Comm chapter 4

Functions of Print Media - Transmission of Culture, Diffusion of ideas and knowledge, and entertainment

Transmission of culture -Allows to communicate over time and distance. Gives us ability to share who we are, ideas, and how the world works 

Diffusion of ideas and knowledge - Spreading religion 

Affordance - The actions that are made available by a medium or technology. 

Affordances of a book - Read it, Have conversations with others. Common interest 

Books - Compilation of knowledge in a single document considered a vital, even sacred endeavor. Book burning, protests, and censorship highlight the enduring cultural relevance and authority of books, even in the digital age 

Monastic Scribes - Specially trained monks, or scribes, copied religious and classical works, use calligraphy and rich illustrations 

Johannes Gutenburg - German printer credited with creating the first mechanical printing press in 1945 

Mass Communication and Mass Literacy - Printing press spread scientific discoveries and religious beliefs - Books and broadsheets in local common languages became popular as more people learned to read 

Cheaper and Smaller Books - Dime novels,Mass-market paperback ,Print-on-demand,eBooks 

Current Book Industry Issues - Industry mergers, consolidations increase profit margins by reducing operating costs. Book publishing intertwined with global media and the entertainment industry. Emergence of online booksellers, eBooks, POD transforming sales and distribution 

Sales and Readership of Books - Patterns of book sales unsteady. Markets vary by category 

Textbooks are the largest portion of sales - Bestsellers can dramatically increase revenues 

Outlook for Books- Ebook and audiobook sales growing 

Distinctive Functions of Newspapers 

Most important function of a newspaper is - surveillance, Informing the public of important events 

Local Newspapers - Serve local geogrpahic communities, monitoring government law enforcement, business religion, education, arts, and other institutions 

National Newspapers - The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today 

Origins of Newspapers - Commercial and Partisan press 

The Golden Age of Newspapers - 1830’s to 1930 – penny press to radio. Development and expansion of advertising model 

Joseph Pulitzer in 1833 - bought New York Word, brought a crusading, activist style of coverage to numerous social problems – Muckraking 

Yellow Journalism - Study in excess, Sensational sex, crime, and disaster news, Giant headlines, Heavy use of illustrations, Reliance on cartoons and color 

Newspaper Preservation Act of 1970 - Intended to preserve diverse editorial opinion. Many newspapers defer to marketing polls and focus groups when setting standards for content, tone, and layout. Consumers have become accustomed to getting news online for free, either through social media feeds or news aggregators like Google News 

Outlook for Newspapers 

Six Major Trends for newspapers - More newspaper executives are outsiders, with little appreciation or understanding of industry’s unique aspects . Digital subscription models will likely need to offer drastic incentives. Understanding and measuring audiences increasingly critical in online world. Local coverage increasingly important. Smaller but more numerous revenue streams need to be developed. Collaborations with other media outlets must occur to offer a complex mix of media that includes print newspapers 

Functions of Magazines - Surveillance, correlation, entertainment, and marketing. Longer treatment of topics. Published at regular but less frequent intervals. Higher-quality paper 

19^th century magazines - helped young America define itself to reach nationwide audience 

Current Magazine-Industry Issues - Specialized magazines supplant general-interest publications to compete with TV for advertisers in 1950’s Consumer (“glossies”) vs. Trade vs. Organization (association, PR, or custom). As of 2020, there were about 7,400 print consumer magazines on various topics in the U.S, the highest since 2009 

Sales and Readership of Magazines - Contemporary magazines increasingly subject to ownership consolidation and media concentration. Established magazines moving to online-only editions. Hundreds of new magazine titles published every year, but most do not survive more than two years 

Outlook for Magazines - Relatively large screens and high resolution has helped increase reading activity, even longer-form content. Print magazines both expensive to produce and environmentally unfriendly. Type of magazine content may not change much, but the way in which we see it will change