Types of mass media

The significance of mass media for human life cannot be overestimated. This is true because beyond the physical requirements of food and shelter everyone needs communication, entertainment and information. And it’s mainly mass media that can satisfy all these requirements at the same time.

The mass media fall into 3 categories based on the technology by which they are produced — print, electronic and photographic.

The primary print media are books, magazines and newspapers. Among their distinguishing features we can name: binding, regularity, content and timeliness. Books usually have stitched or glued binding, magazines — stapled, newspapers are usually unbound, but they are joined together by a fold line. Print media are usually regularly published except books which have only a single issue. And as far as timeliness is concerned there should be admitted such fact that books generally are not timely, for magazines timeliness is not an issue, it’s not very important for them, but for newspapers timeliness is significant. And the most important peculiarity of print media messages is that they are in tangible form. They can be picked up physically and laid down, stored for later reference, etc. Even though newspapers may be used to wrap up the leftovers from dinner for tomorrow‘s garbage, there also is a permanency about the print media.

The primary electronic media are television, radio, sound recordings and the web. They flash their messages electronically. Pioneer work on electronic media began in the late 1800s, but they are mostly a 20th-century development. Unlike print messages, television and radio messages disappear as soon as they are transmitted. Messages can be stored on tape and other means but usually they reach listeners and viewers in a nonconcrete form. TV is especially distinctive because it engages several senses at once with sound, sight and movement. But a real wonder is the newest mass media — the World Wide Web. It combines text, audio and visuals — both still and moving — in a global electronic network.

The technology of movies is based on the chemistry of photography. But it should be said that movies may not be longer a chemical medium. As a lot of video production, including some prime-time television, is shot on tape and stored digitally. Photography itself is also moving from chemistry to digital technology, and an end may be coming for darkrooms, hypo and fixer.

And in the end I’d like to say that it’s great that there are various types of mass media as everyone has an opportunity to choose the most suitable and accessible way of achieving information about the world.