Escolar Documentos
Profissional Documentos
Cultura Documentos
Media
Technology
for
Madhu Bala Institute of Communication
& Electronic Media
New Delhi
BACHELOR OF JOURNALISM
(MASS COMMUNICATION)
Semester VI
BJ(MC) 304 : Contemporary Media Technology
by
Srimoy Patra
Unit - I
Notes
An Overview of Media Technology
Overview of Theatre
The study of the history of “theatre” begins with a definition of the term itself. Even if
we uploaded an entire book on the history of theatre, we would first have to deter-
mine what to include and what was not relevant to our primary interest and inquiry.
Here, we deal with the development of theatre as an art form consisting of works
written for the stage and intended to be performed by actors on a stage.
Greek Theatre
If theatre is to be defined as involving the art of acting a part on stage, that is the
dramatic impersonation of another character than yourself, we begin with Thespis in
534 B.C. with which the dramatic arts are associated in our word “Thespian”. Greek
theatre took place in large (the largest ultimately held twenty thousand people) hillside
ampitheatres.
The players included a chorus which performed in the “orchestra”. Indeed, the con-
cept of “actors” themselves was not originally a part of Greek theatre, but was devel-
oped a consequently. Greek drama was dominated by the works and innovations of
five playwrights over the 200 years following Thespis. The first three of these were
tragedians.
Aeschylus (525-456 B.C. the Oresteia), Sophocles (496-406 B.C. Oedipus Rex)
and Euripides (480-406 B.C.). The last two Greek playwrights were the authors of
comedies: Aristophanes (448-380 B.C.) and Menander (342-292 B.C.). As has
been true throughout the history of theatre, the comedies, dependent on topical humor
and satire for much of their content, have not survived the ages as well as tragedy —
which deals with more universal themes.
Tragedy was at its height in Greek society when that society was at its height, while
comedy — an outlet for the frustrations of society as well as a diversion for the
masses — was most popular during the decline of Greek government.
Roman Theatre
The decline of Greek government and society coincided with the rise of the Roman
Republic and subsequent empire. The Romans borrowed extensively from Greek
theatre. The word “play” itself was derived from a literal translation of the Latin word
ludus, which means recreation or play. Roman theatre took two forms:
Fabula Palliata and Fabula Togata.
Fabula Palliata
were primarily translations of Greek plays into Latin. Terence (190-159 B.C.) intro-
duced the concept of a subplot. Another author was Plautus (c.250-184 B.C.). How-
ever, the greatest impact Rome may have had on the theatre was to lower it in the
esteem of the Church — an impact that was to retard the growth of the dramatic arts
for several centuries. Plays, or ludii were associated with either comedy of a coarse
and scurrilous nature, or with pagan rituals and holidays. It was the latter, however,
which may account for the survival of theatre through the Middle Ages.
In the England of the 15th and 16th Centuries, however, the proscenium stage was
still in the future. The emphasis was on dialogue as opposed to blocking or action, and
the plays still had a moralistic tone. The themes of religious virtue were replaced by
those of loyalty to government or to a stable society. The Protestant Reformation and
the break of England from the Catholic Church during the reign of Henry VIII influ-
enced a change in this pattern. England in the 16th Century moved back and forth
from Catholicism to Protestantism. It’s no wonder that playwrights began to avoid a
revival of the classics in favor of original, secular works of a general, non-political and
non-religious nature. In the view of the wives of play-goers, theatres were associated
with the women of ill-repute who frequented the areas surrounding the play-houses
and public inns where performances took place. Ultimately, these concerns led to the
licensing of official companies by the throne, and the domination of theatre by the
state.
Throughout history, all great theatre cultures have used technology as an important
part of performance: as a means to shift and change scenic appearance, and as visual
Overview of Printing
From Phoenecian stone tablets to Gutenberg to offset, printing has undergone many
transformations over the years. But the one thing that has remained constant is the
need for people to communicate. Those who have been doing this long enough to
actually remember mechanicals, waxers and veloxes often look at the current state of
the industry and breathe a sigh of relief. Some look back in nostalgia. But, they’ll get
over it.
Printing, in its broadest sense, is any process whereby one or more identical copies
are produced from a master image. The master image can range from an inscription
engraved in stone to an illustration cut into a wood block or a text stored as digital
information in a computer. Image transfer, from master to copy, is usually accom-
plished with ink, and the transferring agent is most often the printing press. The devel-
opment of new technologies has blurred traditional definitions of printing, however:
office copiers, for example, reproduce master images using electrostatically charged
graphite toner.
The routine, though rudimentary, reproduction of textual matter first occurred near the
beginning of the 8th century AD, when the Chinese began to experiment with the
printing of relief, or raised, images cut in wood blocks. During the 11th century both
the Koreans and the Chinese experimented with the manufacture of movable type
made from clay and wood and, later, from bronze and iron. Although the notion of
movable type was a major advance in printing technology, the complex characters
that formed the written languages were too difficult to produce as individual pieces of
type.
The German Johann GUTENBERG, working 400 years later, enjoyed the advantage
of a simple alphabet, and he worked out a method of casting type and printing so
successful that its fundamental principles were not improved until well into the 19th
century. Gutenberg’s first book, a Latin Bible, was completed about the year 1455.
Printing Presses
The essential features of Gutenberg’s invention included lead-alloy type cast in an
adjustable mold, oil-based inks, and a wooden printing press in which a large screw
moved the upper part, the platen, up or down against paper laid over type on the
lower surface, the bed. Later improvements to Gutenberg’s screw press were largely
devoted to increasing impression power, improving the clarity of the printed image,
and devising a return mechanism for the press handle.
In 1811, Friedrich Koenig patented the first FLATBED CYLINDER PRESS, using
a revolving cylinder instead of a flat platen to press sheets of paper against a flatbed
of type. The bed moved under inking rollers between each cylinder impression. A
steam-powered Koenig press installed by the Times of London could print over 1,000
sheets per hour. Even greater speed came with the invention of the rotary press in
1844 by the American Richard Hoe. Hoe attached metal type to the surface of a
cylinder, thus replacing the flatbed. Several small cylinders supplied the pressure. The
web press, a rotary press that printed a continuous reel of paper, was patented (1835)
by Rowland Hill of England. The first operating web-fed rotary press was built in the
United States in 1837. The difficulty of making curved relief printing plates slowed
the acceptance of the rotary press. By the 1870s, however, curved STEREOTYPE
plates could be accurately cast, and they replaced Hoe’s metal type. From that point
until well into the 20th century, the press of choice—especially for newspaper pub-
lishers—became the automatic rotary cylinder press, printing both sides of a continu-
ous web of paper. Steam provided power for the early machine presses; electric
power was used from the end of the 19th century.
Lithography
Most printing technology was based on letterpress, the printing of images that pro-
jected above nonprinting areas. In 1796, Alois SENEFELDER invented a
planographic, or flat-plane, printing process later called LITHOGRAPHY. He found
that an image, no matter how detailed, that was drawn with a greasy substance on the
face of a water-absorbent stone and then inked could be printed onto paper with
absolute fidelity. Lithography was ideally suited for illustration and enjoyed a phe-
nomenal popularity during the 19th century, especially for color printing, which re-
quired a separate
stone to print each color. Eventually, it was found that the image on the stone could be
transferred, using a special starch-coated transfer paper, from the stone to a metal
plate that was used for the actual printing.
Offset Lithography
Lithographic metal plates had only rarely been used for commercial printing, in part
because the image on the plate was often worn through by the printing paper. In 1904
an American printer, Ira S. Rubel, accidentally discovered that the lithographic image
could be transferred, or offset, to a rubber cylinder that could then print as perfectly
as the plate and would last indefinitely. Rubel’s three-cylinder offset press was the
first in the field of OFFSET LITHOGRAPHY, which would become the most popu-
lar printing process because of its economy, long plate life, and ability to print on
many different textures.
Type
Throughout the 19th century, attempts to mechanize the processes of typemaking
(casting) and composition (typesetting) resulted in a number of ingenious inventions,
some incorporating both casting and composing operations. The LINOTYPE ma-
chine of Ottmar Mergenthaler and the MONOTYPE invented by Tolbert Lanston,
both introduced in 1887, proved to be so clearly superior to rival devices that no
better mechanical systems for letterpress composition were ever developed. The Li-
notype was a keyboard-operated machine that composed and cast a justified line of
type and was particularly suitable for newspapers. The Monotype’s keyboard pro-
duced a punched tape that instructed a separate typecaster to produce individual
characters in complete, justified lines. The Monotype was used largely for book printing.
The type used to make offset lithographic plates originally came from proofs taken
from letterpress type. As offset printing grew in popularity, a more efficient method
was sought. In 1954 the Photon machine became the first commercially successful
electronic photocomposition system. Its key elements, which were used by later ma-
chines as well, were a stroboscopic light source and a spinning film matrix disk through
which photographic film was exposed with images of type previously composed on a
keyboard.
Computer Printing
Computers play a vital role in nearly every area of printing, from typesetting to on-
press control of the many variables subject to change during a print run. Digital stor-
age and manipulation of text, whether at a word-processing station or a typesetting
terminal, were early computer-printing operations. When paired with long-distance
digital transmission technology, numerous possibilities became evident. When an is-
sue is ready for printing, a central production facility can electronically transmit the
entire contents to regional printing plants, speeding up both printing and distribution.
Increasingly powerful systems can now provide the vast storage required for very
high-resolution graphics, as well as providing methods for sophisticated image ma-
nipulation. The operator of a typical system can scan a color photograph into the
computer, then call the image up to a display screen where a number of editing proc-
esses can be employed: rotation of the image, increased shading, color correction or
color changing, the moving of parts of the image or its entire deletion. The final, edited
image is sent to an output laser scanner, which produces a set of color film separa-
tions that will be used to make the printing plates.
Electronic media
are media that use electronics or electromechanical energy for the end user (audi-
ence) to access the content. This is in contrast to static media (mainly print media),
which are most often created electronically, but don’t require electronics to be accessed
by the end user in the printed form. The primary electronic media sources familiar to
the general public are better known as video recordings, audio recordings, multime-
dia presentations, slide presentations, CD-ROM and Online Content. Most new
media are in the form of digital media. However, electronic media may be in either
analog or digital format.
Although the term is usually associated with content recorded on a storage medium,
recordings are not required for live broadcasting and online networking. Any equip-
ment used in the electronic communication process (e.g. television, radio, telephone,
desktop computer, game console, handheld device) may also be considered elec-
tronic media.
Digital media
(as opposed to analog media) are usually electronic media that work on digital codes.
Today, computing is primarily based on the binary numeral system. In this case digital
refers to the discrete states of “0” and “1” for representing arbitrary data. Computers
are machines that (usually) interpret binary digital data as information and thus repre-
sent the predominating class of digital information processing machines. Digital media
(“Formats for presenting information” according to Wiktionary:media) like digital au-
dio, digital video and other digital content can be created, referred to and distributed
via digital information processing machines. Digital media represents a profound change
from previous (analog) media. Digital data is per se independent of its interpretation
(hence representation). An arbitrary sequence of digital code like “0100 0001” might
be interpreted as the decimal number 65, the hexadecimal number 41 or the glyph
“A”. Florida’s digital media industry association, Digital Media Alliance Florida, de-
fines digital media as “the creative convergence of digital arts, science, technology
and business for human expression, communication, social interaction and educa-
tion”.
There is a rich history of non-binary digital media and computers.
Transmission
Wire
Telegraph 1795-1832
Facsimile 1843-1861
Telephone 1849-1877
Cable 1962 (Coaxial /Standard)
Fiber Optics 1956-1970
Wireless
Radio 1897-1920
Satellite 1958-1972
Free Space Optics 1960s
Signal Processing
Capture 1745 (Capacitor)
Analog Encoding 1830’s (morse code)
Electronic Modulating 1832-1927
Electronic Multiplexing 1853 (TDM)
Digitizing 1903 (PCM Telephone)
Electronic Encryption 1935-1945
Online Routing 1969
Electronic Programming 1943-current
Content Formats
Content in general 1877-current
Audio Recording 1877-current
Video Recording 1952-current
Digital File Formats
Database Content and Formats 1963-current
COMSAT had been busy on the ground during these years. By 1964 there were
communications earth stations established in the United Kingdom, France, Ger-
many, Italy, Brazil, and Japan; the International Telecommunications Satellite Or-
ganization (INTELSAT) had been established and the creation of international satel-
lite communications systems was possible. The launch of Early Bird finally estab-
lished the Global Village. These satellite communications systems carried telephone
calls and hours of television services. They continued to be developed during the
1960s; global coverage was completed just days before the live broadcast of Apollo
11’s landing on the moon in July 20th, 1969. International satellite communications
systems have continued to be developed and membership of INTELSAT has ex-
panded until the present day; consequently costs have reduced phenomenally, to the
point where international communications costs have become nominal.
Today satellite communications systems are big business, and careers in the technol-
ogy have proliferated. In the 1960s, only the brightest and best of the scientific re-
search community would be involved, and they are still required for developmental
work. However, today the volume demand is for technicians and engineers to be
able to install and maintain the thousands of satellite communications systems and
their components in business and for personal use. Training in the necessary skills is
available in colleges and universities, from distance learning organizations and from
technological institutions. If you are interested in a career in satellite communications,
you will become a part of a developing history.
Media and their wide-ranging effects have been around ever since humanity has been
conglomerating into tribes and nations and developing methods of communication.
The Paleolithic cave paintings at Lascaux, in other words, are no less important (al-
though less universal) expressions of media than TV shows and magazines of today.
But the systematic analysis of media --- the recognition and study of its impact on
every aspect of social living, is only a few decades old. Carlyle may have claimed in This is a 16,000 year
the 1830s that the printing press destroyed feudalism and created the modern world; old cave painting from
Plato, as Derrida emphasizes, may have pointed to the effects of writng 2,500 years Lascaux, France
ago, but the wide-ranging attention today given to media and their effects is, on the
whole, unprecedented. Even more fundamental, the concept of the malleable indi-
vidual constructed by his "field of cultural production," as Pierre Bordieu called it, has
been tossed around for centuries. Back to the days when the actors of the ancient
Greek and Roman stage jumped in an out of personalities as quickly as they affixed
their various masks, notions of the inconstancy of the human condition have been
entertained.
The nineteenth century brought about major ideological change that set the stage for
media studies. Darwin had come up with a convincing theory of evolution which chal-
lenged God-fearing members of the Victorian Age in their face. He dismantled on a
grand scale the moral, spiritual, and even political, foundations of the Western world-
-- a world hitherto comfortably centered around the almighty God who bestowed
tidy, immutable essences in each one of His human creations. Darwin, along with a
heady battalion of progressive philosophers and scientists --- including pioneers of
the brand new social sciences: sociology, psychology, anthropology, et al --- quite
effectively threw into question the fundamental meaning for human existence. The
notion that human beings have malleable personalities largely constructed by the envi-
ronment in which they develop --- the subjectivity of experience --- began to gain This is an Egyptian
currency and scientific evidence in the late 1800s, and established the foundation on alphabet from
which the grandfather of media theory, Marshall McLuhan, would base his claims half 1700 B.C.
a century later .
McLuhan introduced into the language our present usage of the term media, as well as
a number of other concepts, including "the global village," "the medium is the mes-
sage," and "The Age of Information," that since have become commonplaces. By fall
Modern Media
• Modern media is made by a small number of people
• The Diamond Sutra was the 1st dated book and was printed with wooden
Phonograph was blocks.
patented by Thomas
Edison in 1877
• Johannes Gutenberg invented 1st printing press. It was popularly known as the
Gutenberg Press. The first book to be printed was the Bible.
• Phonograph – home audio and people could finally store and transmit audio.
• Movie Theatres - the first public movie show was in New York, 1896. Now,
people could store and transmit video
Marconi or
Nikola Tesla
was most likely first to
invent the radio
BJ(MC)-304 : Contemporary Media Technology 16
Notes
Media convergence
It is a theory in communications where every mass medium eventually merges to the
point where they become one medium due to the advent of new communication
technologies.
In fact, today, there is no need for having a television and a computer separate from
each other, since both are able to do the job of the other. We also see print media
eventually collaborating with the new media.
Introduction:
Culture can be defined as the way of life which includes beliefs, aesthetics and institu-
tions of a civilization. Considering today’s way of life, we would be lying if we didn’t
admit that media is not an influential entity in our culture. Lately the media theories that
regard the audience as a passive entity have been discarded and advanced media
theories that take into account the audience response have been formulated. It is still
a fact that despite cognitive abilities of the audience, the media has been successfully
ingraining several values and elements into a large section of our society.
There is no doubt about the fact that there are certain media elements affecting our
culture for better because had it not been for media, quick and easy flow of useful
information and education would not have been possible. The media has played a
major role in positive developments like fight against racism, fight against gender bias,
world poverty and spreading awareness about the world peace.
This being said, it is also true that certain media messages are detrimental to our
society. We need to realize that although media is a reflection of the society we live in
but at times, the media needs to do much more than reflect the surroundings - it has to
exaggerate, sensationalize and at times even trivialize the matters of utmost impor-
tance to
make way for entertainment. The media creates celebrities; it creates idols - celebri-
ties who thrive on fans, followers, and groupies! When we say a certain type of music
or a certain genre of movies is popular, it means a large number of people are follow-
ing an ideology or a concept, which lies at the heart of that song or the movie. One of
the most
striking examples in this case would have to be the popularity of violent and abusive
rap songs amongst teenagers. The glorification of violence, drug abuse and other
unhealthy habits has a major role in the outburst of unfortunate incidents where chil-
dren have gotten extremely violent and out of control.
Be it the advertisements touting products that promise a fairer skin or bods-to-die for
or the television shows and films, which portray violence, sexually explicit content and
abusive language. There are music videos and rock bands that give out the message
that alcohol; drugs and sex are an inevitable part of life. These ideals created by the
media might not be necessarily appropriate.
However, owing to the mass-acceptance and popularity hype created - most of the
people accept these as a part of today’s culture. We have reached a stage where
media literacy is the dire need of the hour. It is time to start thinking and analyzing what
media is dishing out to us.
Modern Era
There are an extraordinary number of examples how science and technology has
helped us that can be seen in society today. Ever since the invention of the telephone,
society was in need of a more portable device that they could use to talk to people.
This led to the invention of the mobile phone, which did, and still does, greatly influ-
ence society and the way people live their lives. Accessibility, Internet access, are
further examples of the cycle of co-production. This has in turn influenced the way
we live our lives. As people rely more and more on mobile phones, additional fea-
tures were requested. This is also true with today’s modern media player. In place of
cassettes, compact disks, were used which were smaller and could hold more data.
Later, compact disks were again too large and did not hold enough data that forced
today’s manufactures to create MP3 players which are small and holds large amount
of data. Today’s society determined the course of events that many manufactures
took to improving their products so today’s consumers will purchase their products.
In the modern world, superior technologies, resources, geography, and history give
rise to robust economies; and in a well-functioning, robust economy, economic ex-
cess naturally flows into greater use of technology. Moreover, because technology is
such an inseparable part of human society, especially in its economic aspects, funding
sources for (new) technological endeavors are virtually illimitable. However, while in
the beginning, technological investment involved little more than the time, efforts, and
skills of one or a few men, today, such investment may involve the collective labor
and skills of many millions.
Private funding
Research and development is one of the biggest areas of investments made by corpo-
rations toward new and innovative technology. Many foundations and other nonprofit
organizations contribute to the development of technology. In the OECD, about two-
thirds of research and development in scientific and technical fields is carried out by
industry.
Values
The implementation of technology influences the values of a society by changing ex-
pectations and realities. The implementation of technology is also influenced by val-
ues. There are (at least) three major, interrelated values that inform, and are informed
by, technological innovations:
Ethics
Challenges traditional ethical norms: Because technology impacts relationships
among individuals, it challenges how individuals deal with each other, even in ethical
ways. One example of this is challenging the definition of “human life” as embodied by
debates in the areas of abortion, euthanasia, capital punishment, etc., which all in-
volve modern technological developments.
Provides great power: Not only does technology amplify the ability, and hence the
strength, of humans, it also provides a great strategic advantage to the human(s) who
hold the greatest amount of technology. Consider the strategic advantage gained by
having greater technological innovations in the military, pharmaceuticals, computers,
etc. For example, Bill Gates has considerable influence (even outside of the computer
industry) in the course of human affairs due to his successful implementation of com-
puter technology.
Lifestyle
In many ways, technology simplifies life.
The rise of a leisure class
A more informed society
Sets the stage for more complex learning tasks
Increases multi-tasking (although this may not be simplifying)
Global networking
Creates denser social circles
Cheaper prices
Greater specialization in jobs
Disadvantages:
Pollution is a serious problem in a technologically advanced society (from acid rain to
Chernobyl and Bhopal)
The increase in transportation technology has brought congestion in some areas
Technicism (although this may not be complicating)
New forms of danger existing as a consequence of new forms of technology, such as
the first generation of nuclear reactors
New forms of entertainment, such as video games and internet access could have
possible social effects on areas such as academic performance
Increased probability of some diseases and disorders, such as obesity
Social separation of singular human interaction. Technology has increased the need to
talk to more people faster.
Structural unemployment
Anthropogenic climate change
To place these three fields in a broader framework, we use the findings of the
unique series of international surveys of mass communication, continued in 2000
(although with a modified approach) and a development model which runs to 2010.
Where current media development (the mass communication surveys started in
1964) can be described as “the more, the more” – in other words, newly-emerging
media did not edge out existing ones – there has been a shift in trend since 1993/94
with the New Media (PCs with multimedia capability, Internet, mobile radio). “Com-
petition through supplementation is increasingly turning into predatory competition
for increasingly scarce time budgets” (Schrape, 2001). The question of media com-
petition or coexistence is accordingly central to the prospects for the coming years.
Undoubtedly, this will involve complex restructurings rather than simple substitu-
tion.
Changes in readership and reading behaviour are studied on the basis of the latest
results of the “Stiftung Lesen” foundation, which published its report on these in
2001. There were some dramatic changes in reading strategies (increase in selec-
tive readers) and reading motivation, which has become particularly threatened in
recent years. This threatens to erode a cultural technique which is the basis not
only for reading books and newspapers but also for using the New Media.
For Schmidt, the current status of the concept of culture in science and politics is
not a fashionable phenomenon, but rather “evidence of a significant social develop-
ment”, a “development from the domination of things to a domination of knowl-
edge” (Schmidt 200b, pp. 32 et seq.), which in turn is decisively influenced by the
development of information and communications technologies. He accordingly fa-
vours a concept of culture “which is based on programmes for socially relevant
production and interpretation of phenomena, rather than phenomena themselves”
(Schmidt 200b,pp. 33 et seq.). For him, culture is the programme for thematisation,
evaluation and normative assessment of fundamental social dichotomies. By con-
trast, Castells’ approach attempts to extrapolate developments already present in
the mass media (inter alia the diversification and globalisation of content and the
cultural segmentation of the public) and combine these with developments emerging
in the New Media and the Internet, specifically in the form of networks of compu-
terised communication which will be decisive as “a new symbolic environment”
(which he calls “the culture of real virtuality”).
In addition to such media culture theories, many other contributions to the debate
can be adduced if it is necessary to investigate the interactions between more recent
developments in the media and the change in concepts of culture. The debates over
these interactions show on the one hand that the development of the New Media
has aroused (often vague-seeming) fears and hopes, while euphoria over technol-
ogy and pessimism over culture are relatively evenly divided between the political
and social trends. Conversely, there is also the tendency in these debates to pursue
older scientific arguments and view the development of the New Media in the con-
text of specific media-historical, socialtheoretical or philosophical considerations.
The wealth of contributions to the debate can accordingly be organised in terms of
the specific media history approaches and normative orientations. Two overarching
hypotheses can be identified which characterise a number of contributions, a conti-
nuity hypothesis and a discontinuity hypothesis. Under the first, current changes
appear as a continuation of processes of media and cultural development inherent in
The sub-variants of both hypotheses can be combined in each case with contrary
conclusions, yielding further possible subdivisions in terms of the discussions of this
issue. However, this only identifies the extremes, although this should make possi-
ble at least a rough classification. We shall now do this for C1-C3. For example,
sub-variant C1 can be combined either with the idea of a process of emancipation
from original communities and “nature” or with concern about man’s continuous
alienation from these. With regard to sub-variant C2 there are the opposed favour-
able assessments of modernisation processes and warnings of a loss of the sense of
community and a moral crisis. Finally, subvariant C3 can be combined with either
hopes of a revival of the individual and strengthened cultural exchange or the un-
pleasant picture of a standardised global culture.
Promoted inter alia by processes of economic globalisation, there has been in-
creasing discussion recently of processes of cultural globalisation. Both economic
and cultural globalisation are highly controversial issues in political and scientific
debate. There is, however, unanimous agreement that the New Media, and par-
ticularly the Internet, are of central importance. Important lines in the debate are
concerned with which concepts of culture to use in order to adequately capture
developments, how global and local factors are acting, whether we are looking
more at a standardised global culture or an increase in cultural diversity and cultural
The second main section consists of the in-depth issues (in the music business, for
example, developments in connection with MP3), where in each case a partial mar-
ket is treated as a case study (besides MP3 these are online book retailing, e-books
and audio books; interactive digital TV; web radio; online games and web-enables
game consoles; Internet use and marketing; mobile radio and UMTS cell phones;
and a special study on e-government).
The present report largely adopts the rough characterisation of the media markets, as
the market and industry data have information in their own right which cannot be
enhanced by classification or abstraction. By contrast, only two indepth issues are
incorporated, namely interactive digital TV and mobile radio and UMTS cell phones.
The first topic is interesting because it is the nub of the so-called convergence hy-
pothesis, and the German situation with its highquality free TV structure offers en-
tirely different conditions for interactive digital TV than, say, the UK, where this TV
format developed very dynamically. The expert analyses on this topic are being sup-
plemented by TAB using information from studies not yet available to the experts.
The topic of mobile radio and UMTS is interesting because there are important inno-
vations pending here which will have far-reaching cultural consequences.
Content
The major sub-markets here do not involve electronic or audiovisual media (as the
media clamour about the New Media would suggest), but printed matter (newspa-
pers, periodicals, book retailing). Only the TV market at DEM 16.7 billion has
comparable size. In many sub-markets there is only small growth or even slight
declines, so that the
pressure to innovate comes not only from the technology (in the cinema sector for
example the impending digitalisation, particularly in playback, which involves sub-
stantial costs and whose distribution remains to be negotiated within the industry).
The choice of “content” as a focus does not mean that it exists in isolation, as it were:
content is tied to media (although it can be liberated from specific storage media
through digitalisation). The traditional media sectors (cinema, print, music) today are
still strongly vertically integrated in the value-added chain, commercially and organi-
sationally (consider, for example, the book and publishing sector). The threat to
traditional media has impacted the music industry above all in recent years. The key
element here is the fact that the music industry has already reached the second stage
of digitalisation, i.e. music can also be delivered digitally using efficient compression
technologies. It remains to be
seen whether or not established cooperation models will remain viable in the long
term.
Business models under which consumers are willing to pay for content supplied via
the Internet are being created and tested, but still have to prove themselves. Cur-
rently, there is no charge for most Internet content – the general user mentality is
“Internet is for free”. As a result, most business models currently have to finance
themselves indirectly (e.g. through advertising or sponsorships). The lack of readi-
ness to pay on the part of private Internet users and the simplicity of copying digital
content pose a major challenge to established and new content providers.
The threatening disappearance of parts of the value-added change can also circum-
vent established filters for content, i.e. readers and publishers, music studios and
labels etc. Content is then potentially accessible unfiltered to anybody, anywhere –
with all the attendant advantages and disadvantages.
Communication channels
The key characteristic “communication channels” represents a market with a value
of almost DEM 43 billion (in 1999). The lion’s share of this is accounted for by
mobile radio connection fees, a sector of high economic dynamism. Digitalisation
increases the capacity of many communication channels. Forms of access and use
for content which are currently only possible through e.g. TV, cinema or VHS cas-
sette, will be made available in this way with constant quality through alternative
communication channels. Broadband transmission capacity will be created in both
It remains to be seen which terminal will come out on top. It also remains to be seen
how far use habits can be changed, for example whether lean-forward applications
on the TV screen will be broadly accepted, or whether users will habitually prefer
other terminals (such as PCs) for interactive applications.
Digital interactive TV
Consideration of “interactive TV”, offered as “digital” and “free TV” and as “pay
TV” is based on the results of the study by Booz-Allen & Hamilton, which takes as
an international comparison the development and state-of-use of pay TV in the UK
before looking in more detail at the situation in Germany. Here, UPC Nederland is
used to examine the strategy of a cable operator which also acts as a programme
provider for TV, including interactive services, and is accordingly seeking vertical
integration in the value-added chain. This could be a possible business model for
future privatised cable operators on German soil, and has considerable relevance as
an industrial policy element (including media and anti-trust questions).
As the available studies show, the use of digital interactive TV leads to even more
viewing and the neglect of activities outside the home (e.g. going to the cinema).
Naturally, it remains to be seen whether these effects will stabilise in future.
The market strategy of network operators could be to start out with a high-price
strategy and tailor their services to professional users promising high turnover. In the
second stage, high-price services to private users would follow. It is doubtful that
they would follow A mass market strategy with low-price hardware and services
from the start is questionable. Prices will possibly fall only gradually, in the same way
as GSM network prices in the early days. Due to the large number of licensees and
providers, however, it is also possible that the downward price spiral will get off to a
vigorous start and proceed far more dynamically than in the initial years of the GSM
networks.
In the event of an initial high-price strategy there will be a second “mobile” variant of
the “digital divide”, at least for a transitional period. However, countervailing effects
are also conceivable, such as that the cell phone will open up groups to Internet
access who have previously shunned the more complicated route using PCs, special
software and service providers. UMTS would then act as an access technology
through easy-to-use terminals and with limited display possibilities. Another possi-
bility would be separate cell phone networks for closed user groups (like the earlier
T-Online or CompuServe). This would really make UMTS cell phones more than
just a new access technology. Including the agreed information formats, they would
then constitute a separate world.
If UMTS succeeds in penetrating the mass market and cell phones with multimedia
capability become an everyday feature, this would result in very extensive opportu-
nities for users which would potentially have a lasting impact not only on media use
but on leisure behaviour as a whole and parts of working life.
The three areas were selected specifically in terms of the severity of the current
impact on them even before digitalisation, so that developments in one area can be
used to draw conclusions about developments in another area, under a type of transfer
hypothesis.
Following the availability of digitalised music on audio CDs and the development of
efficient compression technologies, the music area has already reached the second
stage of digitalisation, i.e. music can now be delivered digitally in nonphysical form
The three areas are not covered at equal length or in equal detail in the present
report. Literature and music are covered only briefly, while case studies for film (and
video) are given more space, reflecting inter alia the consideration that this is first of
all an area facing major change, secondly has high cultural relevance, and thirdly
provides a different view and approach compared to TV.
One of the most interesting phenomena in the area of literature is the way that profes-
sional societies can restructure themselves with the help of ICT, e.g. by creating a
journal which can be published entirely (including professional communication and
expert reporting) on the Internet. The example described in detail is the “Living Re-
views in Relativity” of the “Max-Planck-Institut für Gravitationsphysik” (in Golm,
near Potsdam).
For the music area, the realisation emerged inter alia from discussions with experts
that although many artists without recording contracts are trying to become known
through the Internet and relevant music portals, few succeed. The Internet functions
better as a platform for established names and as a forum for fan clubs.
Digitalisation of production technology has already started in film. As this can save
costs, cut time, increase marketing opportunities and enhance artistic possibilities,
digitalisation offers many advantages. In terms of distribution, the Internet plays a
role primarily as a platform for communication and marketing. DVD is growing as a
storage medium.
Digitalisation of playback technology will come, in the opinion of the experts, but
involves considerable costs, whose distribution must first be negotiated for the indus-
try.
Three key questions can be formulated for all three areas. a) Is the Internet and its
use closing the divide between culture makers and culture consumers? b) What is the
importance and function of the traditional intermediaries, and can they retain their
position or are they being threatened by new intermediaries? c) Are the New Media
with their
ability to change production, distribution and also reception of culture promoting
cultural diversity, or tending to promote homogeneity? The results of the Prognos
study show that the gap is narrowing (but not closed – a softwarebased paintbox
does not make you a painter, the question of talent is decisive). Traditional distribu-
tors are not simply abandoning the field or being pushed aside, they still determine
events – but new and additional distributors are appearing. Cultural diversity is being
promoted rather than levelled. As this aspect is of central importance, let us look at
the conclusion which the Prognos experts reached for the area of music.
“In terms of cultural policy, the positive effects associated with digitalisation appear
to outweigh the negative ones overall. The internet is opening up new creative scope,
Globalization process can erode the autonomy of nation states when they have to
follow the prescriptive policy of the world financial institutions from which they may
borrow loan for development.
The changes brought by ICT by the end of century are of tremendous concern. The
powerful flow of cultural commodities — information, news, and various television
programs saturate the world markets, as they become accessible via satellite-broad-
cast. The developing countries face serious challenges of whether *to hook with the
world telecommunication system or to avoid such integration in order to protect
their culture from direct influence of powerful cultural commodity flows.
As boundaries between the different network systems are eroded, we can talk about
wider electronic communication infrastructure rather than separate technologies,
each transmitting I different information system.
Such changes are neither accidental nor positive fall-out of technological progress.
They are by product of telecommunication policies in an era of rapid technological
changes.
Further he has linked the strategies of development to economic and social develop-
ment. The solutions are healthcare, education, land reforms and empowerment to
people. The developing countries do not need ‘trickle down’ from western countries
but they can achieve development by developing their manpower. Human develop-
ment is the main focus. It is necessary to bring into the public domain discussions
about social deprivation’s and create a system for social opportunities. There is lack
of initiative to focus on unemployment even in richer economies. The effort has to
create a force so that benefits of liberalized economy reach the socially deprived.
(Giddens l990, Mann 1986) point that the very idea of ‘society’ as a fundamental
analytic category becomes problematized once the complex interconnections of glo-
balization crosscutting assumed societal boundaries are recognized. It is the bounda-
ries of the nation state that are traversed by the interconnections of globalization —
by the global capitalist market, by global media flows, and cultural identifications.
And this reveals social reality as comprising of ‘structuring networks’ of state, culture
and economy, rather than on the basis of ‘one master’or ‘basic unit’ concept of
society.
McGrew (1992) argues, the process of globalization comprises four critical aspects
of the nation state; its competence, its form, its autonomy, and its authority or legiti-
macy.
New technologies present new possibilities as well as new threats. Satellite commu-
nication shrink distances. It is cost effective” way to reach large population world-
wide. But it can highlight problems of national sovereignty, cultural integrity, and
deepening inequalities. The pattern of availability and use mirrors the imbalance of
financial and political power.
Globalization: Impact
It has resulted in boom of advertising consumer goods. Satellite; communication
facilitated it. The force of globalization shifts power away from governments to pri-
vate capital in whatever market it takes place. The communication revolution has
The global players participate in the flows of news, entertainment and education
material, promotional messages,’ data flow, flow of voice messages, and text mes-
sages. These flows are organized around message producers, operators ofnetworks,
and manufacturers of technical equipment.
Cultural globalization process rethinks about cultural powers not as cultural imperial-
ism but a process of cultural integration. The significant is free flow of information
through US cultural industries and media entertainment based on free flow doctrine
that influences the world. Super information highway in US will give better access to
a) change in international communication as| consequences of communication tech-
nology such as fax machines, satellite, broadcasting etc.
b) emergence of corporate media 1 systems as aspects of globalization;
c) cultural aspects of the process of contemporary globalization;
d) global culture as built into modern communication systems, and accessibility of
technology with its wide angle reflecting cultural conflicts.
Others think of cultural convergence as evident in things people think about, the ways
in which they think, and which things are expressed through everyday social prac-
tices. Other aspect of ‘cultural hybridize’ arises from play of global forces through
immigration, in search of employment opportunities and global trade.
Economic Perspective
Global communication industries study ways of customizing or innovating products
suitable within geo-linguistic or geopolitical regions. The local level producers are
drawn on the global codes and conventions. The information and entertainment prod-
ucts champion the western ways of life, and values of capitalism and individualism.
There have been ongoing public discourses on cultural imperialism, media imperial-
ism, New World Information and Communication Order (NWICO), dependency,
and free markets. Globalization is said to assist the marginalized.
Media Perspective
Global media products and their implications for local cultures, and media as vehicles
of globalization (international news agencies were the first to communicate on global
basis). Modern satellite technology facilitated globalization. Tehranian & Tehranian
(1997) addresses the contradictory role of the media as a source of resistance to
globalization, protector of capitalism, agents of democracy and vehicles for advertis-
ing and commodification.
Media flow suggests that we are dealing with the type of cultures that have definite
geo origins and then have speedily expanded. Media flow analysis is concerned with
interaction between societies and not within societies. We study media as a form of
communication and as a setting within culture.
There are three major trends that are shaping the future of the world. First, is the
wide proliferation of the modern information and communication technologies. Sec-
ond is increasing democratization of the social systems around the world. The third
trend is the intensifying global expansion of mainly western-based corporations.
Cocacola, Pepsi, McDonald, Hollywood, CNN, Disneyland are more influential
and affirms the cultural domination. The convergence of communication technolo-
gies, political, and economic liberalization has transformed the way we live and com-
municate.