What is Mass Media?
The source that the majority of the public uses to get their news and information is considered mass media. With the advancement of technology, therefore, never before in mankind’s history has the media had such a significant impact on our lives and behavior.
Mass media means technology that is intended to reach a mass audience. It is the primary means of communication used to reach the vast majority of the public, who typically relies on the mass media to get the current news and facts about what is important and what they should be aware of.
People have put their trust in the media as an authority to provide them with news, entertainment, and education.
The Newspaper and the Radio
The newspaper was the original platform for mass media. For a long period of time, people relied on writers and journalists from the local newspapers to provide them with the latest news on current events.
By the end of the XIX century, the radio replaced the newspapers as the principal source of news regarding politics, social issues, and entertainment.
Television and the Internet
After that, in the 1940s and 1950s, television invaded the world’s homes, becoming the most effective platform to reach the general public.
Today, the internet is the most relevant form of mass media and has become a major tool for new outlets. With the arrival of the internet, which in the beginning people called the World Wide Web, the general public is now able to access those same news outlets in an instant, instead of having to wait for scheduled programs.
Characteristics of the mass media
Main characteristics of mass media:
- They are a professional type of communication.
- They appeal to a large and vast audience.
- They communicate a public message.
- They can be transmitted through various channels (TV, the internet, radio, and newspapers).
- There’s a distance between the source of information and the destination.
- There is an absence of feedback (news or information can’t receive feedback).
- Finally, they have a heterogeneous audience.