The Evolution of Media
Not many people realize how different our communication is in this day and age from how it used to be. Society has not always had the freedom to express themselves in the way we do today. In Joshua Meyrowitz’s article, “Media Evolution and Cultural Change”, he discusses the history of media theory, primarily focusing on four central eras in history. According to Meyrowitz, medium theory focuses more on the larger questions that look at how “changes in media, apart from messages, may alter the textures and forms of social life” (Meyrowitz 52). This concept strays away from the original idea of media being the message and shifts the focal point to the concept of media theory. Media theorists dating all the way back to Socrates have studied the shift in media culture, but unlike Meyrowitz, Socrates did not believe in the act of writing, as he thought it would disrupt memories and decrease dialogue. Through Meyrowitz’s writing he describes these four eras of technological change that have affected social life. He begins by explaining the shift from oral to to written media.
Communication was solely based orally because no one knew how to read or write. This brings us to Meyrowitz first phase, the traditional oral culture. This phase of communication was dominated by sound, speech, previous knowledge, storytelling, rhymes, etc. Communication was based on memorization, which as one can imagine got a little eerie as time went on. This oral society had no specific hierarchy, no churches and no organized religion. Many people relied on each other in tribal settings. Each tribe had many different dialects, so usually there was not much bonding occurring within other tribes.

The phase that followed the oral society was the scribal phase. This is the beginning of when reading and writing began to develop. Writing systems were focused on more complex symbols with a greater distinction in statues thus, “writing systems segregate those who can write from those who can’t” (Meyrowitz 57). These different stages of education in reading and writing created further distinction and levels of authority. Some of the different forms of writing that were introduced included, phonetic and pictographic, which created social status and advanced different types of thinking. During this phase, City States, the Catholic Church, and the rise of the Monarchy all began to become established.

Once the Modern and Postmodern Eras become introduced, the previous hierarchal norms were diminished. However, there was still a strong knowledge of literacy and desire for money that motivated individuals. The rise of the modernist era came about the age of enlightenment and various mediums such as, newspapers, radio, and television.Through modernity became the emergence of the printing press, which enabled us to have the power to print in large amounts. The printing press changed the world forever as the documentary, Matter of Fact highlighted each of the steps that encouraged it. As Meyrowitz and Soha both explained, the film Matter of Fact also dives into the transition and cultural shifts from an oral society to the printing press. Life before the printing press was primarily focused on people getting information from the church, which ultimately ended up challenging the authority of the church.

Religious understandings were later shifted to scientific developments. Religious explanations were no longer the central focus of society as Soha stated, “While religion was still extremely important as a source of morals/ethics, science had emerged as a formidable way of rationally thinking about and understanding the world, and one’s place in it” (Soha 17). Through these four eras, society was changing amongst this form of media from oral communication to the scribal phase, as well as the movement toward modernity.
I found Meyrowitz’s article to be surprisingly interesting and very informative. This focus on how changes in media impacts forms of social life was quite different from other ideas of communication and media I have learned about in the past. The documentary, A Matter of Fact gave more of a visual context to the transition from an oral society to the printing press. Meyrowitz briefly describes the phases that contributed to this ever changing society, but this documentary empowers our focus on the important events that contributed to this extreme impact in our society.