EMC 2410Intro to Electronic Media

• Edward Bowen

• Lecture Five: The Beginnings of Broadcasting

Broadcasting established the

• Cultural• Economic• Technological• Regulatory

foundations for newer media

Privately owned, advertising supported media infrastructure neither inevitable or preordained.

Environment for Mass Entertainment made possible partially through urbanization as a consequence of The Industrial Revolution (1820-1870)

http://www.history.com/videos/the-industrial-revolition#the-industrial-revolition

Environment for Mass Entertainment made possible partially through urbanization as a consequence of The Industrial Revolution (1820-1870)

http://youtu.be/3Efq-aNBkvc

Broadcasting’s Cultural Precedentsin Mass Entertainment

• Popular Newspapers, Penny Press• Home Phonographs• Vaudeville• Motion Picture Theaters

Popular Newspapers, Penny Press

“The Sun,” New York, Established 1833

Popular Newspapers, Penny Press

“The Sun,” New York, Established 1833

TheGreat Moon Hoax(1835)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJDQyVJ7N-E

Popular Newspapers, Penny Press

“The Sun,” New York, Established 1833

ASTOUNDING NEWS!BY EXPRESS VIA NORFOLK:

THE ATLANTIC CROSSEDIN THREE DAYS!

SIGNAL TRIUMPH OFMR. MONCK MASON'SFLYING MACHINE!!!

Popular Newspapers, Penny Press

“The Sun,” New York, Established 1833

The Balloon-HoaxbyEdgar Allen Poe(1844)

Popular Newspapers, Penny Press

“The Sun,” New York, Established 1833

“Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”(1897)

"DEAR EDITOR: I am 8 years old. "Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. "Papa says, 'If you see it in THE SUN it's so.' "Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?"VIRGINIA O'HANLON."115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET."VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except [what] they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

Popular Newspapers, Penny Press

“The Sun,” New York, Established 1833

“Yes Virginia, There is a Santa Claus”(1897)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezNP1c63YJY

Popular Newspapers, Penny Press

“The Sun,” New York, Established 1833

"When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news."

John B. BogartCity Editor1873-1890

Popular Newspapers, Penny Press

“The Sun,” New York, Established 1833

“Crime on the Waterfront”

Malcolm Johnson

1948

“On The Waterfront”

(1954)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSImMMMf5nA

Vaudeville (1880s - 1930s)

Vaudeville: n. Stage entertainment offering a variety of short acts such as slapstick turns, song-and-dance routines, and juggling performances.

Vaudeville (1880s - 1930s)

Vaudeville: n. Stage entertainment offering a variety of short acts such as slapstick turns, song-and-dance routines, and juggling performances.

Vaudeville (1880s - 1930s)

Vaudeville: n. Stage entertainment offering a variety of short acts such as slapstick turns, song-and-dance routines, and juggling performances.

Vaudeville (1880s - 1930s)

Vaudeville: n. Stage entertainment offering a variety of short acts such as slapstick turns, song-and-dance routines, and juggling performances.

Vaudeville (1880s - 1930s)

Vaudeville: n. Stage entertainment offering a variety of short acts such as slapstick turns, song-and-dance routines, and juggling performances.

Vaudeville (1880s - 1930s)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V82MCMWRu8

Vaudeville (1880s - 1930s)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKXhxAJShTohttp://youtu.be/_jqWCxugpNU

Home Phonographs (1896)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMqgI57TZ3U

Motion Picture Theaters (1896 -)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZC_otpD8F_o

Broadcasting’s Cultural Precedentsin Mass Entertainment

• Popular Newspapers, Penny Press• Home Phonographs• Vaudeville• Motion Picture Theaters

Broadcasting’s Technological (Electronic) Precedents

Point-to-Point Communications• Telegraph (Wired Messages)• Telephone (Wired Audio)• Wireless (Messages)

Telegraph (1830s)

http://www.5min.com/Video/Learn-how-a-Telegraph-Machine-Works-117541596

Inventor: Samuel Morse

Telegraph (1830s)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmolT6pI8eI

Inventor: Samuel Morse

Telephone (1876)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e601moNCA7Q

Wireless

• Heinrich Hertz and Hertzian Waves• Guglielmo Marconi and Wireless Signal

Transmission• Audion Vacuum Tube - Amplification and

Precise Modulation • Commercial Wireless• Military Wireless

Hertzian (Electromagnetic) Waves (1888)

http://www.hulu.com/watch/87167/milestones-in-science-and-engineering-heinrich-hertz-electromagnetic-wave

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xanne8_milestones-in-science-engineering-h_shortfilms

Hertzian (Electromagnetic) Waves (1888)

HERTZ: Measurement that distinguishes electromagnetic waveform energy; number of cycles, or complete waves, that pass a reference point per second; measurement of frequency by which one hertz equals one cycle per second.

Guglielmo Marconi

http://www.5min.com/Video/Guglielmo-Marconi-Biography-119821429

http://www.hulu.com/watch/87174/milestones-in-science-and-engineering-guglielmo-marconi-wireless-telegraphy

Wireless as a viable means of communication

Audion Vacuum Tube - Amplification and Precise Modulation

• Impressing Sound onto Radio Waves• Radio• Sound Motion Pictures

Lee De Forest

Commercial and Military Wireless

• Maritime Commerce• WWI - Navy nationalizes all wireless

communication• U.S. Navy places freeze on wireless

lawsuits• Patent sharing

Broadcasting’s Technological (Electronic) Precedents

Point-to-Point Communication• Telegraph - Wired communication without

audio• Telephone - Wired communication with

audio.• Wireless - Communication without wires.

To summarize:

1888: Heinrich Hertz demonstrates the existence of electromagnetic energy/radiation (radio waves).

1890s: Gugliemo Marconi uses radio waves to invent wireless telegraphy.

1906: Lee De Forest experiments with his “Audion” vacuum tube, allowing for signal modulation and amplification.

Preview“The Empire of the Air

http://www.shoppbs.org/product/index.jsp?productId=1402895