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The mass media is the whole body of media reaching large numbers of
the public via radio, television,
movies, magazines, newspapers and the World Wide
Web. The term was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks,
mass-circulation newspapers and magazines.
The mass media reaches a mass audience. That audience has been viewed by some commentators as forming a mass society with special characteristics, notably atomization or lack of social
connections, which render it especially susceptable to the influence of modern mass media techniques such as advertising and propaganda.
During the 20th century, the advent of mass media was driven by technology that allowed the massive duplication of material at a low cost. Physical
duplication technologies such as printing, record pressing and film duplication allowed the
duplication of books, newspapers and movies at low prices to huge audiences. Television and radio allowed the electronic
duplication of content for the first time.
Mass media had the economics of linear replication: a single work could make money proportional to the number of copies sold, and as volumes went up, units costs went down, increasing profit
margins further. Vast fortunes were to be made in mass media.
We also need to discuss mass media in different countries. Mass media in India is discussed in a separate section below.
The Internet and mass media
During the last decade of the 20th century, the advent of the World Wide
Web marked the first era in which any individual could have a means of exposure on the scale of mass media. For the first
time, anyone with a web site can address a global audience, although serving high
levels of web traffic is still expensive. It is possible that the rise of
peer-to-peer technologies may have begun the process of making the cost of
bandwidth manageable.
See also
Notable persons
Notable corporations
By location
Other
External links
Media studies
Other
List of Media
Canada
Television
Newspaper
Magazine
Internet
United States of America
Television
Newspaper
Magazine
Internet
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