Development of Print Media - Case Study Example

Development of print media was the biggest development in the communication of man. It has been used as a tool for bringing change and also for agitating for development of countries. It is one of the major steps that have seen the modernization of print and the utilization of the modern concepts to come up with improved literature to assist in communication in the present world. There are many things associated with the print media and this can only be in line with the history associated with it. A detailed look at all the features of a book is the only way one can understand print media comprehensively (David 2005, p.12). Among the things connected to the print media are; history of the book, its production, circulation and consumption, and the role of the publishers, editors and the authors in coming up with the complete and finished end product. The medium theory is a contemporary means of classifying the role of the media in an examinable mode to come up with how it impacts on the human communication and also how the human expression is captured in a bid to emphasize on the role of the media in our life and its significance (David 2005, p.12). In the recent past, it has been found that most emphasis has been laid on the content and not the medium of the communication itself. It is of importance to look at the role of the medium through which communication will reach the people and also come up with the way in which it is going to change the world’s social and cultural values. In our case, the book “Stone’s Fall” by Lain Pears is a good one in which we can observe the main theme and aim of the publisher and the author and the intention of the entire work. Darnton entails clearly the use of print as a means of communication to reach to the population and also come up with the best way in which they can understand the media best. It entails the origin of the print media since the 15th century and brings on board the concept of research in a bid to come up with a general and common way of viewing the print industry. According to the founders of the medium theory, the suggestions are that the media is the message and the channel in which communication was transmitted. The medium theory however, does not comprehensively allow people to acknowledge what the message conveys or how the information is received. It tackles mostly the concept of the media richness and also the characteristics of the medium itself. Mcluhan (1967) stressed on how channels differ and how they awaken and alter the thoughts and the senses of the person accessing the information. This is the impact of the book “Stone’s Fall” by Lain Pears, where he emphasizes on the analytical analysis of the society by depicting the way the society thinks and lives in the modern day through the use of print media. It is meant to show that the media should not tell people what to think but instead emphasize on the concept that they are meant to think about. It is true that the media is a powerful tool that can either mislead or build a community or a nation. It is a tool that can influence the significance in the mind and result in undesirable effects of the consumer’s perception of the troubles happening in the society as well as a perception of what ought to be done in a civilized society. Book culture is only assistive if the impact of the message in it is helpful to all those that have access to it (Farr 2005, p.95). Darnton also aims at bringing out the culture of the book industry in comparison to other disciplines like literature, English and also sociology to come up with competitive methodologies that have impacts on the statistics of the book industry and also coming up with a culture that is unique to the media only. It is true that the people in the media industry needed to reconstruct the views of the general public on the way that the people conceptualize the media. Darnton suggests that a general way to analyze the model in which the consumer will get hold of the end product. It is important to note that a model that shows how the end results will reach the last person in the communicative chain (Farr 2005, p.96). He suggests that people in the industry look at the way the distribution should be put in place to reach the people even at the bottom of the distribution list. He offers the book historians a way in which they can conceive the production of texts and also make the production unilateral in terms of the message and the intended target that needs to use the message and get assistance. He suggests that people should use the media to impart good morals and also come up with ways in which they can come up with circuits that operate in consistent patterns that will not be complex to the one using it. In the book “Stone’s Fall” by Lain Pears, we note that what Darnton speaks of is very true. The ideological challenges of the publishing culture are some of the sectors that have clearly presented themselves in this book. The book is a fiction novel which tells of the woes of a rich family where the man of the house is accidentally, or so it seems, falls form the window and dies on the spot. The background setting entails of the fact that the people are struggling to come into terms with that tragedy as the main narrator is to an extent head over heels with the widow of the late mogul, John Williams. The book is all about wealth envy and love. This just shows how the media concentrates on giving the information rather than concentrating on the issues that are affecting the people in the society. Though the book tells of what the society should not behave, it does so in a way people might take a little bit too long to understand where the real emphasis lies. Media should be set in such a way that the international status of the book is attained and used in such a way that the public will not have conflicting views on certain issues issued by the print. It should be easily disseminated and also have a precise way in which its understanding cannot be put to question (David 2005, p.13). The book “Stone’s Fall” in this case does not really entail the examination of the physical, psychological and social variables which put into use of the senses to attend to the medium and also in a way explain how learning will be decoded or encoded to bring out the intended message without distorting it. The book defines the use of body language to achieve what one wants and even tells of how Martin, though younger than Elizabeth, fall in love and shows that it is acceptable. The intended meaning should have been that which raises propositions on the general issues, proposed issues, and also on the specific issues that give knowledge on proposals. It puts it in such a way that people should take this as part of the normal society given the fact that people are bound to be influenced by the way in which the message impacts on those who have gained access to it. By depicting the use of evil deeds to achieve what we desire means that the society may view this as a starting point for the use of violent methods to achieve their goals. Looking at the way Elizabeth pushes John off the window just tells you how the novel praises the use of crude methods to get into fulfill their desires. The media is also supposed to create a culture of breaking communication barriers instead of being an obstacle. This is where the difference between the new media and the tradition media comes in the new media has altered the way in which people participate in public matters. It has disseminated information to all levels and is also a way in which people are dictating the kind of information that needs to be served to them (Humphrey Flew 2005, p.264). There are many theories that support this notion of information being there for the consumers to either consume and use or consume and keep. The reason for the consumption of information is to reinforce one’s behaviors and views that generally affect him directly or indirectly. It is also meant to be a time for interaction with the outside world and the best way to do it is through the media. The media is also used to reinforce the education standards of an individual at the most without losing touch with the current and valid information as it is just an addition of that which already exists. In our case, Lain puts across the need for people to come up with ways in which they can use their skills to forge forward in life. Like in the case of Mathew looking into the cause of John’s death shows how the people can use their investigative skills to unearth disgruntlement in the society. Looking into the way he handles the case can assist people to come up with ways in which we can help solve some of these crimes in our surroundings. It is generally a show of how we can use print media to increase our skills on the issues that affect us directly or indirectly. It is also good to note that the characters in the novel look in to the way that the society moves in terms of powerful influence. The family of John uses its immense wealth to express their way of life and this causes the death of John as he declares that he was the only man that she could not control with sheer willpower and feminine wiles. It is important to note that the author puts across the message of controlling current events by the use of feminine wiles just to explain to the world how the society goes on. The author further wants to show the way the society is run by bodily desires and also with the use of the body to maneuver through the many duties of the world. It is important to note that the society as it is now is merely controlled by the way we internalize what we read and what we hear. The fact that the author depicts this in his work just brings out the society in print and tells of how our actions can lead to disastrous results should we not be careful. Some also use the print media to promote political manifestations. It has been noted that the media has had substantial influence on the way the political class has been regulated by the mare fact that it has given people the options to either join a particular party in terms of its relevance to the on going situations being faced by the common person and also by the mare fact that people in the political divide use the same media to articulate their manifestations and also offer the public a chance to review their policies and their stands on different issues. Darnton notes that the people in the media have the purposeful right to give the correct information to offer the people a mandate in deciding what fits them best and also what is best for their collective interests and not personal ambitions (David 2005, p.15). The other approach of the political magazines is the need to make profits especially during elections as prominent people from across the political divide scramble for spaces in these media to provide public forum and also come up with ways in which they will communicate to different age groups to come up with a common ground of communication. Though Lain does not entirely bring about the issue of political sidelines in his novel, he brings out similar intentions that are also depicted in the political magazines. For example, the fact that the death of John brought about a new twist of events that saw a journalist paid to find a long lost child who was bequeathed a sum of money in her late husband’s will. This show how greedy the woman is as she can not withstand the idea of sharing wealth with someone else. This is the current state of the society right now as the people are engaging themselves in deals that are questionable and deals that entail the use of mafias to carry out. The author also recounts other social evils that should not be emulated and then takes into task the role of showing all the positive and negative sides of each. Module II: People graced with the role of coming up with information should take into consideration the tastes of the people and also their culture. It is true that media positively or negatively affects the way people internalize their environment and all that surrounds them. It is mandated with the task of nurturing the cultural and sociological models of bringing people together for the benefit of the community (Farr 2005, p.80). Therefore, people in the news room play major role in shaping the world and also coming up with newsworthy material that clearly affects the people positively and also adds value to their morals and beliefs (Humphrey& Flew 2005, 264). The role of the publisher is to bring on board a book that has already been written and is responsible for a lot of things. Among them is the role of marketing, printing, distributing and also producing the book. They are also the ones with the role of negotiating with the authors on the intellectual property rights that are meant to protect the author in getting the reserved rights of getting the rights to dictate how he wants his books distributed and also the right to change them should the need arise (Wiegand 2007, 537). In this book, the publishers are Spiegel & Grau. The editors on the other hand are tasked with the process of preparing the written literature for corrections and also for organization and modifications in various sections if there is a need. It is a profession that requires creativity, human relations and precise set of methods (Wiegand 2007, p.540). Stone’s Fall is edited by Jonathan Argyll and Peter Simmons. The booksellers are the ones who interact with a variety of the customers. They assist the customers in the location of the best quality products in terms of literature and also in a way offer the require advice on other products available in the market to fit their type of curiosity. The book is marketed by the Amazon Company and the Rutledge Company. The reading group is one of the ways the consumers make use of the books that are in the market. It is important for the people to notice that the people in these reading groups have the opportunity to read and keep their reading habits in check. It is a way to share the love for books and their love for reading to (Linda 2004). The library is the next stop tasked with the provision of reading materials and also with the need for the people to acquire books that could seem to be very expensive at their disposal. It is also a place that has the responsibility of protecting the materials that are deemed as essential to reading habits and avail them under strict conditions (Linda 2004). The availability of this book in libraries has also been seen to double since the start of its selling year as many reading groups have found it useful and fun to read. From the above review, it is notable that people in the community are the recipients of literature. Those people with the highest influence in the type of material that we read are also our peers and they are the ones who influence the kind of materials that are reviewed in the reading groups. The analysis is also an important issue in that it defines our morals, values and also our way of handling contentious issues (David 2005, p.16). It is through the creation of flexible yet constricting policies that the media can be tamed and also given a chance to offer the lead in changing the values and habits of the local people in a positive way. References David, F 2005, An introduction to book history, Routledge, Washington. p.12-16 Farr, C 2005, talking readers, (chp.4), how Oprahs book club changed the way America reads, reading Oprah. Albany, State University of New York press, NY. P. 75-97. Flew, T and Humphreys, S 2005, ‘Games: Technology, Industry, Culture’ in New Media, an introduction 2nd edn, ed. Terry Flew, Oxford University Press, South Melbourne, p. 264. Linda, S. 2004, the role of the libraries in literacy education, viewed 18 May, 2009 < http://www.libraryinstruction.com/literacy-education.html > McLuhan, M & Fiore, Q 1967, An inventory of effects, The medium is the massage, Bantam Books, New York. Wiegand, Wayne, A 2007, libraries and the invention of information. (chp.39), A companion to the history of the book, Blackwell, Oxford. P. 531-543 Read More