Shayna Iorio
LIS 201
Discussion 308
Article Critique
This article, written by Carl F.
Kaestle and Janice A. Radway in 2009, describes the technological advancements
in communication in America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth
century. Focusing on the years 1880 through 1940, the country was going through
dramatic changes in society, including the industrial revolution and the First
World War, which were events that impacted every person. The article focuses on
the idea of spreading words in different ways to reach large audiences.
Beginning
with the invention of the railroad, production and transportation seriously
increased the way in which people were able to spread their ideas and
communicate. This new network created the idea of corporate capitalism, in
which corporations were buying up competitors horizontally and expanding their
companies vertically. Following the creation of corporations came the magazine
revolution. People started using the printed word as a mean of advertisements
and an expression of opinions. As society began using these new technologies,
people where able to share their views, supporting the fact that print is a
source of power. Shortly after the printed word was being spread across the
nation, new innovations came about in the field of sound and graphics. By 1907,
the nickelodeons, or short films, had over millions in attendance. This created
a visual stimulation that society has never seen before. Suddenly the magazine
and newspaper industries were revolutionized again, now including photographs
and graphics to enhance their written words.
However, as
the article states, “technology did not cause change, but enabled it”. Though
these new inventions strengthen communication to an extent that was
unimaginable in previous years, they also raised a myriad of anxieties to the
population as well. The fast paced changes caused the population to question
the rate at which their society was moving, and if these images and words they
were seeing were even real or simply a visual trick. These changes even brought
about a new social class that no one could’ve predicted. There were now
occupations that required specialization in specific fields. Workers were
corporate capitalists without being monopolists as they had been in the past.
These people used the creation of print to make a living and to develop an
identity that they could not have had in the past.
Two different authors wrote this
article, which was published in 2009. One author, Carl F. Kaestle, is a
professor of education, history, and public policy, focusing mainly on the
1800s. He has worked at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of
Chicago, and Brown University. The other author of the article, Janice A.
Radway, is an American literary and cultural studies scholar. She is a
communications professor at Northwestern University.
According
to various reviews of the article, the authors were trying to teach readers the
importance of mass production and the impact of the printed word on society.
People were able to spread ideas and network for their own purposes, while creating
diversity and intelligence throughout the population. Society thrives off of
communication and the power that is within the printed word.
Other articles on this topic:
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