Introduction to New Media PDF

## Introduction to New Media ### Unit I: Internet and Convergence * **Topics Covered:** * **New Media: How was it born?** * **Old Media:** * **The traditional media (Mass Media)** * **History of the Internet:** * **Revolution of internet** * **Phases of internet...

## Introduction to New Media ### Unit I: Internet and Convergence * **Topics Covered:** * **New Media: How was it born?** * **Old Media:** * **The traditional media (Mass Media)** * **History of the Internet:** * **Revolution of internet** * **Phases of internet development** * **Media and Convergence** * **Rise of social media:** * **What is social media** * **Its impact on the new media** * **Impact on society and culture** * **New Media for Social Change.** ### Working Notes * The study of media and mass communication follows a few fundamental assumptions: * **Media and mass communication are ubiquitous and pervasive.** * **Media and mass communication act upon (and are acted upon by) people and their social environment.** * **They both can change the environment as well as the person (influence).** * **Mass communication refers to:** * **Messages transmitted to large audiences via one or more media.** * **Media are the means of transmission of such messages.** * **These messages may mean different things to different people and are typically determined by the different channels used to communicate them.** * **More importantly, we have to appreciate the role of specific media play in bringing about certain meanings and impact** ### Mass Media in India * **The Bergal Gazette - 1780 by James Augustus Hickey:** Story of newspaper in India * ** Mach (Nass)**: was seen in the 19th century by James Augustus Hickey. * **Growth media played a crucial role in Indian freedom struggle.** * **The All India Radio (AIR-1936)**: Indian Broadcasting Company (1927) * **First Cinema - 1913-Raja Harishchandra - Harish Chandrashi factory.** * **Television Broadcasting 1959-post Independence - Doordarshan.** * **The Madras Courier-1785, Hurkaru-1791, 1878-The Hindu - Kasteiri Ranga liyergar.** * **Bombay Herald - 1789.** ### Mass Media: The Beginnings, Growth and Evolution * **Britanica Dictionary defines mass media as modes of mass communication whereby information, opinion, advocacy, propaganda, advertising, artwork, entertainment, and other forms of expression are conveyed to a very large audience.** * **The term 'mass communication' was coined, along with that of 'mass media', early in the 20th Century. It describes what was then a new social phenomenon and a key feature of the emerging modern world.** ### What is the Modern World: * The world after the second industrial revolution (typically after 1850s, i.e. late 19th century). The modern world often embraced the grand narratives and a belief in progress, rationality, and the possibility of achieving universal truths. * This modern world was being built on the foundations of industrialism and democracy. Mass media were born into the context of the deep conflicts of this age of transitions and have continued to be deeply implicated in the trends and changes of society and culture and that were experienced at the personal as well as the societal level. ### So how was mass media born? * The occurence of human communication over time and distance is much older than the mass media in use. * This process was extremely important to form early values, societal paradigms, culture, and its effect spread across vast areas. ### Examples of early mass media? * **Ora media** - it is an African context. Oramedia was used as a vehicle for disseminating culture and transmitting messages from the ruling elites to the ordinary/common people and vice versa. * **In the Arab world, writing poetry has historically been a key source of mass communication - especially to spread state propaganda and religious decrees.** ### Point to Note: * Some of the earliest theories of mass media and mass communication, especially in the context of people outside of the Western world were developed to account for mapping the various different ways those people, their social groups, communities, and culture resisted the traditional ways or offered a considerable alternative to the traditional ways of mass communication. * The birth of printing press in Europe changed the dynamics of the contemporary society and culture. A prime example can be the use of print media to propagate and advocate religious wars. It gave a massive power to print mass media. It was acquired a space and place in the social culture and defended the social culture. ### Mass Media: * **The print media:** The earliest forms of mass media were printed. This type got its start in China around 600 BC. Our today's newspapers followed its earlier versions (cousins) years later after its first printing in China. It was found in Rome. * **By the Middle Ages (400-1500 CE), the European Church had established an elaborate and effective means to ensure transmission of their information to everyone without exception.** [Established control over what kind of information will go out, When, to all - and that is the gospel truth.] * **Thus, when independent media arrived in the contemporary sense, such as printing - authorities and State across all continents reacted with alarm and with the thought of losing the control over the spread of information.** It created a lot of censorship - across the globe. * **Examples: Private printing ban by Chinese authorities 835 AD and ban on certain texts and information to be printed by several religious and state authorities.** * **Four Main Elements that are significant when considering the history of Mass Media wider life of society - when considering the history of Mass Media** * **What is the purpose of communication: what are its uses - eg. Religious or political propaganda.** * **Technologies used or invented to communicate messages publicly - eg. invention of printing press/ publishing of books.** * **What are the forms of social organization that offer skills and framework for organizing the production and distribution of information. Eg. Establishment of media school of thought, ecosystem in and around that institution.** * **Are there any forms of regulation or control? - eg. can only publish 'certified texts', etc.** * These elements do not have a fixed relationship with each other. They depend very much on the then existing circumstances of time and place. * For eg. printing or invention of printing technology merely replaced copying text by hand. * Another example can be how telegraph replaced physical transport of messages. * On the other hand, sometimes technology such as film or broadcast radio does not have any clear evidence of need. * The combination of these elements depend on both material factors and then pre-existing social and cultural climate. Both the requirements are extremely difficult to predict or pin down. * However, what is common across all is the need for some freedom of thought, expression. It is vital for the development of any media. * **Film or Cinema:** * **Broadcasting or Radio:** * **Television:** ### The Print Media * The earliest forms of mass media were printed. This type got its start in China around 600 BC. * Our today's newspapers followed its earlier versions (cousins) 500 years later after its first printing in China. It was found in Rome. * By the Middle Ages (400-1500 CE), the European Church had established an elaborate and effective means to ensure transmission of their information to everyone without exception. [Established control over what kind of information will go out, When, to all - and that is the gospel truth.] * Thus, when independent media arrived in the contemporary sense, such as printing - authorities and State across all continents reacted with alarm and with the thought of losing the control over the spread of information. It created a lot of censorship - across the globe. * Examples: Private printing ban by Chinese authorities 835 AD and ban on certain texts and information to be printed by several religious and state authorities. ### The Print Media as a Medium and Institution * **Key Aspects** * **Medium Aspects** * **Technology:** Print and Internet * **Periodicity:** Regular and frequent appearance * **Topicality:** (and currency) of contents and reference * **Individual or group reading** * **Institutional Aspects:** * **Urban 4 secular audience** * **Relative freedom, but self-censored** * **In public domain** * **Commodity form** * **Commercial basis** ### The Other Print Media * The printing press gave rise to other forms of publication than books and newspapers. It includes: plays, songs, serial stories, poems, comics, pamphlets, reports, handbills, etc. * The single most notable form from the list above has been the periodical or the magazine. Starting from the early 18th century, the magazines have gradually become a mass media product. Initially aimed at the domestic and cultural interest of the people, it has now evolved into a mass market of high commercial value and enormous breadth of coverage. It has targeted the personal sphere of the audience catering to a large and wide range of interests and activities. ### The Newspaper * It took almost 200 years after the invention of printing to get to a place / entity …. what we today call as the Newspaper. This newspaper is completely different from the 16th century printed news items such as the handbills, pamphlets, and newsletters. * The early newspaper was marked by its regular appearance, commercial basis, and public character. Thus, it was used for information, records, advertising, diversion, and gossip. * The Initial commercial newspaper (early 17th century) did not identify with any single source. Rather, it was a compilation made by a printer-publisher. The official newspaper showed similar characteristics. However, it was also a voice of authority and an instrument of state. * However, over the years, there has been several evolutions in the commercial newspaper. It has, in a way, shaped the newspaper institution as we know today. Primarily, it has offered a service to its mass anonymous audience rather than be one instrument to authorities or propagandists. * Thus, we can say that the Newspaper has been more of an innovation than the printed book - which was an invention. * Its distinctiveness lies in its orientation to the individual reader and to reality, its utility & disposability, and its suitability for the needs of new literate and professional audience. ### The Newspaper as a Medium and Institution * **Key aspects:** * **Medium Aspects:** * **Technology:** Print and Internet * **Periodicity:** Regular and frequent appearance * **Topicality:** (and currency) of contents and reference * **Individual or group reading** * **Institutional Aspects:** * **Urban & secular audience** * **Relative freedom, but self-censored** * **In public domain** * **Commodity form** * **Commercial basis** ### The Newspaper as a Medium and Institution: * **Key Aspects:** * **Medium Aspects:** * **Technology:** Print and Internet * **Periodicity:** Regular and frequent appearance * **Topicality:** (and currency) of contents and reference * **Individual or group reading** * **Institutional Aspects:** * **Urban and secular audience** * **Relative freedom, but self-censored** * **In public domain** * **Commodity form** * **Commercial basis** ### Films as a Mass Medium * Films began at the end of the 19th century almost at the same time across different parts of the globe. It was more of a technological revolution rather than something that offered new content. It's content was more visual but followed the same tent as it was in the print. * However, what it DID offer was the new way of presenting and distribution of an older tradition of entertainment, offering stories, spectacles, music, drama, humor, and technical trick for popular consumption. * Cinema or films were instantly taken up by masses and became a telle (mass medium) as it reached the far ends of the world, rural and Urban equally, in far less amount of time. * Films as a mass medium, films were partly responsible to the invention of leisure time and an answer to the demand for affordable and respectable ways of enjoying face time for the whole family. * Hence, it offered the working class some benefits that were already being enjoyed by their social elites. Films met the individual needs of identity, glamour, power etc. ### Why do we like films: * It offers escape from the humdrum reality * It takes us into a more glamorous world full of fantasy and aspirations. * It fulfils our need/wish for strong narratives that should be taken up by the society as a whole. * It elevates and fuels the search for role models and heroes. * It also fulfils the need to enjoy and spend free time in more respectable & socially acceptable ways. ### We should not simply characterize films as the ‘Show business’. It just doesn’t convey the whole story. * Over the years, there have been 3 significant stands in film history: * **Use of propaganda films:** The use of propaganda films, especially the ones covering national or societal purpose has been immense. The reasons for its popularity can be found in its great reach, supposed realism, emotional impact, and increasing mass appeal. * **Rise of the social documentary films movement:** Films as a medium, was never, and will never be limited to producing ‘mass-favored content’. Over the years we have seen production of films that are targeted to a particular sect / populous / group, highlighting their problems, flaws in the system, difference between expectations & reality and several other factors. Documentary films have a minority appeal and offer content containing social critique. * **Emergence of several schools of film art:** Film-making has evolved from being a mass medium content dispersion format to an art form (Though it retains elements from the former). Over the years, we have seen the rise of several schools of thought describing how a film should be or could be made. It gave us different Cinema like Iranian films, French cinema, Indian cinema, etc. ### We continue to see the thinly concealed ideological and implicitly propagandist elements in many popular entertainment films - even in what we call as politically ‘free’ societies. * **What this reflects is the mixture of forces:** * a deliberate attempt at social control or influence * a unthinking adoption of populist or conservative values * a wide ranging efforts at marketing and PR morphed into entertainment * a never-ending pursuit of mass appeal * **Despite the calls and claims of films being a free mass medium, they are never far away from didactic (intended to give or teach moral values) and propagandist tendencies.** They are more vulnerable to outside interference and subject to conformist pressure because of the capital at risk. * **Eg. After 9/11, we saw a rise in the films made by Hollywood depicting how legit was America’s War on Terror. It was influenced by the US government. Recently, we have seen a swatth of Indian movies like URI, Article 370, and mass films like Pathaan and Jawain, showcasing India’s military strength and its force and reach.** ### Evolution of film as experience * **Phase 1:** Inseparable from having an evening out with friends and family, at a grander place than home. * **Phase 2:** Introduction of television * It changed how we viewed films. It changed or separated films from cinema. * Cinema was more of a grand appeal. Films could be viewed at home. * It diverted the social documentary films and put it firmly in the living room of the audience. Not much difference was observed in art films or aesthetics in film making. However, art films benefited from 'de-massification' and created a niche and specialization of their own. * Films became a private affair, rather than a shared public experience. * Life of films improved greatly. * Repeat viewing created new consumption and influence patterns - leading to a completely new culture phenomenon. * **Phase 3:** Return to Mass Appeal – * Particularly in India – The above 2 phases can be directly viewed in terms of eras. * The start - focusing on then cultural values and morals - The rise of angry young man - The 1990s - Romance and love - KJO - Gangs of Wasseypoor - Bahubali - COVID - OTT - Back to Cinema for Mass Films. ### The Film Medium and Institution * **Key Aspects:** * **Medium Aspects:** * Audiovisual channels of reception * Private experience of public content * Extensive or Universal appeal * Predominantly narrative fiction * International in genre and format * **Institutional Aspects:** * Subject to social control * Complex organization & distribution * High cost of production * Multiple platforms of distribution * Increasingly international co-productions ### Broadcasting - Radio and Television * Radio and television have, collectively, a 100+ years of history as mass media, and both grew or born out of pre-existing technology such as telephone, moving and still photography, and sound recording. * We can treat radio and television together in terms of their history, despite obvious differences in their content, uses, and purpose. * Both radio and television seem to be born as a response to a demand for a new kind of service or content. * Both the systems were primarily designed for transmission and reception as abstract processes, with little or no definition of preceding content. This is unlike other communication technology. * Naturally, both radio and television borrowed content from existing media such as films, music, stories, theatre, news, and spoort. * However, what is a distinctive feature of radio and TV has been the high degree of regulation, control or licensing by public authority. Initial it was a technical necessity and later, as these mediums became mass media, as a mix of democratic choice, state self-interest, economic convenience and sheer institutional custom. * Both radio and TV offer a centralised distribution pattern and with little or no return flow. These media have always had their closeness with power. Hence, perhaps, these media could not actually ever enjoy the same freedom the press has to freely express views and act with political independence. ### Broadcasting was thought to be too powerful as an influence to fall into the hands of any single interest without dear limitations to protect the public from potential harm or manipulation. * Television as a medium has been continuously evolving. Initially, it was looked as a medium capable of streaming many pictures and sound live and thus, gave a window on the world in real time. Eg. sport events, news casting etc. * However, most TV is not live. It often creates an illusion of ongoing reality. Moreover, TV offers a sense of intimacy and personal involvement. This intimacy and involvement is cultivated by the actors, presentess on screen among the viewers. * Eg. How well we relate, to the characters in sitcoms. How our older generation relates to characters in daily soaps. * For many years, including today, TV has been a source of eduction for children and adults alike. For decades, TV has been the largest single channel of advertising across the globe. ### Radio on the other hand, refused to die down with the rise of TV and rather has prospered on its several distinctive features. The close supervision by state slowly relaxed after TV and it became lot looser. Over the years since state relaxation, Radio has been used to express new, minority, and even deviant sounds in voice and music. * As a medium, Radio offers much more channel capacity and thus more greater and diverse access. It is cheap & flexible. Also, today no limitation on accessibility. * It has flourished however is it the Mass Media of yester years? Possibly no. ### Television as a Medium and Institution * **Key Aspects:** * **Medium Aspects:** * Very diverse types of content * Audio-visual channels * Close, personal and domestic association * Varied intensity and involvement experience * **Institutional Aspects:** * Complex technology and organization * Subject to legal and social control * National and international character * High public visibility ### Radio as a Medium and Institution * **Key Aspects:** * **Medium Aspects:** * Sound appeal only * Portable and flexible in use * Multiple content types, but more music * Potential of participation (Con-call during radio program) * Individual and intimate in use - A Losthe * **Institutional Aspects:** * Relative freedom (Relaxed state control) * Local and decentralized * Economical production ### Recorded Music as a Medium and Institution * **Key Aspects:** * **Medium Aspect:** * Sound experience only * Personal and emotional satisfaction * Main appeal to youth * Mobile and flexible in use * Increasingly distributed via streaming services * ‘Lapster effect’- from records to CDs, to Cartridge to peer file sharing. * Peer to peer file sharing. * Entry into FlannaTV: UTU, walkman, tromlurnar, songs, etc * Spotify * **Institutiorial Aspects:** * Low degree of regulation * High degree of internationalization * Multiple technologies and platform * Links to major media industry * Organizational fragmentation * Playlists remain common * Central to youth culture – delivery has changed over the years ### Digital Games as a Medium and Institution * **Key Aspects:** * **Medium Aspect:** * Comprehensive multimedia experience * Personal and emotional satisfaction * Mass appeal (different games appeal to diff. generations) * High involvement * In teadiccion of consoles. * Started by testing computers to now a full-fledged media industry. * **Institutional Aspect** * High degree of revolution and regulation * High degree of internationalization * Multiple technologies and platform * Global media industry * Increasingly central to popular culture ### New Media * The expression ‘new media’ has been in use since 1960s and has been used in a completely expanding and diversifying ways. New media comprises of a wide range of applied communication technologylies. * New media is often difficult to define in proper terms. One way of defining it could be a composite approach that involves linking information communication technologies with their associated social contexts. Such an approach brings together 3 elements: * **Technological artifacts and devices:** Activities, practices and uses *and these* devices and *the end of these* devices and applications * **Social arrangements and organizations that form around the devices and practices.** * We can have a same definition or an approach for the ‘old media’. However, the artefacts, uses, and arrangements are different. * New media distinguishes itself through its interconnectedness, accessibility to individual users as senders and/or receivers, interactivity, multiplicity of use, and open-ended character. * Another key distinguishing factor is its convergent nature. New media involves an increasing mix of different media in terms of hardware, software, in form of and content. * New media technology or technologies also carry out mass communication activities and in many ways heighten concerns about the role and impact of mass media and communication in society. ### The computer and the power of computation as a communication technique is driven by the process of digitalization. It thus allows information of all kinds and formats to be carried with the same efficiency without any hierarchy. * In a way we can say that with the emergence of new media are no longer needed. However, that is not entirely true. While new media offers a subsumed version of all the other different mass media, having an institutional and traditional approach always helps. * With more and more technological advancements, creation and dispersion of information through digital channels has become even more easy and for reaching. It has expanded the world of media and forged bridges between public and private communication and between spheres of professional and the amateur. * The implication of all this for mass media are still far from clear. However, what is certain that ‘traditional’ media has benefitted greatly from the new media innovations and experienced profound challenges to their business models and production practices by newer technologies and competition. * The communication revolution has generally shifted the balance of power from the media into two directions. * First - it has empowered the audience. Today they have more options to choose from and more active use the media available. * Second, the power of information has moved on from those who controlled the production and distribution of information to those who can successfully monetize the place and moment of digital consumption. ### The Internet * The foremost claim to a status of a new medium and a mass medium is the Internet. However, the mass characteristic features are not its primary characteristics. * The Internet began primarily as a non-commercial means of intercommunication and data exchange between professionals operating at the behest of the US military. However, its more recent rapid advance has been driven by its potential as a provider of goods and many profitable services and as an alternative to other means of personal and interpersonnel communication. * The biggest application of the internet in terms of impact has been the social media. * Other applications such as online news is a clear extension of newspaper journalism. However, online news is also evolving in a completely new direction with newer capabilities and content formats. * As the internet moves into other sectors and industries, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate its status as a medium from other media. * The internet's claim to full medium status is based in part on it having a distinctive technology, manner of use, range of content and services, and a distinct image of its own. * However, the Internet has no clear institutional status. It’s not owned, controlled or organized by any single body. The internet is simply a network of internationally interconnected computers operating according to agreed protocols. * There are several organizations, service providers and telecommunication bodies that contribute to its operation. However, the internet as such does not exist anywhere as a legal entity and is not subject to any single set of national laws or regulations. * On the other hand, several international organizations as well as national governments are seeking more legal control over the internet and specifically the dominant role of social media companies and search engines. Those who use the internet can be accountable to the laws and regulation of the country in which they reside as well as to the international law. ### The Internet As A Medium * **Key Features:** * Computer based technology * Hybrid, non-dedicated, flexible character * Interactive potential * Private and public functions * Growing degree of regulation * Interconnectedness * Ubiquity and de-locatedness * Accessible to individuals as communicators * A medium of both mass and interpersonal communication. ### Points to discuss: * CERN, Intranet, rise of early social media, Chat rooms, orkut, facebook, social media etc. ### Differences Between Media * It is much less easy to distinguish these various media from each other than it used to be. This is in part because some media forms are now distributed across different types of transmission channels, reducing the original uniqueness of form and experience in use. Moreover, due to the growing convergence of technology, based on digitalization, can only strengthen this tendency. Obviously, due to this convergence the regulatory lines between these various media have blurred considerably. It signifies both the recognition and encouragement of more/growing similarity between different media. ### Another key point to consider here is (the) list til voφηόμβίλιες heend (or/vendency). * The globalizing tendencies are reducing the distinctiveness of any particular national variant of media content and institution. * This is a crucial factor. Previously, or traditionally, the old media can be easily identified based on its national and institutional characteristics. Case in point – the British press, Iranian films, tadion All India Radio, American television etc. * Traditional media is often defined and distinguishes itself though its hypernationalism and proud hierarchy - which has unique nationalistic characteristics. * Moreover the continuing trends towards integration of national and global media corporations have led to the housing of different media under same roof, encouraging convergence by another route. ### Dimension of Freedom Vs Control * Relations between media and society have a material, political - and a normative or socio-cultural dimension. * The key question or more specifically a dimension to explore here is how free is media? How media ought to use the freedom they have? * **Book**: A considerable influence but has to be mediated through other more popular media or other institutions such as politics, education etc. * **Newspaper**: Has relatively greater freedom of thought and expression. It operates much more directly on its political functions of expressing opinions and circulating political and economic information. But being a business, it has to have some favorable conditions; * Freedom to produce * Supply its product (information) * To be successful. * **For Broadcast media such as TV and radio, as they are licensed, there is are some limitations of political freedom. However, these media are often expected to use their informative capacity to support democratic processes and serve the public good.** * **Films** to have similar political limitations, but are more seen as a mass influential media but with a lot of self-censorship – following on the moral impact on viewers through actions like violence, crime, or sex. ### The new media, with newer distribution methods and networks have often successfully staved off more regulation regarding their appropriate degree of political freedom. * However, this situation is now changing. Freedom from control may be gained on the grounds of privacy. The fact that the new media is more of ‘common-carrier’, i.e. open for all, with not specifically directed at users, is most commonly used in escape regulation. This is also because the content or the information available on the new media or more specifically on the internet is open to all on equal terms and used primarily for personal or business rather than public matters. * The degree of control of media by a state or a society depends partly on the feasibility of applying it. The most regulated media have typically been those whose distribution is most casily supervised such as radio or television broadcasting or local cinema distribution. Books and print media have been less easy to monitor. ### Social Control of Media * **Types of Control** * Censorship of content * Legal restrictions * Control of infrastructure * Economic means * Self-regulation, self-censorship * **Motives for Control:** * Fear of political subversion * For moral/cultural reasons * Combat cybercrime * National security ### Dimension of Use and Reception * With the growing intermixing of media, it is becoming a bit difficult to distinguish media channels in terms of content and function. However, some core differences remain; * **Newspaper for instance** remains primarily a medium of family entertainment, despite many changes and extensions related to programming, transmission, and/or reception. It is still a huge medium for shared experience. * **Digital and online media** have added to the uncertainty about which medium is good for what purpose. However, it has also added a fourth dimension by which media can be distinguished: The degree of interactivity. * The more interactive media are those that allow continual motivated choice and responses by users. ### Difference Between New Media and Mass Media * **Production:** * **New Media:** Post-industrial production, hyper-personal, huge range of variety * **Mass Media:** Industrial production, Mass oriented, broadcast, variety – but limited to each media form. * **Economic:** * **New Media:** Surveillance capitalist, Information capitalist * **Mass Media:** Capitalist/Liberal/ Material * **Cultural:** * **New Media:** Global/Transnation * **Mass Media:** Hyper-national * **Political:** * **New Media:** Democratic/But working for populist sentiment. * **Mass Media:** Democratic * **Ideology** * **New Media:** Post-modern * **Mass Media:** Modernistic ### Type of Media * **Hot Media** * **Key Characteristics:** * Hyper sensory engagement * Low personal investment * No freedom/experience selfness * **Cold Media** * **Key Characteristics:** * Low sensory engagement * High personal investment * High freedom/experience selfness