Milestones in Media Communications
Milestones in Media Communications
Edwin Sellers
7/3/2011
University of Phoenix
BCOM/426
There are many forms of media and many forms of communications in the year 2011 which did not exist 100 years ago. In this paper the author will attempt to explain the historical significance of media communications. To do this he must first break down the definition of media communications and then identify at least two major milestones in the field of media communications. He will also explain how each one of the milestones affected the field of media communications. To define media communications one must separate the words, define each, and then meld the two together to reach an understanding of the two words together. Media is a form of communication that influences the public on a major scale. When the word media started to be used to mean the physical form used to communicate it was a synonym for books, newspapers, and manuscripts. These used to be the only form of the transmission of media that the public was exposed to before the advent of the radio, television and eventually the internet, smart phone, and other high-tech devices. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary communications is “a system… for transmitting or exchanging information” (Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2011). So essentially, media communications means the transmission of information through the use of a system of transmission in mass publication. Media communications can now be transmitted locally, regionally, or globally. Two major milestones in media communications happened in the 1900s. In 1902 Guglielmo Marconi transmitted several bursts of radio signals from Cornwall to Newfoundland. This was the only time that anyone had been able to send a radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean. The importance of this feat is almost unfathomable as it led to the first television broadcasts in England in 1927 and the first in the United States in 1930 (Bellis, M.,
Edwin Sellers
7/3/2011
University of Phoenix
BCOM/426
There are many forms of media and many forms of communications in the year 2011 which did not exist 100 years ago. In this paper the author will attempt to explain the historical significance of media communications. To do this he must first break down the definition of media communications and then identify at least two major milestones in the field of media communications. He will also explain how each one of the milestones affected the field of media communications. To define media communications one must separate the words, define each, and then meld the two together to reach an understanding of the two words together. Media is a form of communication that influences the public on a major scale. When the word media started to be used to mean the physical form used to communicate it was a synonym for books, newspapers, and manuscripts. These used to be the only form of the transmission of media that the public was exposed to before the advent of the radio, television and eventually the internet, smart phone, and other high-tech devices. According to Merriam Webster’s dictionary communications is “a system… for transmitting or exchanging information” (Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 2011). So essentially, media communications means the transmission of information through the use of a system of transmission in mass publication. Media communications can now be transmitted locally, regionally, or globally. Two major milestones in media communications happened in the 1900s. In 1902 Guglielmo Marconi transmitted several bursts of radio signals from Cornwall to Newfoundland. This was the only time that anyone had been able to send a radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean. The importance of this feat is almost unfathomable as it led to the first television broadcasts in England in 1927 and the first in the United States in 1930 (Bellis, M.,
References: Bellis, M. (n.d.). The History of Communication. Inventors. Retrieved July 03, 2011, from http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bl_history_of_communication.htm Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. (2011). Communication - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Dictionary and Thesaurus - Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved July 03, 2011, from http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/communication Stelter, B. (2011, May 3). Ownership of TV Sets Falls in U.S. Nytimes.com. Retrieved July 3, 2011, from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/03/business/media/03television.html