მასმედია-სტატია ვიკიპედიიდან

"Popular press" redirects here. For the University of Wisconsin publishing imprint, see University of Wisconsin Press.

Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies, including the Internet, television, newspapers, film and radio, which are used for mass communications, and to the organizations which control these technologies.^[1][2]
Since the 1950s, in the countries that have reached a high level of industrialization, the mass media of cinema, radio and TV have a key role in political power.^[3]
Contemporary research demonstrates an increasing level of concentration of media ownership, with many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated by a very small number of firms.^[4]

History
The phrase "the media" began to be used in the 1920s, but referred to something that had its origins much further in the past.^[5] The invention of the printing press in the late 15th century gave rise to some of the first forms of mass communication, by enabling the publication of books and newspapers on a scale much larger than was previously possible.^[6][7][8]

Newspapers

Main article: History of newspapers and magazines

The first high-circulation newspapers arose in the eastern United States in the early 1800s, and were made possible by the invention of high-speed rotary steam printing presses, and railroads which allowed large-scale distribution over wide geographical areas. The increase in circulation, however, led to a decline in feedback and interactivity from the readership, making newspapers a more one-way medium.
Since the beginning, high-circulation newspapers have been a medium for conditioning public opinion.

Electrical telegraph

Main article: Telegraphy

In the 1840s, the first commercial electrical telegraph was developed, allowing to separate communications from transportation, enabling messages to be transmitted instantaneously over large distances.

Movies

Main article: History of film

Cinema began to be a large-scale entertainment industry in 1894, with the first commercial exhibition of film. The first films with a narrative bagan to be distributed in 1987.

Radio

Main article: History of radio

The first commercial broadcasts in the United States began in the 1920s.

Television

Main article: History of television

The first television broadcasts for a mass audience began in 1936 Germany and UK. Regular mass TV broadcasts in the United States only began in 1948, with a show hosted by Arturo Toscanini and starring comedian Milton Berle.

Political role in advanced capitalism

Since the '50s, when cinema, radio and TV began to be the primary or the only source of information for a larger and larger percentage of the population, these media began to be considered as central instruments of mass control.Up to the point that it emerged the idea that when a country has reached a high level of industrialization, the country itself "belongs to the person who controls communications."
Mass media play a significant role in shaping public perceptions on a variety of important issues, both through the information that is dispensed through them, and through the interpretations they place upon this information. They also play a large role in shaping modern culture, by selecting and portraying a particular set of beliefs, values, and traditions (an entire way of life), as reality. That is, by portraying a certain interpretation of reality, they shape reality to be more in line with that interpretation.