Finished topic- mass media (0)

MASS MEDIA
By ’’mass media ’’ we intend to those means of communication which can reach large or mass audiences. The most important are probably Television , Radio , the Press and Internet . The English -speaking peoples have always allowed more freedom of speech and of the press than most other countries. This gave them an advantage from the start in communications. The ground work for mass communications in the 20th century was laid in the 19th century by two inventions which allowed people to communicate by wire. These were the electric telegraph and the telephone . The telegraph was invented in Britain in 1837 . They were being used in the Civil war. It allowed messages to be sent electrically over telegraph wires . This was much faster and more reliable than sending messages by horse messenger. the telephone was invented In 1876 by Alexander Graham Bell. The first radio broadcasts were transmitted in the USA in 1916. Radio is generally the first of the news media to report a local story. Millions of people depend on the radio for regularly scheduled news bullets.
Book-publishing grew rapidly in warily modern England and America. So did newspapers , which were the first kind of mass media. Newspaper is the oldest type of media. The first newspapers were probably handwritten newssheets that governments posted in public places . Although newspaper sales have fallen slightly over the past few years , they still have an important effect on public opinion. Newspapers often include articles on political events , crime , business, art, entertainment, society and sports . There is a difference between daily papers: quality papers cater for more sophisticated readers. They contain detailed information and analyses of wide range of issues. There is little use of colour . Popular papers are smaller, cheaper and more colourful. They have large headlines and are designed to be read quickly.
When newspaper is the oldest type of media, the internet is the newest one. During the years, the importance of computers and internet has grown rapidly. Some people predict that this may mean the end of the printed word as a means of communication. The biggest advantage is that internet is the quickest way to do everyday activities, like reading the latest news, searching for information, listening to music, watching films and TV series and online shopping.
One of the oldest type of entertainment is the theatre . It is a word taken from the Ancient Greeks. It means Seeing Place . A typical stage-play depends on 3 things: actions seen , words spoken and people watching and listening. The first theatres were built by the ancient Greeks. They were outdoors. There were no plays. Songs sung by a chorus told stories about gods . There were also dances. Today the interior of a modern theatre looks different . The two main parts of a modern theatre are the stage and the hall. The hall is separated from the stage by the orchestra. At the sides of the stage are the wings . A curtain covers the stage. The seats on the floor are known as stalls. The raised back part of the ground floor is the pit, the small compartments are the boxes. Then follow the dress circle, the balconies and finally the gallery .
The first professional theatre in Estonia was founded in Tallinn in 1809, but the real beginning of Estonian national theatre was in 1870 when Lydia Koidula started writing and staging plays for the '' Vanemuine '' society in Tartu.
During this century the inventors created a number of new ways of listening to an acted story or seeing a show.
First came the cinema . The cinema’s possibilities are unlimited. It possesses important advantages. It is produced for a mass audience, can be seen in a great many places.
In 1893 the world’s first film studio was built by Thomas Edison in New Jersey . These films were called ‘moving pictures ‘.The first films were silent. The words of the actors appeared on cards, which were shown every twenty seconds or so. Suitable music was played during the film by an orchestra, or by one person on a piano .
The golden age of the cinema began with the talkies in 1927 – when the actors on film were able to talk for the first time. By 1930, all films were ’talkies’, and many actors and directors moved from the theatre into the cinema. A lot of people are needed to make a film, as well as actors and actresses. For example a Producer is the person who chooses which film to make, a Director is the person who decides how to ’ shoot ’ (or film) each scene, a Screenwriter is the person who writes the screenplay or script of a film and an Editor - the person who ’cuts’ and then puts together the film.
In the 1950s, people stopped going to the cinema two or three times a week, and stayed at home to watch TV instead. TV in the 1950s was black -and-white, and the pictures were shown on very small screens. But then the Cinemascope was produced which made it possible to show films on a much wider screen and in colour. Television is probably the most common type of media. Millions of people watch television for amusements during their free time. But it provides viewers with more than just entertainment. Most people get their news from the TV. Television also broadcasts programmes that help explain a story or subject . Such programmes include documentaries and interview programmes. There are also music, politics , science and history programmes.
Besides the fact that technology is developing with each day, some people still prefer books and newspapers to internet. There are also several reasons why the theatre has survived. People do not want to sit at home. There is something warm and lively added by the presence of real persons on the stage instead of photos on a screen. It is important that the theatre, hardcover books and the newspapers go on living because they are a great values in our lives .