Critics would suggest that for such newspapers economic efficiency takes precedence over public service. Those that survived were owned by media conglomerates-business operations whose first responsibility is to produce a profit for shareholders. In the late twentieth century, many newspapers failed to meet the challenges posed by competition from other media and rising costs. Newfoundland newspapers had relied upon international "wire services" to provide them with news from outside the colony since the invention of the telegraph, and this continued to fill the bulk of the pages after Confederation. But even these new "mass media" newspapers continued to rely upon advertising by the government, the railway, or, in the case of the Fishermen's Advocate, the Fishermen's Protective Union.ĭuring the era of the Commission Government (1934-1949) newspapers lost any direct partisan role and gained a more "professional" ethos of printing local and international news that they judged to be in the public interest. Over time, newspapers such as the Evening Telegram (founded in 1879) shifted their editorial policy from serving their financial backers to serving the "public," which meant that they tried to achieve a "mass" readership that would make the purchase of advertising space in the newspaper worthwhile to business enterprises. At the same time, population growth and increased literacy raised the potential readership, making it possible for newspapers to support themselves through advertising revenue, rather than relying upon the financial backing of a political ally. Late in the 19th century, the invention of a technology for making paper from wood fibres, rather than rags, made paper less expensive to produce. They were unrestrained in their rhetoric, and-to a 20th century eye-the level of partisanship among the 19th century press is surprisingly high. Later papers, especially after Newfoundland had been granted representative government in 1832, had close ties to political parties or sectarian factions, and were sometimes mouthpieces for partisan campaigning. They contained international news from foreign newspapers, but little local content beyond the "official" announcements that the government wanted publicized and notices of items offered for sale by local merchants. The first newspapers in Newfoundland relied heavily upon government printing contracts to finance themselves. Copies of these weekly papers were purchased by the small number of literate people among the relatively affluent classes. The earliest of the "mass media" was the newspaper, which brought information and opinion to its readers, but the earliest newspapers were not intended for the "masses". As everywhere, communications media have played an important role in the development of Newfoundland and Labrador. The 20th century, of course, has seen an explosion of mass communications, using the old medium of the printed word as well as newer ones such as radio, moving pictures, television and, most recently, computers and the internet. It was not until there was widespread literacy that communication to a "mass" audience, in the present sense of the term, became possible through this medium. The invention of writing and, much later, of printing, allowed a sender to communicate with an audience that was not physically present, but the audience was limited by knowledge of reading.
The term "mass media" has become so much a part of our language that we sometimes forget that the second word is the plural form of "medium", meaning "a means or instrument", and that the term itself is a shortened version of a longer phrase, "media of mass communication".įor most of human history, communication was limited to the medium of the human voice, and the size of the audience was limited by the power of the speaker. (Related Articles: For other related articles view the Communications section of the Society and Culture Table of Contents.)
Stephenville Integrated High School Project.
Une série de documentaires (en français).
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