Introduction to Mass Communication – MCM 101 VU

LESSON 19
EFFECTS OF PRINT MEDIA ON SOCIETY

The rapid growth of print media in almost all the major parts of the world was bound to create an
across-the-board changes in the life of people for it was after centuries that people were exposed to
secular ideas and the grip of the church in most parts of the Europe and America in manipulating
social life started losing ground.
Since the massive change in communication occurred at a time when industrial revolution also
brought about change of thought process, the role of media triggered a bigger than expected changes
in the social life of the masses.

Language
The first to benefit from the printed words was the language itself. Due to distance and the literature
getting into limited hands, common people were far from knowing a standard language of their land.
The printing of books and letters in high number standardized the languages and make them an
effective tool of communication by setting certain meanings of words, phrases, symbols and signs. It
was due to print impression that some of the sign got international recognition.

Economic ideas
The breaking down of church’s control over written communication, and involving more people in
the print communication by the early newspapers and periodicals, money generation methods and
increasing trade became common topics. The growth of economies due to understanding of
monetary and fiscal matters by more people further weaken the forces of religion in the west and the
society continued to bend towards a material world.

Knowledge of science and technology

The newspapers and manuals proved a great success in highlighting the work of scientists and new
ideas on technologies. Spreading the science ideas across the European continent, the print media
worked as a catalyst to gear up the industrialization which was based on the new technologies worked
out during the 18th centuries. The invention of steam engine in return gave boost to the print media
by spreading the printed words to far flung areas and thus encouraging people from the small towns
to participate in debates on science ideas and cause a great thrust in the growth of industries.

Politics
By sixteenth century the world knew little about democracy and civil rights. But with the world of
civil rights spreading and voices were raised by sociologists. The sharing of political ideas grew in size
to the extent that in many countries a revolution against the dictatorial government and monarchs
took place. The setting up of parliaments and reports of deliberations from inside the parliament has
always an interest for common people. Till today most politics are done through media which is
regarded as the forth pillar of democracy

Education
The print media has been largely responsible for running educational campaign for ordinary people.
Not only pieces of information or news are conveyed to readers, experts from almost all the major
fields of life – medicine, education, environment, economists and religious scholars – write in the
print media. This is an enormous thing to be done by the media.

Wars
Media has stood firm at the times of war or invasion by the enemy. It tells people what to do at war
time and keep the nation’s spirit high.

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Introduction to Mass Communication – MCM 101 VU

Sports and entertainment

Not that the media is always busy in serious and rather sober matters of education and politics, it has
done a great deal of entertainment by reporting articles and information about music, sports and
other recreational activities.

Bring world closer

The media has been responsible to bring the world closer. It tells similarities in human living and the
differences so that people intending to travel due to business, health or educational purposes know in
advance about the new land. It tells interesting features, discoveries and historical heritage to urge
people to visit each other’s lands and thus know each other better than before.

Historic perspective
The discovery and establishment of the printing of books with moveable type marks a paradigm shift
in the way information was transferred in Europe. The impact of printing is comparable to the
development of language, the invention of the alphabet, and the invention of the computer as far as
its effects on the society.

Gutenberg's findings not only allowed a much broader audience to read Martin Luther's German
translation of Bible, it also helped spread Luther's other writings, greatly accelerating the pace of
Protestant Reformation. They also led to the establishment of a community of scientists (previously
scientists were mostly isolated) that could easily communicate their discoveries, bringing on the
scientific revolution. Also, although early texts were printed in Latin, books were soon produced in
common European vernacular, leading to the decline of the Latin language.

In Korea and China, there were no texts similar to the Bible which could guarantee a printer return
on the high capital investment of a printing press, and so the primary form of printing was wood
block printing which was more suited for short runs of texts for which the return was uncertain.

Because of the printing press, authorship became more meaningful. It was suddenly important who
had said or written what, and what the precise formulation and time of composition was. This
allowed the exact citing of references and producing the rule. Before the author was less important,
since a copy of Aristotle made in Paris might not be identical to one made in Bologna. For many
works prior to the printing press, the name of the author was entirely lost. Because the printing
process ensured that the same information fell on the same pages, page numbering, tables of
contents, and indices became common. The process of reading was also changed, gradually changing
from oral readings to silent, private reading. This gradually raised the literacy level as well,
revolutionizing education.

It can also be argued that printing changed the way Europeans thought. With the older illuminated
manuscripts, the emphasis was on the images and the beauty of the page. Early printed works
emphasized principally the text and the line of argument. In the sciences, the introduction of the
printing press marked a move from the medieval language of metaphors to the adoption of the
scientific method.

In general, knowledge came closer to the hands of the people, since printed books could be sold for
a fraction of the cost of illuminated manuscripts. There were also more copies of each book
available, so that more people could discuss them. Within 50-60 years, the entire library of "classical"
knowledge had been printed on the new presses. The spread of works also led to the creation of
copies by other parties than the original author, leading to the formulation of copyright laws.
Furthermore, as the books spread into the hands of the people, Latin was gradually replaced by the
national languages. This development was one of the keys to the creation of modern nations.

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