways "life has become movie" since then and today?"

Gabler (2011) opens his book by suggesting that entertainment, not religion, has become "the opiate of the masses" (p. 36). He chronicles the decent of media from reporting the news and culture with high values into mere entertainment with little information value. The rise of the tabloids blurred the lines between news and entertainment (p. 148) to where people now accuse newspapers as being "dull" instead of the world, which had formerly been dull and entertainment free (Ibid). Television was "tabloid come to life" (p. 150) and further infused the news with an entertainment bias (p. 174). As new mediums arrive on the scene, such as the Internet, their lack of association with unsavory culture (as the tabloids were) allows them to act as Trojan horses to further blur the lines between life and entertainment. Postman (2006), writing around the same time as Gabler, observes, "Today, we must look to the city of Las Vegas, Nevada, as a metaphor of our national character and aspiration, its symbol a thirty-foot-high cardboard picture of a slot machine and a chorus girl. For Las Vegas is a city entirely devoted to the idea of entertainment, and as such proclaims the spirit of a culture in which all public discourse increasingly takes the form of entertainment" (p. 36). These critiques of entertainment as blurring the lines with life resonate with me. It is hard to deny Gabler's thesis, which I believe has only gotten worse with the de-centralizing power of the Internet. Even the president, who is a reality TV star, labels everything fake news while engaging in open criticizing of movie stars and comedians on SNL, while also talking about national policy on Twitter. The world has begun to mirror reality television with all the drama.

Whig History

Herbert Butterfield (1900-1979) noted the tendency for historians to take sides. "Whig" comes from his criticism that historians would write o the side of Protestants and Whigs to praise revolutions, provided they were successful. Macauley observed two errors: judging the present by the past (reverence old, conservative, statesmen) and error of judging the past by the present (attracted to new, liberal, historians).

Crusading, Yellow, and Tabloid Journalism

High speed printing allowed newspaper circulation in mass umbers, and modern genres of pubic affairs journalism emerged in 1880-1920 under labels of muckraking, yellow journalism, crusading journalism, objective journalism, literary journalism, etc. Two goals: promote public good and attract readers. Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911) developed crusading journalism by studying editorials by Horace Greeley and and sensational style of Bennett, and wrote to appeal to working class and immigrants. Pulitzer and another published named Hearst pressured the U.S. into war with Spain in 1898 and led to the label "yellow journalism" for the yellow ink used to color the comic character "Yellow Kid" which often depicted working class issues. Later worked hard to avert war with Britain in 1894. He crusaded against racism and his legacy lives on with the Pulitzer Prize. Hearst continued his yellow journalism in the Examiner by publishing sensationalism with no ethical boundaries. He was widely despised at the end of his life, esp. for a visit in 1934 with Hitler, which he claimed was to save Jews, but Hitler used the visit to raise Nazi credibility. Orson Wells caricatured him in Citizen Kane (1941). Tabloid Journalism begins with Alfred Harmsworth's Daily Mail (1896) which was amusing and exciting with being lurid. Started Daily Mirror for women, but eventually became illustrated paper for men and women with stunts and promotions.

History Definition & Motivations

History is civilizations memory. From Greek "istoria" meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation. 2x motivations (1) Remember and honor histories heroes (2) Learn lessons of history

Oral Culture

Humans are born with a natural capacity for xmix language with thousands of words. People in oral culture think in practical concrete ways rather than abstract or linear ways. Decision by consensus, and modern board room or modern jury retain elements of oral culture. Ong observes mnemonic memory using aphorisms, tendency toward high descriptive speech, and constant communal communication.

COM708W11Q3 "In analyzing the history of communication throughout the 20th century to include present day, identify an instance where you feel the media practiced agenda setting, and what was the result. Be sure to note the role of framing, gate keeping and salience within this instance. Do you feel that the story was presented accurately? Were agenda setting techniques effective in capturing the attention of the public? Did the story have a noticeable bias? Additionally, suggest how you would have presented the story absent the agenda setting techniques present. What do you feel would have been the proper framing and frequency of the story?"

I think a recurring agenda setting is that of gun control, especially in the wake of another tragic shooting. When these events occur the issue of guns, which is not a bad issue to discuss, floods into news feeds—both on personal platforms and media outlets. Framing occurs as some people paint the Texan with a rifle who stopped the criminal as a hero (Dearmans, Bacon, & Moritz, 2017), while others paint him more as an aggressive with titles like "Hero Recalls Chasing Down Texas Church Mass Shooter: 'We Gotta Get Him' (Adams & Aradillas, 2017). This question is hard to answer in the 21st century since agenda setting has, according to some scholars, become agendamelding. "With the widespread diffusion of social media, agenda-setting theory can be applied to a much wider array of channels and more easily to an array of content extending far beyond the traditional focus on public affairs" (p. 788). The scholars note that "agendamelding," or the mixing and matching of media that people do on social media, "is so intimate and personal that we are not aware we are doing it" (p. 794). The news media is not as top down as it once was, and we have much more decentralization.

COM708 W6Q2 "Once you have browsed through the websites linked in the "introduction" (or similar ones) select ONE technological development related to television (e.g. there are many possibilities) and ONE program that interests you. For each, make a case for why you think it may have been among those innovations or programs that had the greatest influence on the thinking and behavior of its users, audiences, culture (s) or professions/industries associated with it during the historical period in which it was introduced and perhaps beyond this. In each case, do a search to become more familiar with the technological innovation and/or program."

In 1976 Sony introduced the Betamax, "the first home video cassette recorder" (thoughtco.com). This invention is significant on multiple levels and really foreshadowed a major shift in the nature of entertainment. The Betamax suddenly empowered people to enjoy films in their own homes instead of having to go to the theater or wait on the whims of broadcasters. A new level of control over programming was introduced into the home. This shift in technology is noted by a 1978 Betamax advertisement posted by Flickr user Nesster (2009) which carries the slogan, "Watch whatever, whenever." Most academic articles on the technology talk about its legal issues and how it relates to peer-to-peer sharing. However, Time magazine's Dan Fletcher (2010) suggests, "Betamax wasn't so much a bad product as a lesson in marketing gone awry" arguing came out too quick and lost quickly to VHS. I don't think it is the technology itself that is as impressive as the concept—home entertainment. This concept not only gave rise to VHS, but also DVD, Blu-Ray, and now streaming and on-demand forms of home content. These forms further create autonomy amount audiences and a desire for greater control over content. Star Trek is an outstanding and influential television program that has reinvented itself for each new generation. Kovarik (2017) says the show "whose themes and characters envisioned solutions to racial and cultural tensions" (p. 330). He recounts the story of African American actress Nichelle Nichols inspiring civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. (Ibid).

Digital Networks

In 1990 at CERN Tim Berners Lee created a network he called the WWW. Marc Andreeseen created the software called Mosaic (a browser). It caught on and the WWW was on everyone's mind by 1994. But people had dreamed about a system like this going back to H.G. Wells (1937). It began as government tech but became so useful it went everywhere. It began as interdepartmental email in 60s-70s, and grew up during Cold War period. The basic infrastructure of the Internet was in place by 1978, but capabilities lagged. By the 80s it was functioning in Universities ("gopher networks"). From 80s-early 2000S ISPs and internet was offered through most telephone companies. DSL arrived in 2004. AOL failed due to its closed system and not understanding the nature of open-source. Al Gore helped clear the way for commercial internet and it really becomes available in 1989-1993. News and other browsers followed and put content online. Free software, free Internet, and Net Neutrality become ongoing issues. US believes Internet competitive market and data treated equal (recently voted in May) unlike some other countries.

History of Com Studies Ancient-1920s

In ancient Greece and Rome, the study of rhetoric, the art of oratory and persuasion, was a vital subject for students. One significant ongoing debate was whether one could be an effective speaker in a base cause (Sophists) or whether excellent rhetoric came from the excellence of the orator's character (Socrates, Plato, Cicero). Through the European Middle Ages and Renaissance grammar, rhetoric, and logic constituted the entire trivium, the base of the system of classical learning in Europe. US 1900s-1920s: early twentieth-century work by Charles Horton Cooley, Walter Lippmann, and John Dewey have been of particular importance for the academic discipline as it stands today. In his 1909 Cooley defines communication as "the mechanism through which human relations exist and develop—all the symbols of the mind, together with the means of conveying them through space and preserving them in time." This view gave processes of communication a central and constitutive place in the study of social relations. Public Opinion, published in 1922 by Walter Lippmann, couples this view with a fear that the rise of new technologies in mass communication allowed for the 'manufacture of consent.' John Dewey's 1927 The Public and its Problems drew on the same view of communications, but instead took a more optimistic reform agenda, arguing famously that "communication can alone create a great community," as well as "of all affairs, communication is the most wonderful. Cooley, Lippmann, and Dewey capture themes like the central importance of communication in social life, the impact of changing technology upon culture, and questions regarding the relationship between communication, democracy, and community. George Mead and symbolic interactionism also part of the pragmatist Chicago school.

COM708 W5Q1 "Once you have read each of these chapters, please discuss: (a) what you think were the KEY ideas, conclusions or contention in EACH chapter that informed your understanding of the history of communication technologies and their influence on culture and communication at the time they were introduced and beyond; (b) what key ideas or historical happenings discussed in each of these chapters might help us better understand what happened in later time periods and even in our media/cultural environment in the United States of elsewhere today (for example, some have drawn parallels between the development and influences of the telegraph to the introduction, development and influences of the Internet); (c) what one new specific research question that in some way deals with the Christian community's response to or involvement with any ONE of these technologies during the specific time period that was focused on in the article do you think would be interesting to address through historical research."

In chapter one Czitrom (1982) writes that the telegraph "opened modern era of communication in America" (p. 3). This new medium became the "annihilator of space and time" (Ibid) working through the "shadowy, mysterious, and impalpable" spark that rests "latent in all forms of matter" (p. 9). The author notes how people referred to Job 38:35 to talk about their mastery over lightning, giving the new technology spiritual and mythic qualities, which is also alluded to in Kovarik (2017, p. 256). The telegraph managed to alter the concept of "communication" but dividing "communication (of information, thought) from transportation (of people, materials)" (Czitrom, 1982, p. 11). The public demonstrations and excitement over the new medium caused the NY Times to label it a "divine boone" (p. 14). Religious language permeates technological innovation and the public celebrates each new advent. Telegraphy impacted all facets of life (social relations, business, language, etc.) making the point that communication and life are deeply intertwined. In chapter three, the author (1982), notes how radio "brought the outside world into the individual home" (p. 60). "The relation between the wireless and ether stirred anew the old dream of 'universal communication'" (p. 65)" and would possibly usher in "a new electrical sense," meaning epistemology (Ibid). The author spends time looking at how "advertising men aggressively and confidently reduced the new medium of communication to an extension of their trade" (p. 77). Williams (2007) also points out that by 1900 "the sensual pleasures of consumption clearly triumphed over the abstract intellectual enjoyment of contemplating the progress of knowledge" (p. 138). Consumerism and consumption integrated with radio and became a "household necessity" due to, not only news, but entertainment (Czitrom, 1982, p. 83). Radio influenced musical forms and "did more than any other medium to publicize and commercialize previously isolated kinds" of music (p. 85) as well as popularize soap dramas and mysteries (Ibid). Gabler (2011) notes that in the 19th century "the entertainment aesthetic was bigger, faster, and louder" linking the desire for entertainment with biological desires (p. 37). Since then it has only become more so. While radio is still prevalent, we now have the digital ambiance of the internet (Spadaro, 2011) that constantly displays ads on side bars and banners on every YouTube video and Facebook newsfeed. Czitrom (1982) says radio "created a need for products largely through an appeal to a mythical past—lost community, lost intimacy, lost self-assurance" (p. 88). Each year billions are spent on ads and infomercials to convince us that what our lives are missing can be found through purchasing the latest produce. I think the issue is mostly the same only more intensified in the 21st century. RQ: What were the common religious texts and themes applied to new technology between the telegraph and radio?

History of Com Studies 1960s

In the 1960s, Gould and his colleagues experienced increasing demand for doctoral-level studies in technical and business communication. As a result, in 1965 RPI began its Ph.D. program in communication and rhetoric. This Ph.D. degree program became a prototype for other technologically oriented programs in the United States and other industrialized countries. The 1960s and 1970s saw the development of cultivation theory, pioneered by George Gerbner at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. This approach shifted emphasis from the short-term effects that had been the central interest of many earlier media studies, and instead tried to track the effects of exposure across time. In the early 1960s Communication Studies began to move towards a more independent field, and move out of the departments of sociology, political science, psychology, and English.As a result of many of these sociological changes taking place in society, communication and mass media acquired the role of explaining these changes to the public. In response to the Civil Rights Movement, Vietnam War, and other dramatic cultural shifts, critics using Marxist and feminist theory to study dominant cultures became prominent in scholarly conversations. Cultural Studies related to mass media and critics asked why a number of big organizations had such an influence on society. The political turmoil of the 1960s worked to the field's advantage because mass media scholars began to explore the influence that media had on culture and society.

COM708W12Q2 "Discuss specifically how you think Peters' conclusions about the history of the idea of communication: (1) compare to Christian or biblical ideals or truths about the nature of communication; and how (2) various ideas about communication that Peters refers to within his work may have characterized the ideas about communication held by the Christian community or Christian organizations at different times in the past and help explain their communication in practice; and (3) in the same way, what predominant basic, past ideas and related practices regarding communication are characteristic of the Christian community and Christian organizations today."

In the early part of Peters (2012) book he specifically comments on Christianity and communication. "Several elements in the Christian tradition offer dissemination as a mode of communicative conduct equal or superior in excellence to dialogue" (p. 53). He says this in references to the parable of the sower. Admittedly a lot of Christian communication includes mass media (handbills, mailing, tracts, etc.) that can be relied upon to the point of losing the personal touch of relationship. Peters notes how communities that don't experience touch disintegrate (p. 269). I think the emphasis on evangelism and telling the world (Acts 1:8) that creates a sense of urgency for Christians, which makes mass media appealing. A striking comment that Peters makes is that, "In a larger sense, the whole narrative of redemption of the Christian Gospels centers on a wasteful act. The Son of God dies for every living creature, most of whom will not accept, appreciate, or even know of the sacrifice" (p. 55). Often the cost to convert ratio, when it comes to communication mediums like television or high production value live programming, creates questions. Why invest so much with so little return? Why bother with the effort when we may never know who will respond? The sacrifice of Christ brings some perspective, though not in encouraging wasteful behavior. Rather, remembering the cross should give us passion to try even when results may be mixed. Nord (2000) discusses mass media as being a result of missionary zeal. "Perhaps more than anything else, the missionary impulse—first in purely religious crusades and then in more secular reform movements—lay at the foundation of popularization of print in the nineteenth century" (p. 69). Peters observes that "the motto of communication theory ought to be: Dialogue with the self, dissemination with the other" (p. 57). Not only does this progression reveal the beginning local and moving to the outskirts outlined in Acts 1:8, but, theologically it works since we cannot properly testify to what we haven't already experienced. Moreover, Schultze (2000) approaches the act of communication as the ability to co-create culture with God (p. 19). He points out, drawing on the call to "rule" found in Genesis 1v28, "Our communication can constructively or destructively define reality" (25). Within Christian communication is the call to reframe reality in light of God's truth, but we cannot do that if that truth hasn't first been worked out in us yet. Of course, many definitions of communication imply relationships. "At best, 'communication' is the name for those practices that compensate for the fact that we can never be each other" (Peter, 2012, p. 268). Throughout scripture we are called upon to love people, even enemies.

"Speaking Into the Air"

In the early part of Peters (2012) book he specifically comments on Christianity and communication. "Several elements in the Christian tradition offer dissemination as a mode of communicative conduct equal or superior in excellence to dialogue" (p. 53). He says this in references to the parable of the sower. Admittedly a lot of Christian communication includes mass media (handbills, mailing, tracts, etc.) that can be relied upon to the point of losing the personal touch of relationship. Peters notes how communities that don't experience touch disintegrate (p. 269). I think the emphasis on evangelism and telling the world (Acts 1:8) that creates a sense of urgency for Christians, which makes mass media appealing. Peters says, "Communication is a registry for modern longings" (p. 2). Peters observes that "the motto of communication theory ought to be: Dialogue with the self, dissemination with the other" (p. 57). Of course, many definitions of communication imply relationships. "At best, 'communication' is the name for those practices that compensate for the fact that we can never be each other" (Peter, 2012, p. 268).

Internet vs WWW

Internet isa global confederation of computer-to-computer networks that send digital signals though telephone, cable, satellite, and fiber optic systems. WWW is a multimedia information system that runs on the internet and allows exchange of docs through hypertext links.

COM708 W3Q3 "Some scholars have asserted that the advent and development of print technology and its applications had a greater historic influence on culture(s) than any other communication innovation or technology before or since. Based on what you have learned, discuss both why and why not this basic argument may be valid. Be specific in supporting your contentions."

It is hard to argue with the contention that print technology and its applications are the most influential element of all communication innovations. Part of the reason why this is difficult is the fact that print technology has created space for making so many technological applications that it is hard to think of social media, the Internet, or mobile devices as being completely irrelated, though they work on us in their own unique ways. I would suggest, however, that more than print the simple invention of the alphabet is more revolutionary. Ong (2013) notes how the "keen analysis or dissection of the world and of thought itself made possible by the exteriorization of the alphabet in the Greek psyche" (p. 28).

National Courier

Keeler, J. D., Tarpley, J. D., & Smith, M. R. (1990). The National Courier, news, and religious ideology. Explores the National Courier's rise and fall as a Christian newspaper. It held the "ideal of a non-denominational newspaper committed to the highest journalism standards while reporting all types of news from a Christian perspective" (p. 275). Despite its aspirations it suffered due to "problems in defining its audience clearly hindered obtaining advertising its product" (p. 279). Eventually the newspaper narrowed its focus from wider news to those things directly affecting the Christian community. The authors observe that it suffered from its "vision never [being] precisely defined" (p. 281) and how it was "shaped more by events and circumstances than by predetermined agreement among all those who were involved" (Ibid). The major contribution of the article is its illustration of the challenge Christian communication faces when it has to determine whether to speak to Christians or non-Christians (p. 285); and how to strike the "balance between being a business and a ministry" (p. 286). Sadly, National Courier "could not overcome the reality that the Christian community is divided into countless numbers of small segments, each with its own leaders, theological perspectives, organizations, and concerns" (p. 290). A problem still faced by Christian media who tend to stay within their own subculture.

COM708 W1Q3 " Discuss in a paragraph or so, in the case of each reading, what you believe are the main contributions the scholar(s) may have made to communication history dealing with the time period and subject they covered and beyond; (2) in the case of ONE of the studies, describe in a paragraph or so at least one new historical study that you think it would be good for communication scholars interested in history to pursue that is directly tied to or built specifically on what was addressed in or was left unanswered in the study."

Keeler, Tarpley, & Smith (Date?) explore the National Courier's rise and fall as a Christian newspaper. It held the "ideal of a non-denominational newspaper committed to the highest journalism standards while reporting all types of news from a Christian perspective" (p. 275). Despite its aspirations it suffered due to "problems in defining its audience clearly hindered obtaining advertising its product" (p. 279). Eventually the newspaper narrowed its focus from wider news to those things directly affecting the Christian community. The authors observe that it suffered from its "vision never [being] precisely defined" (p. 281) and how it was "shaped more by events and circumstances than by predetermined agreement among all those who were involved" (Ibid). The major contribution of the article is its illustration of the challenge Christian communication faces when it has to determine whether to speak to Christians or non-Christians (p. 285); and how to strike the "balance between being a business and a ministry" (p. 286). Sadly, National Courier "could not overcome the reality that the Christian community is divided into countless numbers of small segments, each with its own leaders, theological perspectives, organizations, and concerns" (p. 290). A problem still faced by Christian media who tend to stay within their own subculture. Cairns (1979) offers a concise discussion of the nature of history (p. 11) as it relates to scientific inquiry. He observes history "can be known by God alone because for Him there is no time in the sense there is for man" (p. 12). While God can stand objectively outside of time, "One must not forget that the historian always tends in some respects to reflect the opinions of his times or his own outlook on life" (p. 14). So how can scientific? To a degree it can't in terms of assigning meaning, and that is okay, but it can employ scientific methodology in the collection of facts (p. 20). The historian "brings a Weltanschauung...to the task of determining the meaning of his material" (p. 27). We can know, but we cannot know absolutely—this helps the historian retain a sense of humility when putting together narratives of the past. Fortner (Date?) deals with the media ecology of radio in America among Christians. He writes, "So preoccupied was the church with how to make use of this new communications medium in cooperation with the obvious institutional powers of the land, and how to make a place for sectarian positions by avoiding such entanglements, that it failed to contribute to the crucial issues surrounding the application of radio in American life" (p. 231). Working out of a "mythos of technology...caught up in the romance and promise of radio" (p. 233) the church never considered how aligning itself with the FCCCA would shape religious broadcasting. Fortner observes that Christians were "too busy trying to use the medium to be bothered with how its appropriation, financing, or control might ultimately affect the audiences they wished to reach, or even compromise their own use of it" (p. 241). Nord (2000) discusses mass media as being a result of missionary zeal. "Perhaps more than anything else, the missionary impulse—first in purely religious crusades and then in more secular reform movements—lay at the foundation of popularization of print in the nineteenth century" (p. 69). He carefully chronicles the publishing challenges faced by tract and Bible societies in the 19th century. As these organizations grew they began to "install steam-powered presses" (p. 77) and became a "pioneer supporter of machine papermaking in the United States" (p. 79).

COM708W8Q1 "Select one topic within Kovarik's historical treatment of the "digital revolution" that particularly interests you. Find a study/article that relates to the historic topic and briefly capsule what it is about and why you believe it contributes to scholarly understanding of the historic period, subject and influences on culture (s) it represents. Also, briefly propose a new communication-related historical research study that deals with your chosen topic and/or the subject of the particular study you found that you believe could contribute meaningfully to communication history scholarship"

Kovarik (2015) observes the digital revolution involved a "creative culture patching together an improbable system" where "cooperation wins over hierarchy" (p. 347). He cites an article that notes how "electronic technology is conducive to freedom" (p. 423). The dynamic of digital technology as a vehicle for freedom over hierarchy is significant, particularly for Christians. Cloete (2016) makes a much needed study into the dynamic of religious authority in a digital age. She observes that "the use of technology is embedded in our everyday living" (p. 1) and how "media as a culturally embedded institution like religion" (p. 3). "As the social and cultural practices and context changes, the socially constructed process of religion and religious authority are affected by these changes" (Ibid). Cloete concludes that "religion is not deinstitutionalized, but rather reinstitutionalized through the media" (p. 5). This fascinating dynamic is one that churches, with various media ministries, need more understanding on. With so many people using social media, countless institutions from newspapers to hotels are threatened by individual content. Authority no longer has to be conferred on someone by an institution. Content can be validated by the people, whether true or false. For a new study, it might be good to do a statistical analysis of the authoritative sources people claim, and then see how it varies among generations.

COM708 W3Q1 "1. Select any one sub-headed topic in the first part of Kovarik's book that particularly interests you. Then do a search for information/studies of other materials that deal with that topic or a particular print influence-related topic that falls within that historical subject area."

Kovarik (2017) discusses McLuhan's "tetrad" which consists which states a new media can "enhance, obsolesce, retrieve, and reverse" (p. 13). Schaefer & Steinmetz (2014) explore McLuhan's tetrad as it applies to the trend of cop-watching by civilians using mobile devices and the internet. They note how the internet "enhances the experience of information accessibility by amplifying the speed of delivery" (p. 507). Footage of police doing a number of what appear to be questionable actions are instantly uploaded and accessible for all. Second this form of counter-surveillance "retrieves the importance of the storyteller" since "anyone has the capacity to publish their work online through social networks, tweets, or blogs" (Ibid). Thirdly the internet "obsolesces older forms of media, such as newspaper" as well as CDs and DVDs (Ibid). Lastly, this medium for surveilling the police "yields reversals" by engaging in "a media which itself is increasingly subjected to surveillance" (p. 513). The authors note how major search engines, social media, and Amazon are gathering data from users.

COM708W1Q1 "After you have read the Kovarik "Introduction" and looked at the MEA site, address the following: What do you think are the advantages and disadvantages of this approach to studying communication and its history? "

Kovarik (2017) opens his work with the observation that "history is collective memory" (p. 1). Memory in and of itself is a communicative vehicle to recall experience and knowledge to help us interface with the world. Our ability to remember social structures and language are rooted in history. In order to communicate effectively, whether on answers to Blackboard questions or at tea parties, we must have some way to recall what we have learned from the past and apply it to the present. Communication and history go hand in hand. Communication also involves technological mediums—which have histories of their own. Kovarik mentions McLuhan's famous "medium is the message" mantra (p. 8) and enters a discussion of media ecology. The MEA (2017) website cites Strate (1999) when it explains that media ecology "is the study of media environments, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication play a leading role in human affairs." The "use of tools" is part of our human identity. Gorman (2015) points out that technology is linked with our life and death and notes the contemporary "psychological and even metaphysical transactions that take place in this constant self-imaging and self-databasing" (p. 10)

Can History Be Objective

Leopold Von Ranke (1795-1886) believed in an objective "scientific" historical method that reported things as they really were. Thomas Macaulay (1800-59) said it is incomplete if it only involves "palace intrigues and great battles." Patrick Novice says seeking objectivity is futile and not everything can or should be quantified. Instead people like Charles Beard (1874-1948) and Lord John Edward Acton (1834-1902) tried to write more relevantly and approached it as a moral enterprise. Acton "power tends to corrupt..." and as time moved on people like Howard Zinn wrote from a people's perspective and after WW2 people explored more consensus rather than conflicts through 50s/60s but that changed in the 60s/70s with social history. Better to say we can be responsible than objective.

Print Media in 20th and 21st Century

Mergers in the 1970s pos cities had a amor paper, an by the early 21st century monopoly had underestimated the digital revolution. American newspapers lost their readers, and it affected journalism. 100 years ago journalist Will Irvin declared the press was wonderful but didn't speak to his generation and blamed the AP. Newspapers needed competition with magazine who reported various social issues as the "system had failed." By 1906 reform journalism had shaken institutions to the core. In 1906 Roosevelt gave his "muckraker" speech slammed journalists for muckraking [investigative reporters] all the filth of the world into the papers and questioning institutions. by 1914 muckraking was over. WW1 shocked a world that had believed in human progress, and there were cases of cover up of atrocities, Russia at the time enforced censorship wth prison time. In May 1933 the Nazi book burning occurred, and propagandizers in the wake were prosecuted as war criminals. In WW2 the Hutchins Commission found freedom of expression imperiled by acerbating tech and irresponsible publishers. Various lawsuits, libels, and leaks occurred (such as Watergate) and by 1980s trust in the press was at 50% and half of that by 2015.

"Life: The Movie"

Neil Gabler (2011) opens his book by suggesting that entertainment, not religion, has become "the opiate of the masses" (p. 36). He chronicles the decent of media from reporting the news and culture with high values into mere entertainment with little information value. The rise of the tabloids blurred the lines between news and entertainment (p. 148) to where people now accuse newspapers as being "dull" instead of the world, which had formerly been dull and entertainment free (Ibid). Television was "tabloid come to life" (p. 150) and further infused the news with an entertainment bias (p. 174). As new mediums arrive on the scene, such as the Internet, their lack of association with unsavory culture (as the tabloids were) allows them to act as Trojan horses to further blur the lines between life and entertainment.

McLuhan's Tetrad

New communication technologies crate four effects: (1) The new media enhances something (2) New media makes something obsolete (3) New media retires something that had nearly been forgotten from an earlier time (4) The new media reverse or flip into something different. Example: "A new computer enhances retrieval, obsoletes mass library organizations, retrieves the individual's encyclopedic function, and flip into a private line to speedily tailored data of a salable kind." In other words networked competes facilitate memory but allow commercial invasions of privacy.

"Evangelical Origin of Mass Media"

Nord (2000) discusses mass media as being a result of missionary zeal. "Perhaps more than anything else, the missionary impulse—first in purely religious crusades and then in more secular reform movements—lay at the foundation of popularization of print in the nineteenth century" (p. 69). He carefully chronicles the publishing challenges faced by tract and Bible societies in the 19th century. As these organizations grew they began to "install steam-powered presses" (p. 77) and became a "pioneer supporter of machine papermaking in the United States" (p. 79). The Christian organizations' ability to create "systematic organization" (p. 82) and follow the motto "to more individuals at less expense" (p. 90) helped inspire mass communication. The author shares that, "Many secular associations would eventually adopt the printing, distribution, and organizational methods of the Bible and Tract Society" (p. 90).

COM708W11Q1 "First, briefly discuss what ideas, contentions or facts in Ewen's historical treatment of the history of public relations were most significant or perhaps eye-opening to you."

Numerous ideas and concepts present themselves in Ewen's (1996) work on PR; but perhaps the main theme is the idea that an irrational public could be manipulated. "Whereas social optimism, civic engagement, and a pristine faith in reason had been the birthmarks of the late-eighteenth-century public, individual anxiety, a sense of impending chaos, and guarded habits of insularity enveloped middle-class life a hundred years later" (p. 52). He further states the reason for this is that "the physical environs of middle-class existence were becoming more detached, however, mental connections to the world at large were, simultaneously, breeding" (Ibid). Instead of an Enlightenment view of a reasonable men and women, the emotional non-rational crowd needed to be programmed. PR people, "Harnessed to the idea that the truth is something that can be merchandised to the public" (p. 80). The text alludes to a "hypodermic needle" approach by which using certain external techniques and pressures, including those from advertising as opposed to journalism, can sway a passive public. "Progressives, who had once believed in the fertile powers of human reason, were now, according to Bourne, dealing with the American people as if they were "sluggish masses, too remote from the world-conflict to be stirred, too lacking in intellect to perceive their danger" (p. 125). Going through the text it is easy to see Ewen's bias against PR people.

Phases of Printing Technology

Phase 1: Craft Printing (1455-1820) -Printing Chapels -Typesetting (set by hand by letter, 5 wpm) -Printing (Fed manually wood/metal press) -Circulation (sent to subscribes through mail) Phase 2: Steam Printing (1820-1890) -Typesetting (still set by hand, more workers) -Stereotyping (cast metal copies into plates) -Presses (steam press speeds up) -Circulation (mail and hawking on street) Phase 3: Hot Type (1890-1960) -Typesetting (machine invented 1886, 30wpm) -Photo Halftones Engraving (1880s, pics etched on metal plates) -Printing (automated rotary press) -Circulation (mail and also through delivery carriers) Phase 4: Cold Type (1950s-1980s) -Typesetting (photo-mechanical 6x faster in 1970s, by 80s word process and typeset handled by mainframe comps) -Pre-press (sheets of photo sensitive paper, workforce cut in half) -Photo Halftone Prints (halftones printed out for paste up) -Printing (light aluminum plates allows faster and color) -Circulation (home delivery routes common, postal subsidy for publishers reduced) Phase 5: Digital Media (1980s-Present) -Typesetting (desktop publishing) -Pre-press (digital layouts eliminating paste ups, nearly all production workforce eliminated) -Digital Photos (first photo handling desks 1989) -Printing (Internet, bypassing small print operations) -Circulation (news of all kinds available to nearly everyone online)

The Electronic Revolution: From National Neighborhoods to the Global Village

Rapid communication over long distances associated with divine (Nike, Hermes, Mercury). Historians see telephone and telegraph as one-on-one, but media not easily separated--news agencies also used these tech. Tech goes through three stages of open, closed, and alternative. Electronic communication arrived quickly from the late 1920s to early 1950s. McLuhan said these social changes would create a "re-tirbalization" into a "global village." Yet print and electronic co-existed. From 1920s on the power of amplified sound and moving images created new opportunity to abuse and elevate the human condition.

Study of Communication History Criticism (Kovarik)

Relatively new but histories of the press appear far back as 1683. Critical perspectives of printing business appeared in 20th century inspired by Theodore Roosevelt's denunciation muckraking in 1906, and Walter Lippmann's "Public Opinion" in 1920. Even in early 21st century media students saw media historians lagging behind social issues and digital revolution. It has been nationalistic and parochial and needs more breadth and integration.

Logographic

Representations of familiar objects through a logo or picture of an object.

Technological Determinism

Technology is path-dependent, with inevitable changes and consequently predicable impacts on culture.

Print and the Protestant Reformation

The Church initially welcome printing as a divine gift with the Latin Bible. Yet, Gutenberg's invention did more to destroy Christian accord than the arts of war ever did (Elizabeth Eisenstein). It started when Bibles in vernaculars appeared. It amplified Luther's 95 theses and started a revolution. While hiding in Germany Luther translated the Bible into German and described printing as God's "highest act of grace." Catholics and Protestants both used the press in the 1500s to spread their message. Henry VIII had The Great Bible printed in 1539 and Foxe's Book of Martyr's shows up in 1559. The Catholic Reformation saw some exceed for owning the wrong version of the Bible, while Protestants in Switzerland, Germany, and England held to "sola scriptura." Eventually the Treaty of Westphalia in 1628 agreed each king would determine religion of his region. As religious warfare diminished the creed for printing became tolerance with people like John Milton arguing for a "marketplace of ideas" (1644).

History of Com Studies 1970s-80s

The Journal of Communication referred to the 1970s as a "time of ferment, particularly in the speech field. As social scientists pushed for recognition of 'communication' as the dominant term, rhetorical and performance scholars reconsidered and redefined their theories and methodologies." Speech Criticism combined with other sectors such as journalism and broadcasting to form of Communication Studies. In addition to the subgroups of the field making changes, national associations frequently changed their formal names to adapt to the growing field of communication. For example, in 1970 the Speech Association of America became the Speech Communication Association. Radio and television continued to develop throughout the 1970s and this boom in diversity "forced scholars to adopt a more convergent model of communication." There was no longer only one source for each message and there was almost always more than one path from sender to receiver. Neil Postman founded the media ecology program at New York University in 1971. In 1972, Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw published a groundbreaking article that offered an agenda-setting theory that paved a new conception of short-term effects of the media. This approach, organized around additional ideas such as framing, priming, and gatekeeping, has been highly influential, especially in the study of political communication and news coverage. The 1970s also saw the development of what became known as uses and gratifications theory, developed by scholars such as Elihu Katz, Jay G. Blumler, and Michael Gurevitch. Instead of seeing audiences as passive entities experiencing effects from a one-way model (sender to receiver), they are analyzed through the paradigm of actively seeking out content based on their own pre-existing communication needs. In 1980 the US Department of Education classified "communication" as a practical discipline, which was associated primarily with learning journalism and media production. The same classification system deemed speech and rhetorical studies a subcategory of English. By the 1980s many colleges and universities across the country decided to rename departments to include the word "communication" in the department title. Other schools began titling their departments Mass Communication, or created independent communication departments.

History of the NCA

The association's founding in 1914 arose from a dispute within the ranks of the National Council of Teachers of English. Dissatisfied over the diminished importance of speech instruction within departments of English, seventeen speech teachers withdrew from the council to form the National Association of Academic Teachers of Public Speaking (NAATPS). That initial interest in public speaking and persuasion still remains fundamental to the Communication discipline. NAATPS inaugurated its first publication, The Quarterly Journal of Public Speaking, within a year of its founding. In 1917, the publication's name changed to Quarterly Journal of Speech Education. By 1916, it had 160 members, and that number grew to 700 by 1920. At the same time, universities pushed to achieve greater recognition for the discipline, with an increase in the formation of departments of speech. The University of Iowa and the University of Wisconsin were the first two speech departments to offer courses toward the Ph.D. in 1921. With membership having increased to 910 by 1923, the organization underwent its first name change, to the National Association of Teachers of Speech (NATS). New services, including job placement, were added. In 1934, NATS began publishing Speech Monographs (now titled Communication Monographs), and membership topped 2,000. During this period, the Communication discipline shifted toward a focus on rhetoric. Both rhetorical theory and criticism came under the purview of teachers and researchers in speech, as the discipline of English became interested in literary criticism. The Communication discipline also was influenced by the social and intellectual climate of the time. From the late 1920s to the 1940s, the Communication discipline sought to integrate contemporary thought into its teaching and research. Some of the most prominent influences came from the psychology theories of Sigmund Freud and the social adjustment theories of John Dewey. Speech scholars focused on the study of personality and its relation to speech, envisioning the classroom as a laboratory for personality improvement. In 1946, the association again changed its name to the Speech Association of America (SAA) and officially incorporated under this name five years later. In January 1952, SAA launched its third quarterly publication, Speech Teacher (now Communication Education), which was geared toward the classroom teacher. Within two years, the publication had a circulation of more than 2,000, including 175 library subscriptions. Fluctuations in membership and fractionalization of academic specialties within the discipline in the 1960s led to growing support for a reexamination of the association's structure and governance. A new constitution was drafted and the constitution became effective on July 1, 1970, the same year the organization chose a new name: the Speech Communication Association (SCA). In 1997, the organization underwent yet another name change to become the National Communication Association. It outgrew its Manhattan headquarters and moved to Annandale, VA, just outside of Washington, DC.

Scientific and Technical Effects of the Printing Revolution

The exact and repeatable message carried authority. Early on religious intolerance held back scientific publication, but gradually science adopted printing as part of their education and training. Soon news showed up in print, Acta Diurna (2nd century BCE considered first). But in early 1700s 4x types showed up: (1) Relation, a single event (2) Coronto, small bound book with news about foreign country (3) Diurnal, regular publication on one subject (4) Mercury, small book covering events from foreign country for six months at a. time. Newspapers arrived in 1600s, beginning with Johann Carolus' business newsletter. Censorship began in Rome around 443 BCE with a person in charge of public morals. Four approaches were used in Europe: (1) Licensing of printing company itself (2) Pre-press approval of each book (3) Taxation and stamps on regular publications (4) Prosecution for against the government or libel of individuals. Church issue first list of banned books in 1559. Sweden first country to ban censorship in 1766. Freedom of the press became an issue as it helped spark English Civil War and Revolutionary War. Postal rates in UC helped produce vast quantities of newspapers, including partisan papers, by the 19th century.

Printing Revolution (1814-1900) Commercial and Industrial Media Revolution

The steam-press (London Press, November 29, 1814) was 4x more efficient than hand press. The business model took off in the States in the 1830s where taxes didn't hold back competing newspapers. The Penny Press revolution democratized the media. The editorial agenda also changed from long political discussions to short features with popular tastes, bizarre hoaxes, and crime with lurid details. The New York Sun was the best/worst example of this kind of publication. Horace Greeley established the NY Tribune in 1841 to have something moral and trustworthy. Henry Raymond founded NY Times in 1851 which wasn't quite as high-brow as the Tribune. The end of newspaper taxes in the mid-1850s opened door for Penny Press in Britain with the Telegraph which competed with the Times. Papers in Germany and Austria/Hungary also tended to serve the political elite, until revolutions in 1848. Karl Marx started Rheinische Zeitung in 1848 which got him exiled in France and Belgium where he wrote Communist Manifesto.

COM708 W8Q2 "In Friedman's "history of the 21st century," he describes 10 forces which "flattened" the world. Select three of those forces that you believe are still or perhaps more greatly evident today. Briefly discuss why you believe so, while providing specific, current examples of how and where these forces are at work."

The three forces in Friedman's book I chose were Netscape, work flow software, and uploading. Of Netscape, the author writes that it "brought the Internet alive but also made the Internet accessible" (p. 62). This is evident today in the fact that schools now begin training children to use online resources from young ages. Varying apps and games, available online, are used by nearly everyone. Netscape has given way to search engines like Google which have greater accuracy and ability than Netscape did—to the point that Google has entered our vocabulary as a verb. Friedman points out that work flow software "enabled more people in more places to design, display, manage, and collaborate on business data previously handled manually" (p. 78). One example of this, used daily by my staff and I, is Google docs. My team, regardless of where we are, can edit and manage work documents simultaneously. This fast way to produce content reduces the need for formal meetings and planning sessions. Finally, uploading "not only enabled more people to author more content, and collaborate on content. It also enabled them to upload files and globalize that content...without going through any of the traditional hierarchical organizations or institutions" (p. 94). This happens everyday on social media. Even the president uses Twitter to start dialogue and suggest policy—instead of going through the traditional communication mediums. People bypass customer service and post complaints that go viral and can end up costing companies big bucks if they do not respond.

COM708 W6Q1 "In what ways do you think the performers had to adapt their performance skills in moving from a vocal performance used in radio to a vocal and physical performance used in television? Do you think the change from the use of sound effects and vocal intonations to the physical and visual realities influenced the connection and intimacy between the performers and the audience? How do you think the transition from auditory to visual cues influenced the thinking and behavior of the audience in the new medium of television?"

There are several ways performers would have to adopt their skills moving from radio to television. First would be having to understand where to move to stay within the camera frame. Not staring at the camera, or even the studio audience, would also be a difficult adaptation to make. The use of various props (such as doors, chairs, etc.) add another level of performance to actors. In the Jack Benny Show character are constantly interacting with the backgrounds while music plays, whereas on radio they would only have to wait until the song was over to resume any action. Finally, the reactions of the audience would affect the timing of lines. When a joke is made, or a well-known performer enters the scene, laughter and applause have to subside before performers can continue with their lines. Various scenes and props would certainly enhance the connection between performers and audience. By situating performers in actual scenes that mirror the audience members, and showing all the processes performers go through in various locations, the audience feels as though they are in the scene with the performer. Various product placements that audience members may have in their home would further make a connection to performers.

SYLLABUS OUTLINE

Topics 1. Approaches to Studying the History of Communication; Historiography and a Christian Perspective of History; "Communication Revolutions." 2. Changing from the Preliterate to Literature Mind and World; Choosing an Historical Research Project. 3. Changing from the Literate to the Print Mind and World. 4. Changing from the Print to the Visual Media World. 5. The Electronic Revolution and Mind. 6. The World of Television. 7. The Entertainment Mind And World. 8. Changing to the Digital World and Mindset. 9. Communication Revolutions or Just Cycles? 10. History of "Spin" 11. History of Communication in the Church; Histories and Their Influence. 12. History of Communication Research

Effects of Printing

Unifying national languages and codifying dialects through works such as Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and the KJV in 1611. Standardization of information. Printing standardized in the early 1500s. It spread humanism and individualism, boosted through biography and authorship. Introduced the possibility of personal comparison, old ideas could be contrasted, contradictions revealed, an new ideas presented.

History of Com Studies 1950s

Universities combined scholars of speech and mass media together under the term communication, which turned out to be a difficult process. While east coast universities did not see human communication as an important area for research, the field grew in the midwest. The first college of communication was founded at Michigan State University in 1958,[6] led by scholars from Schramm's original ICR and dedicated to studying communication scientifically. MSU was soon followed by important departments of communication at Purdue University, University of Texas-Austin, Stanford University, University of Iowa, and the University of Illinois. Walter Annenberg endowed three Schools for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, The University of Southern California, and Northwestern University. Associations related to Communication Studies were founded or expanded during the 1950s. The National Society for the Study of Communication (NSSC) was founded in 1950 to encourage scholars to pursue communication research as a social science.[9] This Association launched the Journal of Communication in the same year as its founding. Like many communication associations founded around this decade, the name of the association changed with the field. In 1968 the name changed to the International Communication Association (ICA). The work of what has been called 'medium theorists', arguably defined by Harold Innis' (1950) Empire and Communications grew increasingly important, and was popularized by Marshall McLuhan in his Understanding Media (1964). Two developments in the 1940s shifted the paradigm of communication studies in the 1950s and thereafter toward a more quantitative orientation. One was cybernetics, as formulated by Norbert Wiener in his Cybernetics: Or the Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine. The other was information theory, as recast in quantitative terms by Claude E. Shannon and Warren Weaver in their Mathematical Theory of Communication. These works were widely appropriated to, and offered for some the prospect of, a general theory of society.

"Orality and Literacy"

Walter One (2013) provides numerous interesting observations about oral culture. He writes, "language is so overwhelmingly oral that of all the many thousands of languages - possibly tens of thousands - spoken in the course of human history only around 106 have ever been committed to writing to a degree sufficient to have produced literature" (p. 7). When it comes to how oral cultures function he simply states you have to "Think memorable thoughts" and "you have to do your thinking in mnemonic patterns, shaped for ready oral recurrence" (p. 34). What was so fascinating is how aphorisms and proverbs provided the methodology for justice in the ancient world. The concept of a "books of sayings" is critical to an oral culture as "they form the substance of thought itself (p. 35). Ong states, "A judge in an oral culture is often called on to articulate sets of relevant proverbs out of which he can produce equitable decisions in the cases under formal litigation before him" (Ibid). This description made me think of Solomon in scripture where it says, "He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005" (1 Kings 4:32). The nature of oral communication is complex and is more verbose than literary culture. "Oral expression thus carries a load of epithets and other formulary baggage which high literacy rejects as cumbersome and tiresomely redundant because of its aggregative weight" (p. 38). The author notes that, "Redundancy, repetition of the just-said, keeps both speaker and hearer surely on the track" (p. 40). He (2013) writes, "When a speaker is addressing an audience, the members of the audience normally become a unity, with themselves and with the speaker. If the speaker asks the audience to read a handout provided for them, as each reader enters into his or her own private reading world, the unity of the audience is shattered, to be re-established only when oral speech begins again" (p. 73).

COM708 W7Q2 " Second, discuss both a (1) historic and (2) a current communication technology-related example (beyond what is mentioned in the book) that seem to suggest that entertainment overtook reality in American or other cultures in such areas as politics, education, literature, business, sports or others?"

While it isn't a communication technology per say, I think the light bulb, discussed in previous weeks, demonstrates how entertainment overtook reality. This also goes back to Postman's observation about Las Vegas being a metaphor for the world. The lightbulb allows us to manipulate night and day, and many times, as in the case of Vegas or any number of establishments such as Sports Bars or theaters, we can now stay up past bedtime entertaining ourselves with gambling, shows, and food. Williams (2007) observes that "the advent of large-scale city lighting by electrical power nurtured a collective sense of life in a dream world" (p. 141). As for a contemporary example, I would suggest Amazon.com has become a vehicle for entertainment. They sell entertainment based products, and also random things that pop up as advertisements on social media based on your searches. Buying on Amazon is not only a convenience for needed products, but a form of entertainment itself as a host of unnecessary, but fascinating, items are available for purchase—a dynamic Gabler (2011) discusses in the 'Mediated Self' section.

Printing and the Renaissance

While underway prior to the printing press, printing fed the desire of knew knowledge. There is debate over whether print caused it or enhanced it. First goal of printers as to make religious texts available, and second was to recover ancient Roman and Greek manuscripts. Various publishers began emphasizing nationalistic and humanistic goal and agendas.

"Proust and the Squid"

Wolfe (2008) begins her book with the observation that humans "were never born to read" (p. 2). She then goes on to elaborate on the human brain's amazing "open architecture" (p. 5). She uses the metaphor of Proust's sanctuary and the scientist's study of a squid to look at the reading process (p. 6). She chronicles the staggering way that the brain applies "highly automatic rules about the sounds of the letters in the English writing system, and used a great many linguistic processes to do so" (p. 8); and how, "The brain doesn't find just one simple meaning for a word; instead it stimulates a veritable trove of knowledge about that word and the many words related to it" (p. 9). All this is done in nanoseconds. The brain is able to "go beyond the original design of its structures" (p. 15) which can lead to a debate about which is more natural--orality or developing other mediums of communication?

COM708 W2Q2 "How might Wolf's research and views inform our understanding of the history of communication, particularly as we try to understand the history of preliterate as opposed to literate cultures or transitions from one to another? What do you agree and disagree with among the contentions that Wolf makes? What implications do Wolf's findings and views have for understanding efforts to communicate the Christian faith historically and presently?"

Wolfe (2008) begins her book with the observation that humans "were never born to read" (p. 2). She then goes on to elaborate on the human brain's amazing "open architecture" (p. 5). She uses the metaphor of Proust's sanctuary and the scientist's study of a squid to look at the reading process (p. 6). She chronicles the staggering way that the brain applies "highly automatic rules about the sounds of the letters in the English writing system, and used a great many linguistic processes to do so" (p. 8); and how, "The brain doesn't find just one simple meaning for a word; instead it stimulates a veritable trove of knowledge about that word and the many words related to it" (p. 9). All this is done in nanoseconds. The main point of the reading is to demonstrate the unnaturalness of the reading process. "Reading has no direct genetic program passing it on to future generations"(p. 11). The brain is able to "go beyond the original design of its structures" (p. 15) which can lead to a debate about which is more natural--orality or developing other mediums of communication? Our brain's ability to shift and adapt would make it seem almost necessary to do so for our benefit (Ong, 2002, p. 81)While Wolfe approaches the question from an evolutionary perspective, the believer can contemplate what purpose God may have giving the human brain such a capacity.

COM708W13Q1 "First, briefly describe a feature film or particular television program that you believe may have significantly influenced your view of the history represented in it, and in what specific ways."

there are definite aesthetics about historical periods that I picked up. Several films from Disney influenced my perspective, particularly the way England is presented in Mary Poppins, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang. England, particularly London, has always been 19th century Victorian with cockney accents.