Communication Evolution and Media at the Wartime

NB: We do not resell your papers. Upon ordering, we do an original paper exclusively for you.

NB: All your data is kept safe from the public.

Communication technology has a direct impact on society; it changes the way people communicate and think. Moreover, new communication technology shapes the new culture. Inventions and discoveries cause the languages to evolve and, subsequently, change the methods of speaking and thinking through language. Theorists consider communication technology as a potential revolution similar to the industrial one.

Communication technology has evolved into multi-purpose and multi-media machines providing immediate access to all information stored anywhere. Media, in general, is said to serve the public interest, however, according to the research on wartime communication, media fails to provide an objective overview of events. Historically, the printing technologies contributed to the growth of Protestantism as well as censorship, to the rise of libertarian urges as well as codification of law.

Despite the numerous discussions, printing technology has modified the life of society and its impact was positive. Modern communication technology is also beneficial for individuals and society in general. Unfortunately, advanced communication technology does not guarantee the delivery of trustworthy information.

1. Revolutionary transformations in systems of communication involve the interplay of technology, human actors, and institutions. In what ways is it possible to argue that technology plays a decisive role in such transformation? How could one argue that human agency and institutions, both political and economic, trump technology and create the conditions for communications revolutions and technological change?

Modern revolutionary transformations in the system of communication involve the interplay of technology, human actors, and institutions. Technology plays a central role in this transformation. Printing technology allowed historical publishing which provided better records of the past. The core idea of “progress might not have risen if vagueness about the past allowed people to forget how very different things had once been” (Chapter 1, p. 6). The digital communication revolution is purely technological. Technology has erased the distance barrier to communication; speech, text, and pictures can be immediately represented and sent; technology allowed work and leisure to be spent in communication; finally, the mass media revolution allowed the adaptation of electronic messages to the specialized needs of individuals.

The twentieth century was marked by the rapid growth of technology. In 1939 the number of telephone calls exceeded the number of letters mailed (Chapter 1, p. 9). By the year 1965, the percentage of homes that contained a television set was over 90 percent. Today, it is hardly possible to find a person who does not know how to use a computer. Moreover, the number of people using digital technology for communication purposes is steadily increasing.

Undoubtedly, the communication revolution would not take place without human and institutional factors. For example, the second industrial revolution resulted in machinery, mass production, and mechanisms that led to cost reduction. Particular attention has been paid to chemistry and electronics. Society demanded efficiency and diversity; the second industrial revolution has met these needs.

Historians argue that the communication revolution was a product of the eighteenth century and the radical transformations in the movement of information, people, and goods (John, p. 102). Starting with the year 1760, great developments occurred in the speed with which people, information, and goods move through the economy than had taken place during the preceding 1,500 years. There were dozens of technological innovations that had increased the speed of movement over space. Communications technologies were the product of the previous changes in transportation and industry.

Similar to the industrial revolution, communication technology developments appear in response to human needs. Computer-controlled composition allowed newspapers to appear in local editions containing different features. Cable television allowed many more channels than over-the-air television could provide. Information retrieval devices offered diversity in response to the consumers’ demands.

From this perspective, the communication revolution is shaped by the needs and wants of the consumers. Referring to the online resources, both humans and organizations are empowered to pursue their interests, to communicate, to advertise products and services, to share ideas and information. Online technologies are adjusted to the demands of the users. Thus, human agencies and institutions create the environment for communication revolution to take place.

Communication technology erased the distance burden on communication and the lives of people have been transformed. More importantly, the communication technology revolution relieved individuals and governments of the high communication costs. At the same time, the communication interdependence added difficultly to resolving conflicts among nations. Communication revolution, as noted by Quarantelli, has “many positive effects and outcomes for all aspects of social life, including the disaster area (p.2). Disaster planning and managing are considerably improved by the adoption of computer-related technologies. From this perspective, communication technology is improving in response to changing demands of its users. For example, disaster planning managers need a better infrastructure communication system. As the result, communication technology develops to meet this demand.

Moreover, communication technology is shaped by the needs of the people and institutions. While the majority of the global population speaks English, there are millions of people who do not speak English. The increasing usage of Internet resources and the increasing number of non-English speaking users have created an environment for further advancement. Today, the majority of web resources are available in several languages. “The industrial and technology revolutions have shaped our institutions as we know them today. Our education, healthcare, legal, and governance institutions and activities developed and were organised mainly to support the needs of commerce and the multinational corporation (MNC) entities of the times” (Mullins, n.p).

Historically, printing technology provided a more efficient means to spread information. The global community was concerned with the high costs of telephone communication while the communication revolution allowed a cheaper and faster means of communication (Internet) in response to this concern. Individual and small companies can operate globally and compete with large enterprises.

The communication revolution minimized the transaction costs and provided more sophisticated processes of running a business. “Political revolutions are inaugurated by a growing sense, often restricted to a segment of the political community, that existing institutions have ceased adequately to meet the problems posed by an environment that they have in part created” (Pitman, n.p.). Similar to political revolutions, the digital revolution is a response to the unmet needs of consumers.

Some historians suppose that a decisive role in communications technologies was played by public policy (John, p. 100). The majority of the communications technologies received massive public support. In the case of the postal system, in particular, the government-controlled and funded all processes. The rapid expansion of the postal system coincided with the establishment of an effective central government following the adoption of the federal constitution in 1788.

2. Media is said to operate in two environments or “spheres”. Based on the readings, along with the lectures and film, explain whether, in times of war, the media has generally succeeded or failed to fulfill its role in serving the public interest. What are the reasons for this success or failure?

Media operates in two environments: public and private. However, it is worth adding the third one – the business environment. For example, the company Dell uses the Internet to link the process of order intake with production and distribution. The company managers use new transport and communications technology to create innovations. From a business perspective, advances in communication technology allow the creation of new models for producing, buying, and selling. Communication revolution reshapes the economic development patterns. Organizational transformations lead to fundamental changes in the means by which society communicates. Improvements in communications “allowed messages to travel further and more accurately across the time and distance” (Fields, n.p.).

Separating the public and private serving of the media, it is worth adding that communication technologies provide a competitive advantage. Companies organize their activities geographically and this organizing shapes the way they produce and deliver their products or services. The improved transportation and communications technology allow business units to organize their operations beyond geographic limits. “In this way, innovations in business organization, deriving from the influence of the communications revolution and the process of organizational learning, reshape territories of profit-making” (Fields, n.p.).

Media serves the public interests when the issues covered in the press, for example, are of national interest. Theorists believe that the “advanced communications technology is an unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere” (Fallows, n.p.). Media empowers the public to obtain reliable information on the events taking place in the country and globally and on other issues that are important to people to know.

Media serves the private interests when the transmitted information should be kept confidential. Communication technologies offer opportunities for enhanced communication as well as threats to the private interests of people. The issue of confidentiality is of primary importance for people using communication technologies. The issue of communication security is of vital importance for organizations (to keep secrets in a safe digital environment) as well as for correspondence.

Information processing and reciprocal communication are inseparable from the concept of control. “Information processing is essential to all purposive activity, which is by definition goal directed and must therefore involve the continual comparison of current states to future goals, a basic problem of information processing” (Preface and Introduction, p. 34). Unlike energy processing, for example, information processing is more difficult to appreciate because the information is epiphenomenal: it derives from the material world (Preface and Introduction, p. 9). Information and access to it are critical to society. All systems must process matter and energy to maintain themselves counter to entropy. Control is vital for any processing and information is essential to control.

Communication technology shapes the ability to communicate. There is increasing concern over the issue of power attributed to communication technology. Information is power, thus, a person who controls the process of information distribution has power over others. “One sees the potential freedom of distribution that the new multi-media offer as ‘rhizomorphic in all its characteristics’ and hence intrinsically free of many of the old methods of oppression and suppression practiced by those who control the power of information in the non-virtual world” (Cupitt, n.p.). This idea is traced in wartime media, in particular the press.

There were thousands of articles that addressed the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001, discussed the possible course of action, and the potential aftermath of the war. Journalists wrote about the Iraqi exile community, the shape of the postwar government, cost, duration, troop members, etc. (Cunningham, n.p.). Interestingly, the coverage of war has radically changed once Bush declared making Iraq a model for retooling the entire Middle East.

The major theme of the articles shifted to reveal how the administration planned to handle the rebuilding of Iraq with the help of U.S. corporations. “It is true that the Bush administration is like a clenched fist with information” (Cunningham, n.p.). The key concern is that the media has lost its objectivity at the time of the Iraq war. People have become passive recipients of the news rather than aggressive analyzers and explainers of events.

Journalists covering war-related issues are biased and lack objectivity. Thus, media fails to serve public interests. The media imposes false interpretations of the events and forces the nation to perceive them as true. Special attention should be devoted to wartime propaganda. Biased reporting undermines the faith in facts. The nonstop news cycles leave journalists with no time to research. Reporters are reliant on official sources that provide information quickly and succinctly.

Instead of being objective, journalists tend to rely on their attitude while delivering news. Media is a tool of power and it shapes the attitude of the nation to specific events. It was media to present all Muslims as terrorists and to give birth to global hatred towards Islam. Objectivity in reporting would allow unbiased news coverage, while it is not kept at the time of war.

Press is part of the problem at the time of war. As Chris Hedges noted, “The coverage of war by the press has one consistent and pernicious theme – the worship of our weapons and our military might” (n.p.). He further commented that the press turns war into entertainment. Wartime journalists and reporters are part of the team, of the government, and do not provide trustworthy coverage of the events. The true reasons for wars are not open to the general public. Reporters deliver the information they are allowed to. At the time of war, media serves the interests of private organizations, politicians, or other agencies.

The media fails to provide objective information because reporters are dependent upon the information providers and are biased in their interpretation. For this reason, the global community views war in Iraq as the expansion of democracy, and there is no other opinion raised in the press. The media imposed the opinion that Iraq is prepared to use weapons of mass destruction, while there was no evidence of Iraq having weapons of mass destruction.

Information is power and today media appears to be censored by the government more than ever before. It does not mean that articles are prevented from publishing (it is not possible to do with the Internet resources). On the contrary, it means that the reporters are forced to present the opinion offered by interested agencies, such as the government in particular. The wartime press is biased with a personal opinion as well.

News is presented from one side while the public need for reliable information is not served. Communication technology has fostered the exchange of information and erased distance; however, it has not ensured objectivity. As the result, people do not have access to reliable information and are denied an opportunity to make independent judgments on events taking place in the world.

In conclusion, the communication revolution would not take place without technological advances. Moreover, technological advances lead communication revolution in the direction set by human agencies and different institutions. The needs of people are changing and communication developments are adjusted to these needs. However, communication technology does not solve the problem of objectivity or unbiased media. The wartime press, as a vivid example of media serving private needs, fails to provide the global community with objective information. Reporters deliver the information they get from interested institutions and the needs of the general public are not met.

Works Cited

Chapter 1. From Mass Media Revolution to Electronic Revolution.

Cunningham, Brent. “Re-Thinking Objectivity.” CJR Archives 2003. Web.

Cupitt, Cathy. “Changing Communication Technology: Evolution or Revolution?” Geocities.com. 2001. Web.

Fallows, James. “The Age of Murdoch.” Atlantic Monthly. 2003. Web.

Fields, Gary. “From Communications and Innovation, To Business Organization and Territory the Production Networks of Swift Meat Packing and Dell Computer.” Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy, University of California, Berkeley 2003. Web.

John, Richard. American Historians and the Concept of the Communications Revolution. Chapter Five.

Hedges, Chris. “The Press and the Myths of War.” The Nation. 2003. Web.

Mullins, Leo. “It’s a communication and connectivity revolution; vive la revolution!” Information Age. 2007. Web.

Pitman, Jim. “The Digital Revolution in Scholarly Communication.” The University of California, Berkeley. 2002. Web.

Quarantellu, E. L. Computer Based Information/Communication Revolution: A Dozen Problematic Issues and Questions They Raise fro Disaster Planning and Managing. Conference on the Challenge of Major Hazards on the Threshold of the New Millennium. Disaster Research Center, University of Delaware, Newark, 1998: 1-27.

Click Here To Order Now!

Communication Evolution and Media at the Wartime

Do you need this or any other assignment done for you from scratch?

We have qualified writers to help you.

We assure you a quality paper that is 100% free from plagiarism and AI.

You can choose either format of your choice ( Apa, Mla, Havard, Chicago, or any other)