MassCom: Main Ideas/ Revolutions of the Printing Age

Main Ideas/ Revolutions of the Printing Age

1. The Penny Press

Now when you hear penny press, it's not those adorable elongated coins you used to beg your parents to give you change for so you could go home with a bizarre souvenir. (Such as pictured to the left)

No, the Penny Press was far different. It revolutionized literacy through its 1 Cent papers. And if you've learned anything about America in the past however many years you've studied advertising and marketing, you'd know that we love anything cheap and abundant. I mean that's why everyone gets so many chicken nuggets when they go to McDonalds, right? Or is that just me? The first Penny Press newspaper was named "The Sun" and was published in the Big Apple in September of 1833. Leave it to New York to publish the first newspaper...and fill it with tabloids!

2. Godey's Lady's Book

Now this may not seem like a "revolution," but I'm definitely sure that this was an accomplishment. Godey's was the first woman's magazine. Godey's was created, at first, to cater to upper class women with a taste in beauty, proper etiquette, fashion, and popular fiction at that time. Godey's had soon surpassed it's suggested class, and had spread to the lower and middle class as well, selling upwards of 150,000 copies. With their large fan base, the magazine had a substantial influence on the woman's liberation movement.

3. Postal Act of 1792

The Postal Act of 1792, I feel, revolutionized the print age even further than my past mentions,. The Postal Act secured mail deliveries, but more importantly, allowed the delivery of newspapers.

So when you wake up on Saturday morning, do your routine of the morning stretch in your robe in the fresh air, and bend down uncomfortably in the presence of your neighbor mowing his lawn, you can thank the Postal Act of 1792 for allowing the delivery and widespread publication of your daily news.

4. "Birth of a Novel"

Though it's not what's usually considered a "main point" I find it really important and a fun fact how that 300 page novel you have to read for class came to be. Novels, were at first, published periodically in newspapers, piece by piece. Something like that is what I needed to help me prioritize my reading; if I can only read 10 pages a week, then you'd be right in guessing I'd finish all my reading assignments on time. (Sadly that's not the case, and I have to read 5 chapters of a science textbook I need to write a paper on)

5. Industrial Revolution

I'm really not trying to give you a history lesson here, but these dates were very important in shaping media as we see it today, primarily the print section of media, or what is left of it today. The desire the many new immigrants had to succeed in this new state of urbanization lead to an increased literacy rate. Because if you can read, why won't you be one of the top choices for that new job that was created specifically for people that can read? Newspapers had to adapt to the changing times between the 18th and 19th centuries and changed their headlines from social elites to middle class urban workers, who would benefit from and use more often, the newspapers of the times.

For example, I would benefit more from the Storm Front or Torch St Johns Newspaper more than my dentist would.

Bibliography;

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Mass Media Revolution