2. BLOG AND MASS MEDIA
The history of mass media can be traced back to the days when dramas were performed in various ancient cultures. This was the first time when a form of media was "broadcast" to a wider audience. The first dated printed book known is the "Diamond Sutra", printed in China in 868 AD, although it is clear that books were printed earlier. Movable clay type was invented in 1041 in China. However, due to the slow spread of literacy to the masses in China, and the relatively high cost of paper there, the earliest printed mass-medium was probably European popular prints from about 1400. Although these were produced in huge numbers, very few early examples survive, and even most known to be printed before about 1600 have not survived. The term "mass media" was coined with the creation of print media, which is notable for being the first example of mass media, as we use the term today. This form of media started in Europe in the Middle Ages. Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press allowed the mass production of books to sweep the nation. He printed the first book on a printing press with movable type in 1453. The Gutenberg Bible, one of the books he published, was translated into many different languages and printed throughout the continent.
According to David Riesman,[1] the mass media are diversified media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place varies. Broadcast media such as radio, recorded music, film and television transmit their information electronically. Print media use a physical object such as a newspaper, book, pamphlet or comics, to distribute their information.
Mass communication may be defined as a process of human communication, in which a mass medium is used to communicate a message to a mass audience. In other words, mass communication refers to a process while mass media refers to technical instruments such as the press, radio, cinema and television etc. The use of mass media does not itself constitute mass communication. Mass media are only device used in communication. For example, a nationwide telecast is mass communication, but a closed circuit telecast is not mass communication.[2]
Blogs are a new medium of communication which is accessible to anyone with the ability to use the Internet. With the demonstrated power and reach of blogs it is important to examine this medium and the subsequent impact which it may have on mass media. Blogs now have become parallel to mass media, in simple words blogs usually are now a medium of communication for most of the people of the world. Many people all over the world express their views and opinion through blogs. The association of blogs and mass media really makes a great deal of sense. Now political leaders and politicians express their opinion on war and other issues on blogs and cemented blogs' role as a news source. Considering the relation of blogging and mass media, we now see many of the bloggers are totally engaged in participatory journalism. They usually differentiate themselves from the mainstream media. However, there are also other members of that media who works via a different channel. Some of the institutions and organization regarded blogging as means of getting around filters and giving message to the public directly. Critics have the view that bloggers don’t respect copyright and the role or function of the mass media in presenting society with credible news. Regarding the association of mass media and blogging we can also see that many of the mainstream journalists also write their own blogs. We can see certain impact of blogs; blogs also have a great impact on minority languages that brings together scattered speakers and learners. With the help of blogs, minority language can find its audience. This simply shows the usefulness of blogs and blogging. We could not simply deny that fact that blogs and mass media are correlated to one another. The blogs itself became medium for communication.[3]
The leading blog search engine, Technorati.com, reports in their “The State of the Live Web”[4] (April 2007) that they are tracking 70 million weblogs with approximately 120,000 new ones being created each day factoring out to about 1.4 new blogs every second. These blogs produce 1.5 million posts per day, or 17 posts per second. Perhaps most staggering is the growth rate from 35 million blogs to 75 million which only took 320 days, more than doubling the number of blogs in under a year’s time.
As “further evidence of the continuing maturation of the Blogosphere”, Technorati’s CEO, David Sifry, reports that 22 of the Top 100 Web sites are blogs, 9 of those being in the Top 50 (Q4 2007). He goes on to say that “Blogs continue to become more and more viable news and information outlets. For instance, !the audience is less and less likely to distinguish a blog from, say, nytimes.com—for a growing base of users, these are all sites for news, information, entertainment, gossip, etc. and not a ‘blog’ or a ‘MSM [mainstream media] site’ (Sifry, 2007).” In as much as many more people have access to Internet publishing as compared to print publishing the Internet has democratized free speech. Whether it’s a news report you disagree with or offering personal commentary on major world events, people can now speak up and offer their opinions and input through simple comments (such as on www.USAToday.com) and blogging. That the Press is the “fourth estate” is a concept founded on the idea that the media’s function is to act as a sentinel of the public interest and a government watchdog. In as much as this is true, bloggers are the newly established “fifth estate”—those watching the watchdog.[5]
The blogs is a more interactive medium of mass media, and the network or the world of blogs is described as "blogosphere". Specifically, it is the worldwide, publicly accessible and has become a pervasive form of media. A blog is a website, usually maintained by an individual or groups, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or interactive media such as images or video. A typical blog combines text, images and other graphics, and links to other blogs, web pages, and related media. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) are part of a wider network of social media. Microblogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.
Blog is a whole lot sophisticated mass media communication. It is categorized as a new age media of mass communication. Most mass media communication is a one way traffic, but blog is a two way traffic. It send and receive message simultaneously. Blog is intended both for mass audience and individual. It communicate and interact in both ways.
Long before blogging started, there were different forms of communication over the internet. In general, there are three types of communications; individual to individual, individual to a group and group to group. Today, all three types of communication can be experimented with a blog. However, before the blogging phenomenon, there was very limited amount of communication which took place between two parties. Some of the types of internet communication methods that blogging has taken over are: Email, websites and Forums/Guesbooks. As you can see, these types of communication methods are still in use, but blogs have further enhanced this whole process. Internet users prefer to use blogs than websites and message boards. If you use email marketing as a tactic for your business, you can simply redirect them to your blog. By using your blog, you are not only targeting your "e-mail based members", but also various other people. It broadens your audience and provides for an increase in potential profits. A couple of years ago, a lock producing company had one of its locks unlocked by a pen. The video had been put on the internet and it spread quite rapidly. At that time, the company only had a website for itself. The video soon caught the attention of the media and it aired in national television. The company clients had emailed the company, but it was late to answer the emails. If the company had created a blog, it could have stopped this issue from getting larger.[6]
Mass media encompasses much more than just news, although it is sometimes misunderstood in this way. It can be used for various purposes:
Advocacy, both for business and social concerns. This can include advertising, marketing, propaganda, public relations, and political communication.
Entertainment, traditionally through performances of acting, music, sports, and TV shows along with light reading; since the late 20th century also through video and computer games.
Public service announcements and emergency alerts (that can be used as political device to communicate propaganda to the public).
What is mass media is also blogging. In others words, blogging can do or even greater than what mass media today has been doing. Blogging is a trending new media of mass communication which is used by millions of peoples everywhere and every day.
Blogging is a very powerful form of communication having great impact on society, government, business and the mass media. Blogs have established their place at the media table, and proven a powerful platform in the democratization of media. And with nine blogs in the top 50 websites (Technorati, 2007) blogs have entered the realm of mass media. As such, the mainstream media must take regard blogs as an impact form of journalism, and as the watchdog’s watchdog (Cooper, 2006), both in government and the general public sphere.[7]
One interesting thing is that, blog is so flexible that its extension is beyond comprehension. Necessity only gives birth to more and more features and extensions, and this is all about adding values to blogs. There is no limitation in blogging. One only need to think what you cannot do with a blog.
[1] David Riesman, was a sociologist, attorney, and educator. After graduating from Harvard Law School, where he was a member of the Harvard Law Review, Riesman clerked for Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis from 1935-1936.
[2] L. Imsutoshi Jamir, A Basic Guide to Communication Studies (DImapur: TDCC Publication, 2010), 31.
[3] ___, “Blogs And Mass Media” (www.pangblog.com: 22/1/2013), http://www.pangblog.com/blogs-and-mass-media-how.html.
[4] David Sifry, “The State of the Live Web, April 2007 “ (www.sifry.com: 22/4/2013), http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000493.html.
[5] Angela Baxley, “The Impact of Blogs on Mass Media” (www.spunkygidget.com: 22/4/2013), http://spunkygidget.com/2007/06/the-impact-of-blogs-on-mass-media/.
[6] ___, “Blogging And Its Importance In Communication” (www.urlbrowse.com: 16/4/2013), http://www.urlbrowse.com/articles/Blogging-And-Its-Importance-In-Communication-9.html
[7] Angela Baxley, “The Impact of Blogs on Mass Media” (www.spunkygidget.com: 22/4/2013), http://spunkygidget.com/2007/06/the-impact-of-blogs-on-mass-media/.
The history of mass media can be traced back to the days when dramas were performed in various ancient cultures. This was the first time when a form of media was "broadcast" to a wider audience. The first dated printed book known is the "Diamond Sutra", printed in China in 868 AD, although it is clear that books were printed earlier. Movable clay type was invented in 1041 in China. However, due to the slow spread of literacy to the masses in China, and the relatively high cost of paper there, the earliest printed mass-medium was probably European popular prints from about 1400. Although these were produced in huge numbers, very few early examples survive, and even most known to be printed before about 1600 have not survived. The term "mass media" was coined with the creation of print media, which is notable for being the first example of mass media, as we use the term today. This form of media started in Europe in the Middle Ages. Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press allowed the mass production of books to sweep the nation. He printed the first book on a printing press with movable type in 1453. The Gutenberg Bible, one of the books he published, was translated into many different languages and printed throughout the continent.
According to David Riesman,[1] the mass media are diversified media technologies that are intended to reach a large audience by mass communication. The technologies through which this communication takes place varies. Broadcast media such as radio, recorded music, film and television transmit their information electronically. Print media use a physical object such as a newspaper, book, pamphlet or comics, to distribute their information.
Mass communication may be defined as a process of human communication, in which a mass medium is used to communicate a message to a mass audience. In other words, mass communication refers to a process while mass media refers to technical instruments such as the press, radio, cinema and television etc. The use of mass media does not itself constitute mass communication. Mass media are only device used in communication. For example, a nationwide telecast is mass communication, but a closed circuit telecast is not mass communication.[2]
Blogs are a new medium of communication which is accessible to anyone with the ability to use the Internet. With the demonstrated power and reach of blogs it is important to examine this medium and the subsequent impact which it may have on mass media. Blogs now have become parallel to mass media, in simple words blogs usually are now a medium of communication for most of the people of the world. Many people all over the world express their views and opinion through blogs. The association of blogs and mass media really makes a great deal of sense. Now political leaders and politicians express their opinion on war and other issues on blogs and cemented blogs' role as a news source. Considering the relation of blogging and mass media, we now see many of the bloggers are totally engaged in participatory journalism. They usually differentiate themselves from the mainstream media. However, there are also other members of that media who works via a different channel. Some of the institutions and organization regarded blogging as means of getting around filters and giving message to the public directly. Critics have the view that bloggers don’t respect copyright and the role or function of the mass media in presenting society with credible news. Regarding the association of mass media and blogging we can also see that many of the mainstream journalists also write their own blogs. We can see certain impact of blogs; blogs also have a great impact on minority languages that brings together scattered speakers and learners. With the help of blogs, minority language can find its audience. This simply shows the usefulness of blogs and blogging. We could not simply deny that fact that blogs and mass media are correlated to one another. The blogs itself became medium for communication.[3]
The leading blog search engine, Technorati.com, reports in their “The State of the Live Web”[4] (April 2007) that they are tracking 70 million weblogs with approximately 120,000 new ones being created each day factoring out to about 1.4 new blogs every second. These blogs produce 1.5 million posts per day, or 17 posts per second. Perhaps most staggering is the growth rate from 35 million blogs to 75 million which only took 320 days, more than doubling the number of blogs in under a year’s time.
As “further evidence of the continuing maturation of the Blogosphere”, Technorati’s CEO, David Sifry, reports that 22 of the Top 100 Web sites are blogs, 9 of those being in the Top 50 (Q4 2007). He goes on to say that “Blogs continue to become more and more viable news and information outlets. For instance, !the audience is less and less likely to distinguish a blog from, say, nytimes.com—for a growing base of users, these are all sites for news, information, entertainment, gossip, etc. and not a ‘blog’ or a ‘MSM [mainstream media] site’ (Sifry, 2007).” In as much as many more people have access to Internet publishing as compared to print publishing the Internet has democratized free speech. Whether it’s a news report you disagree with or offering personal commentary on major world events, people can now speak up and offer their opinions and input through simple comments (such as on www.USAToday.com) and blogging. That the Press is the “fourth estate” is a concept founded on the idea that the media’s function is to act as a sentinel of the public interest and a government watchdog. In as much as this is true, bloggers are the newly established “fifth estate”—those watching the watchdog.[5]
The blogs is a more interactive medium of mass media, and the network or the world of blogs is described as "blogosphere". Specifically, it is the worldwide, publicly accessible and has become a pervasive form of media. A blog is a website, usually maintained by an individual or groups, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or interactive media such as images or video. A typical blog combines text, images and other graphics, and links to other blogs, web pages, and related media. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) are part of a wider network of social media. Microblogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.
Blog is a whole lot sophisticated mass media communication. It is categorized as a new age media of mass communication. Most mass media communication is a one way traffic, but blog is a two way traffic. It send and receive message simultaneously. Blog is intended both for mass audience and individual. It communicate and interact in both ways.
Long before blogging started, there were different forms of communication over the internet. In general, there are three types of communications; individual to individual, individual to a group and group to group. Today, all three types of communication can be experimented with a blog. However, before the blogging phenomenon, there was very limited amount of communication which took place between two parties. Some of the types of internet communication methods that blogging has taken over are: Email, websites and Forums/Guesbooks. As you can see, these types of communication methods are still in use, but blogs have further enhanced this whole process. Internet users prefer to use blogs than websites and message boards. If you use email marketing as a tactic for your business, you can simply redirect them to your blog. By using your blog, you are not only targeting your "e-mail based members", but also various other people. It broadens your audience and provides for an increase in potential profits. A couple of years ago, a lock producing company had one of its locks unlocked by a pen. The video had been put on the internet and it spread quite rapidly. At that time, the company only had a website for itself. The video soon caught the attention of the media and it aired in national television. The company clients had emailed the company, but it was late to answer the emails. If the company had created a blog, it could have stopped this issue from getting larger.[6]
Mass media encompasses much more than just news, although it is sometimes misunderstood in this way. It can be used for various purposes:
Advocacy, both for business and social concerns. This can include advertising, marketing, propaganda, public relations, and political communication.
Entertainment, traditionally through performances of acting, music, sports, and TV shows along with light reading; since the late 20th century also through video and computer games.
Public service announcements and emergency alerts (that can be used as political device to communicate propaganda to the public).
What is mass media is also blogging. In others words, blogging can do or even greater than what mass media today has been doing. Blogging is a trending new media of mass communication which is used by millions of peoples everywhere and every day.
Blogging is a very powerful form of communication having great impact on society, government, business and the mass media. Blogs have established their place at the media table, and proven a powerful platform in the democratization of media. And with nine blogs in the top 50 websites (Technorati, 2007) blogs have entered the realm of mass media. As such, the mainstream media must take regard blogs as an impact form of journalism, and as the watchdog’s watchdog (Cooper, 2006), both in government and the general public sphere.[7]
One interesting thing is that, blog is so flexible that its extension is beyond comprehension. Necessity only gives birth to more and more features and extensions, and this is all about adding values to blogs. There is no limitation in blogging. One only need to think what you cannot do with a blog.
[1] David Riesman, was a sociologist, attorney, and educator. After graduating from Harvard Law School, where he was a member of the Harvard Law Review, Riesman clerked for Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis from 1935-1936.
[2] L. Imsutoshi Jamir, A Basic Guide to Communication Studies (DImapur: TDCC Publication, 2010), 31.
[3] ___, “Blogs And Mass Media” (www.pangblog.com: 22/1/2013), http://www.pangblog.com/blogs-and-mass-media-how.html.
[4] David Sifry, “The State of the Live Web, April 2007 “ (www.sifry.com: 22/4/2013), http://www.sifry.com/alerts/archives/000493.html.
[5] Angela Baxley, “The Impact of Blogs on Mass Media” (www.spunkygidget.com: 22/4/2013), http://spunkygidget.com/2007/06/the-impact-of-blogs-on-mass-media/.
[6] ___, “Blogging And Its Importance In Communication” (www.urlbrowse.com: 16/4/2013), http://www.urlbrowse.com/articles/Blogging-And-Its-Importance-In-Communication-9.html
[7] Angela Baxley, “The Impact of Blogs on Mass Media” (www.spunkygidget.com: 22/4/2013), http://spunkygidget.com/2007/06/the-impact-of-blogs-on-mass-media/.
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