History Narrative

A Narrative on the History of the Media

            Media has been around for the entire history of the world. It’s our means of communicating information, portraying ideas, and persuading and audience. The media are the single most important aspect to our world. Can you imagine a world without it? It’s impossible. It embodies such a wide range of forms that it is a part of every aspect in our life. It’s really almost impossible to define a starting moment of the media in our history. It’s been around for, well, all of time.

            With that being said, there is only one place we can start our journey through the media. That word is time. It’s the past, the present, and the future. It keeps the world ticking, explains when events occur, and much more. Without time we would literally have no social structure. The media works to influence people. Time does that better than anything else on this planet. It persuades us when to get up, when to eat, when to exercise, when to work and more. Many times we do these things because the clock tells us to, not because we feel like we need to. It does what the media only wishes to do.

            Moving past the very beginning, we start to get into things that are more in our vision of the media today. The first stop is religion. Religion started only one week after time, that is if you listen to the creation theory. Religion begins with the day God created man. It is arguably the most influential part of our world today and has been forever. It gets people to believe in morals, laws, and miracles. Countries and societies have been built all on the basis of religions. At the same time, wars have been fought and countries have fallen due to religion. It is super influential and has a huge impact on the way people live their life.

            Starting around 3,200 B.C we see the emergence of writing. Writing is hugely important in the world of the media. Without words, information would only be able to travel through word of mouth. In our society, we rely so heavily on social-networking, the internet, our phones, and other media devices. Information travels at light-speed because of it. While it is due to technology, the main reason it’s so helpful is because of words. Without words all we would see is pictures. While a picture is worth a thousand words, it does not clearly depict the information to each person. If in some freak event all forms of writing was eliminated from society, not only would the media fall, but the infrastructure of society would crumble. It is hugely influential and a big part of the media.

            So at this point in time, we have time, religion, and writing as our major points of media. But there was still a need for information to travel faster. Humans have this burning desire to get information as fast as they possibly can. Many different systems were developed around 2,000 B.C to get information traveling. Carrier pigeons were trained to deliver messages. The Persians developed a system of foot couriers who would run several miles to relay messages. In a sense, these were the first forms of mailing systems. Information started to move, and more people became informed. This was a huge step for the human race.

            The next step for the media was the transition from rolls to codex. This switch from scrolls to book form isn’t a huge leap but extremely influential. Imagine having to buy a psychology text scroll for class. They were impractical and just a pain to use. Books conveyed information so much easier. It was also easier for mass printing, which begins much later in life. While it was a smaller step, and we would probably be able to get on with life still in roll form, it’s still an important stop in the history of the media.

            Many people, when they hear the word media, think about advertising. I think it’s safe to say the media and advertising go hand in hand. The first forms of advertising were the Tipao in the year 615. These were government initiated, public announcements. While they started off as communications between different governments, some were made into public announcements. This could be considered a form of propaganda. A couple hundred years later, people began to put posters on store’s doors advertising different events or products. This was the start of advertising as we know it today.

            This finally brings us to the printing press. While civilizations had found ways to print, using blocks and clay, several years ago, Gutenberg was the first person to do it efficiently. He created his printing press in 1450. So while he can’t be credited with printing, he can be credited with the printing press. This made information more conveyable than ever before. It was quick, efficient, and readable. This was a huge step for the media. It marks the end of old media, and the beginning of a new era.

For more information check out my Prezi on the 50 Points of Media
To start your own research and for an even a more indepth look check out this Timeline.