How Media Becomes New

“How Media Became New” by Lev Manovich outlines how media and computing have intertwined throughout history. It is basically the (very slow) transition from media to new media. By new media, I means things like moving images and sounds are possible. It was strange to think about the idea of new media being such a hugely profound development in  history, considering all the possibilities of today. The computer can now do things unimaginable in the 19^th and 20^th century.

 

In 1833, Babbage begin work on a machine called the “analytical Engine”. It was basically like the worlds’ most basic computer. It let people enter in date and information using punch cards, the Engine then saved that information, and performed operations. The results then printed out. In 1839, Daguerre developed a new process called the daguerreotype, which was a machine that took pictures. In the 1890s, the Lumiere brothers presented their camera/projection “hybrid” to the world. People were fascinated with the  way reality was presented on a screen for them to watch and enjoy. They used it to “soothe” themselves from “dense information environment  outside the theater”. Also in the 1890s, computer developed a lot. The tabulator created by Hollerith was used in the 1890 census to collect information. These tabulators were used in many different mediums.

 

I’m still a bit confused as to how we got from all of the above to today, considering the immense possibilities in both movie/music making as well as daily life. But I think it gives a good beginning of the huge transition. Things like computers and media were clearly less prominent in those days so the developments done were groundbreaking. I’m just still a bit lost on how we got from the first camera ever, which I’m sure was pretty primitive, to today where people Skype for work from across  the globe on their WiFi enabled Mac Books in coffee shops.

Denver TV History.

KCNC (Channel 4) is a CBS TV station in Denver, CO. It first went on air on Christmas Eve 1953 as KOA-TV., as a part of the radio station. It was partially owned by Bob Hope. It began as an NBC affiliated station.

In its early years it played a majority of the national football games. However, the Broncos games were never aired and blacked out because they were never sold out. It also aired highly successful documentary “The Acid Test, LCD”, hosted by Bob Palmer. Bob Palmer was a famous news editor at the time. General Electric bought the station for $10 million. In 1968 Bob Palmer left the station for channel 7.

Roger Ogden was hired as general manager and he brought Marv Rockford and John Haralson with him. George Caldwell, Sam Allred and Ron Zappolo was the “number one news team” under Ogden. In the 70’s they began to air their late night news cast. In 1982 they began their “First News” cast at 4:30 pm.

In 1983, GE sold the station to A.H Belo for $22 million. The station then changed to Colorado’s News Channel. However in 1986, GE bought NBC, making CNC an NBC station.

 

 

TV in the Net-Age

“TV in the Net Age” by Henry Jenkins discusses TV today. He distinguishes between the different kinds of television viewers and how, why, and what they watch. There are three different kinds: zappers, casuals, and loyals. Zappers tend to constantly change the channel and tend to watch snippets of shows. It’s never a long engagement for them. Loyals tend to watch less TV than most times but loyally watch a certain few shows. They often record, watch multiple times, and “pursue content across media channels”. Casuals fall somewhere in between the two. They sometimes view entire television shows from start to finish but they are not necessarily committed to it if it starts to bore them.

There is much debate on what kind of viewers the new media environment has created. However it seems to be leaning towards the zappers. There is no longer the concept of “appointment viewing”–the idea that people arrange their nights around watching a show. Networks are even considering shortening shows to 30 minutes or less. Television like reality TV is growing in and dramas are losing popularity because they require both active and weekly viewing to understand what’s going on. I thought this was really interesting. I definitely see a lot of all tpes of views but definitely a LOT of zappers. I am a loyal; I have never watched much TV but have always had consistent favorites.

It was found that in general men find television shows they like by watching during prime time. However, women tended to find their shows socially. I thought it was pretty funny that phone companies found that phone trafficking increased significantly on Tuesday nights, after American Idol. The chapter also brought up how gossip affected television series—both reality and not.

Making Room For TV

“Making Room For TV” by Lynn Spigel uses the film Rebel Without a Cause to illustrates the TV becoming a “central figure in representation of family relationships” in post war times. The television transformed communication and interactions within families. Critics were conflicted about whether TV led to  the unity or the division of families.

I found it pretty funny that housing magazines asked and gave advice for the correct placement of the television in the household. The exact location of the TV in the room was highly debated also. Many magazines depicted  the TV as the focal point of the room. They featured photos of  families with the TV replacing the fireplace in room, indicating that the TV is something to be gathered around with the family. As it is typical with magazines today, the magazines featured these “model” rooms with TV’s when a majority of the population could not even get a signal.

The war provided several challenged within the realm of the development of the TV and its relationship to family. It was especially important for people to establish their families again and spend time together once the soldiers returned home. Media created a stereotype of the perfect domestic family but was often unattainable and expensive. During the war, a lot of women joined the work force because of all the men gone at war. But upon their arrival home, the women had to return to a domestic life.  This caused tension in the home.

TV Begins

Chapter 31, “Television Begin”, by William Boddy, outlines the humble and challenging beginnings of television and how it affected  the future of television indefinitely, but especially in the thirty years  following its development in the U.S.

The regulatory decisions regarding things like image quality and color were especially important. Such standards are still being upheld today. Another aspect that remains today is the concentration of power. This happened originally because of regulations created by the FCC. This trend has continued throughout history  and there are just a few leaders in the industry.

Also, there were a lot of signal problems, involving cables and such. These issues resulted in low quality TV.

There were also a lot of concern about the television replacing the radio as the major entertainment media in America. They wondered what would happen to American domestic life if people had to give all of their attention to this new black box. I thought it pretty funny that they thought it could never fully replace the radio, considering its massive popularity in today’s society. They thought housewives would not be able to finish their “wifely” tasks with the huge distraction and children would cease to play outside. There was a major shift of TV watchers, it began as a high income household trend but quickly turned into a lower/middle class pastime. This led to many changes in the types of shows and broadcast shown on television.

Obviously, television was able to overcome it’s many challenges over the decades and maintain popularity and success among Americans.

Assignment 6

A shift in journalism has occurred, “industrial” journalism has failed and the “future of news” (FON) is happening.  News organizations roles are much less important and they tend to expect the readers to know a lot more that previously. The news world is an interconnected community, with news organizations sometimes relying on the readers to gather information and news.

This new news system is definitely anti institution, it’s all about free and cheap and love and community. It seems to fit in with the youth right now. Starkman depicts the old news system as stiff, money hungry, companies. FON connects with its readers through various social media outlets and blogs, participates in citizen journalism, and creates “on the fly”, as opposed to the past heavily organized news stories.

Shirky believes that the current state of society does not fit with the old way of doing news, whereas Starkman heavily criticized the FON transitions and supports the traditional ways of doing things.

I agree with Shirky because in order to prosper, we must change. Newspapers were really stable for a really long time being run the same way. But I think newspapers and other news organizations need to continue this transition that they are doing in order to continue being successful. Things do not improve by remaining the same and stuck in the past.

Aspects of the Printing Revolution and Trade in News

Chapter 11, “Aspects of the Printing Revolution”  Elizabeth Eisenstein outlines the role shift of the reproduction of writing from the copyist to the printer. She agrees with fellow historian Steinberg that the development of printing impacted all aspects of life.

 

It is very hard to pinpoint exactly how development of printing affected human behavior. They do know however, that the shift resulted in an increase output of books, increased access changed ways of “learning, thinking, and perceiving among literary elite” (79), standardization, and laws were affected because more uniform texts existed.

 

People often forget the lack of formal maps or chronology in the past. Historians had to reconstruct what they think happened, where and when. They basically have to make educated guesses about when the first printed materials were made available to the public and at what quantity. I think this is interesting, it’s almost like they could have just made it up.

 

Chapter 13, “The Trade in News” by John B. Thompson discusses how the development of printing allowed for the creation of many periodical publications to help inform the public about political happenings and such. Prior to this development there were at least four different types communication networks. First there was a network controlled by the Catholic Church which allowed for the papacy to maintain contact with the clergy and political elites. Second, there were networks created by political figures to maintain communication to help administer laws and such. Third, there were networks created to expand commercial activity. Fourth and last, there were networks that allowed for merchants and peddlers to communication with a town or village.

 

These networks were affected by the development of a postal service and the ability for printing to help spread and distribute news quickly. In the late sixteenth century, leaflets and posters and other types of printed news about nearby and distant events began to be printed by the thousands and sold on the street to the public by pedlars.

 

A lot of the news being printed in these early forms of newspapers were about foreign news, which gave the readers and listeners a sense of the world. In 1641 though, a demand for domestic news came about in England and so by the end of the year three domestic newspapers were being circulated. The newspapers began to evolve into periodicals independent of state power so were able to present many differing views regarding issues of public concern. Not liking this the state and political authorities tried to have some control and imposed taxes to restrict production. These were eventually abolished in the 1860s. Many efforts continued to be made to decrease political talk. Freedom or expression eventually became a staple of most European and Western constitutions.

Primary and Seconday Orality

Chapter 7, Oralitym Literacy, and Modern Media,discusses primary orality and secondary orality. Primary orality is the concept of language without writing, so nothing is in print. Remembering things is crucial. On the other hand, secondary refers to the concept of language and speech that relies on writing. Second orality is the current orality and has come about because of new technologies, like the radio and television.

Both primary and secondary orality have a strong group sense. There has always been an audience for both spoken and written language. Primary orality requires a strong audience in order for what is said to be remembered and recorded (mentally). Technological advances like the television and radio have forever had a strong audience and is quite accessible to all.

However, primary orality members had to be extroverted because they had be outward in order to hear and be a part of what was happening, or speak out on what they believe. Secondary orality allows for people to be inward because every record of everything is available in writing and being extroverted is not necessary.

Juliana Rotich-Ushahidi,

The guest speaker for  Thursday, Juliana Rotich, works with and co-founded Ushahidi, a non profit software. She grew up in Kenya and moved to the U.S. to major in IT. She has worked in the field throughout her life.She also writes for blogs and often speaks at conferences and universities regarding her work.

Ushahidi began as an online real time map to show where violence or crisis was occurring within Kenya. It began in reaction to the tumultuous 2007 election.  45,000 citizen journalists began posting online and submitting information via their cell phones, a very innovation feature. Since its beginning in 2008, it has transitioned from a volunteer group to more of an organized non-profit software group, with many members ranging in backgrounds. They often use crowd sourcing to gather their information, which is basically an open call asking citizen journalists to join in.

From what I can understand, Ushahidi has two main programs, SwiftRiver and CrowdMap. Essentially, SwiftRiver organizes data, prioritizes real time information, and adding necessary contextual information. CrowdMap uses the method of crowd sourcing I described above. It has become even more user-friendly so that individuals do not have to install it and can set up their own “deployments” (?). The website’s programs now have a “check in” feature, similar to Facebook or Four Square.

Whether the staff members of Usahidi are journalists is highly debatable since they are all of different professions and backgrounds. However in my opinion, they are. They are contributing to the investigation and reporting of current events that are relevant to those in Kenya, which fills the roles and responsibilities of a journalist.

Media in Ancient Empires: Stone to Papyrus

Chapter 2, “Media in Ancient Empires”, by Harold Innis discussed the political shift from monarchy to democracy in Ancient Egypt. This transition was primarily due to the shift in communications methods, from stone to papyrus. This particular medium contrasted with the previous usage of stone for the storage and transmission of information.

Papyrus was wildly different from stone in one obvious way: it was light and portable. Unlike stone, it was much easier to travel  great distances with a message on papyrus and store it throughout history, allowing for knowledge to be spread. Papyrus allowed for cursive writing, as well as fast writing, as opposed to the restraints that stone had previously created.

This transition led to an increase in writing among ancient Egyptians. Religious reflection was also a result of this transition, because people could at last write what they thought, it also resulted in the development of new religions. Administrative leaders (government, religion, etc) were able to communication much more efficiently because of the shift to papyrus. They often had a large staff of scribes and literacy became a sign of social rank.