Editor’s Note: It is easy
to see how technology shapes our daily lives. What is not
always apparent is the role the press plays in these advancements.
This three part series investigates the relationship between
journalism, technology and society, from the beginnings
of the “wire” and the Associated Press in the
19th century to the mega-structures of the 21st century
wireless society.
As the telegraph became more sophisticated throughout the
20th century, the place of journalism in national dialogue
became more important. Yet perhaps the greatest dual impact
of both the press and technology came in the late 1960s and
early 1970s with the Vietnam War.
The Vietnam War became known as the first “television
war” (or “living room war”) for two reasons.
Firstly, television technology (invented in 1923 from telegraphic
technology) had finally reached a level that made wide transmission
and access available. Secondly, journalists reporting in
Vietnam enjoyed a kind of freedom that had never been experienced.
Although the news was not completely without censorship,
it did often contained unfiltered accounts by journalists
on the frontlines of the war.
In a recent panel discussion in New York at the Associated
Press, former Vietnam reporter and bureau chief, Richard
Pyle, commented, "The military was remarkable in Vietnam
-- they not only didn't try to censor us, they made every
accommodation to us. There's never been a situation quite
like that anywhere."
Vietnam changed journalism forever. Not only in tactics
and technology, but in how people responded to the news.
Like the formation of cooperative news organizations of the
19th century, television became a new vehicle for public
discourse on national and international affairs. However,
rather than foster a new kind of nationalism that was made
possible through the telegraph, this inundation of televised
information came about at a time when nationalism was being
challenged.
From Telegraph to Computer
Though television was responsible for the wide transmission
of news to the public, the telegraph machine was still widely
used at this time as well. Telegraph lines both in and out
of Vietnam traveled around the world - through Manila, Hong
Kong, Tokyo,
Paris, New York and beyond. This technology was rapidly changing,
however. By the mid to late 1980s computers replaced typewriters,
although teletype machines (now attached to computers) were
still responsible for transmitting stories overseas and across
nations. The Internet
Though technically invented in 1969, it took about
30 years for the Internet to really become an integral aspect
of the press. Now, in the 21st century, news bureaus and
organizations are faced with re-structuring to not only accommodate
the internet as a vehicle of news transmission, but are also
contending with internet giants such as Google and Yahoo
as non-traditional competitors.
Part III of this series will examine journalism, the internet
and wireless society.
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