Mass media

It would be fair to separate the terms "mass media", "mass propaganda media" and "mass communication media" and give them the right to exist as separate concepts.

History

United States

The first newspaper in America was called Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick. It was founded in Boston on September 25, 1690, by bookseller Benjamin Harris. The first issue described the problems of the Native American population, which the colonial authorities did not like very much, so the newspaper was closed. The next one was called the Boston Herald. It was founded by postmaster John Campbell in 1704. Later, The American Weekly Mercury was published in Philadelphia in 1719, The New England Courant in Boston in 1721 , and The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1728 . The first magazines appeared in 1741: "The American Magazine" by Andrew Bradford , "The General (magazine)." Benjamin Franklin^.

During the American Revolution, newspapers were used to promote the spirit of liberty among the people and to encourage military action. During these years, The Independent Advertiser was published . After the end of the war, in 1787, the Constitution of the young republic was adopted. In 1791, an amendment to the Basic Law guaranteed freedom of journalism: "Congress shall make no law restricting the liberty of speech or of the press." At the end of the 17th century, there were 200 daily newspapers and 6 publications of various periodicity in the United States. At the same time, anyone could open their own print shop – they needed a manual printing press, paper, and ^{some money.}

Europe

Before the invention of writing, basic information and news were transmitted by orators, government messengers, heralds, heralds, and others. In big cities, it was inconvenient and ineffective. In ancient Greece (after the invention of writing), stone stelae and metal tablets were used. With the formation of the state, major news was recorded on plaster-covered boards, which were hung in conspicuous places, on papyrus scrolls and parchment. In ancient Rome, the walls of public buildings or special boards were used to transmit information, on which government orders, state news, astrological forecasts, fortune-telling, and more were written. After use, these tables were archived. Under Gaius Julius Caesar, the decisions of the senate were reported on boards, and under the emperor Augustus, secular chronicles began to be written for the first time. Handwritten publications were also published daily, which contained information about the life of the state, social events, wars, games, and the like. Among them was the weekly Notes on New Events (Commentary on Rerum Novarum

In 1320, the first paper mill was founded in Germany, which made it possible to quickly print a large amount of information. In the course of the Hundred Years' War, agitation and propaganda publications appeared for the first time. In the second half of the 1465th century, printing houses were opened throughout Europe, which significantly contributed to the mass dissemination of information: in Italy (1468), Switzerland (1470), France (1473), Belgium, Hungary and Poland (1482), the Czech Republic and England (1482), Austria and Denmark (1483), Sweden (10). At the beginning of the <>th century, information bureaus were opened in large cities for the prompt transmission of news^.

The first newspapers to appear in Europe were: Nieuwe Tijdingen (1605, Antwerp), Relation Adler (1609, Strasbourg) and Aviso-Relation oder Zeitung (1609, Autsburg). In 1631, the first weekly newspaper, the Gazette, was published in Paris, and the first daily newspaper was published in London in 1702, the Daily Courant^.

Region

The aggregate of "mass media" is classified vertically according to this criterion, according to the administrative-territorial structure of a particular state, and the main indicator is the territory served by a particular QMS, and not the place of its publication. Accordingly, a number of subclasses are distinguished:

• transnational QMS (i.e., those that regularly serve the information needs of people on an international scale, on the territory of several countries);
• national QMS (those that operate simultaneously throughout the country or most of it);
• regional QMS (those whose service area includes either a separate administrative unit of the state, or a historically formed part of the country, which is characterized by certain features)
• local QMS (i.e. district, city, corporate, organizational, and the like).

Print and, to a lesser extent, audiovisual "media" (QMS) tend to favour regional media over other media audiences. This is mainly due to the fact that the local editorial office has the opportunity to more fully take into account the needs of the population and establish a more democratic pricing policy.

Audience

QMS are divided into general and specialized — in the latter case, they are focused on a specific topic and, accordingly, are focused not on the entire audience as a whole, but on a part of it. A clear definition of the target audience for the purposes of business business provides the mass communication media with a certain stability, but reduces the scale of demand for their products. According to sociological research, journalists do not always have an adequate idea of the audience for which their publications are intended, as a result of which materials are averaged and depersonalized, and QMS become more and more similar.

Legality

From the point of view of the relationship between the mass media and the current legislation, there are legal QMS (that is, those that are allowed by law, have been registered and have access to publishing or broadcasting activities), quasi-legal (those that are not prohibited by law, but at the same time are not allowed by it) and illegal (respectively, those that are prohibited by law). For example, the reason for making a media outlet illegal (by revoking registration certificates, broadcasting licenses, etc.) may be, for example, the abuse of freedom of the media in one form or another. In some cases, QMS do not need to be registered, for example, if it is a periodical with a circulation of less than one thousand copies.

Quality

Primary attention to the quality of the work of mass communication media is more typical of the Western theory of QMS (in Western countries and many others) and is determined by a number of factors, such as the specifics of style and design, problems and audience, replication and distribution. In this regard, "qualitative" QMS are characterized by checking the stated facts for reliability, analytical opinions expressed, striving for balance and calmness in assessments and tone of publications. Mass QMS are focused mainly on the entertainment function of messages, preferring materials of a sensational nature and paying a lot of attention to visual and expressive means. The indicator of "quality" does not mean the degree of professional skill per se: in the case of the mass press, the standards can also be quite high, although not the same as in high-quality QMS.

Publishing characteristics

The key in this case is a set of data on the periodicity, prevalence, circulation of the QMS, its format and volume; For example, the relevant indicators affect the requirements for the timeliness of information. In relation to periodicity, it is possible to distinguish between daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. publications.

QMS system

All the specific types of mass media that have been listed above together form a single QMS system. Structurally, this system is divided into three basic groups:

• Print media (newspapers, magazines...)
• Audiovisual QMS (radio, television...)
• Information services (news agencies, press services...)

The role and status of the Internet is also highlighted. There are different opinions on this matter: sometimes journalism in cyberspace is characterized as conforming to the QMS, sometimes as inadequate. The researchers draw attention to a number of factors, including the absence of a legislative classification of the Internet as a "mass media", as well as the conservatism of online versions of the QMS: the nature of the reader's interaction with the media as such does not change, but the method of access to it is simply improved. As a result, the Internet

Internet QMS

With the advent and spread of the Internet, it began to be used in many ways as a means of mass communication, and within its framework traditional means of mass communication began to operate, Internet QMS appeared. They quickly gained popularity, although their audience is still much smaller than that of "traditional" (as they have come to be called) QMS. Almost all QMS have websites on the Internet, many of them publish regularly updated information: as a rule, these are Internet versions of the same materials, sometimes they are released with a delay, sometimes access to materials and/or archives is paid. Internet radio and Internet television are developing rapidly.

The main income of an Internet QMS usually comes from advertising, although it can be financed as a broadcasting body of a particular organization. The issue of the legal difference between the Internet QMS and the QMS is the subject of numerous discussions and lawsuits in many countries.

Thanks to the development of the Internet QMS, the number of people who prefer paper press is decreasing every year. A 2009 poll found that only 19 percent of U.S. residents between the ages of 18 and 35 read the press. The median age of paper newspaper readers in the U.S. is 55. The total circulation of daily newspapers in the United States fell from 1989 million to 2009 million between 62 and 49^.

Impact on society

It is believed that the mass media shapes media culture by influencing the culture of individuals in a behavioral and intellectual way.

• Manipulation of Mass Consciousness
• Agenda Setting Theory

"In 30 years, perhaps, the concept of 'media' will cease to exist. We are already using the term "media" – it is broader. Social networks and electronic media will remain sources of information, and analytics will be concentrated in paper newspapers and magazines. In the print press, the future belongs to specialized newspapers and magazines.".

Media in different countries

United States

The U.S. QMS is characterized by a high degree of monopolization. By the end of the twentieth century, the country was almost completely dominated by 11 sources of news: three television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC), three popular magazines (Time, Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report), three newspapers (The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal), and two news agencies (The Associated Press and United Press International).

During World War I, the U.S. Congress passed the Espionage Act (1917) and the Sedition Act (1918). These laws made it illegal to publish any material that criticized the policies of the U.S. government or supported its opponents. This is now how the coverage of military operations abroad is controlled.

In the last decade, only 35% of respondents read newspapers. In the U.S. (as well as in a number of other countries) you can find newspapers with a volume of almost 100 pages.

In 2008, the Internet became a more important source of day-to-day information than daily newspapers in the U.S., with about 40 percent of those surveyed reporting that they used online sources such as electronic versions of regular newspapers or specialized news sites to get their news. Between 1989 and 2009, the total circulation of newspapers in the United States fell from 62 million to 49 million copies ^{per day.} This, as well as the global financial crisis that began in the fall of 17, forced many newspapers to quickly switch to the online version.

Television remains the most popular source of news, with about 70% of those surveyed reporting that they follow the news ^{through television.}

Since 1953, the USIA has operated as an independent organization within the executive branch to conduct public diplomacy in support of U.S. foreign policy.