Propaganda and surveillance. Protest and resistance. Media are tools We're often told media has effects on us, making us more violent, more passive, more sexual. In fact, we do things with media. All media are participatory Digital media have been celebrated as creating a more participatory culture, where we are no longer passive consumers.
People can build their own website, shop on-line, or participate in chatrooms.
But media participation has a long history. When radio was first introduced, it was assumed that everyday people would be able to transmit as well as receive information. Instead, radio became in most Western cultures primarily a technology for one-way, broadcast communication. Reframing Media History While most contemporary conversations about media focus on twentieth century technologies, the CMS program recognizes a need to consider media's roles and functions in a broader historical context. We believe that such a larger historical framing may pose alternative questions and offer alternative answers which will enable us to better address contemporary concerns about media form, content, and context.