Revolutions in Communication: Media History from Gutenberg to the Digital Age

by Bill Kovarik

Overview

Revolutions in Communication offers a new approach to media history, presenting an encyclopedic look at the way technological change has linked social and ideological communities. Using key figures in history to benchmark the chronology of technical innovation, Kovarik's exhaustive scholarship narrates the story of revolutions in printing, electronic communication and digital information, while drawing parallels between the past and present.

Updated to reflect new research that has surfaced these past few years, Revolutions in Communication continues to provide students and teachers with the most readable history of communications, while including enough international perspective to get the most accurate sense of the field. The supplemental reading materials on the companion website include slideshows, podcasts and video demonstration plans in order to facilitate further reading.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798765107164
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	03/06/2025
Edition description:	3rd ed.
Pages:	592
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Bill Kovarik, Ph.D. is a Professor of Communication at Radford University, USA. His previous books include Web Design for the Mass Media (2001) and Mass Media and Environmental Conflict (1997).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Preface

Introduction to media history

SECTION I: The Printing Revolution
1. Printing: The Divine Art
2. The Industrial Printing Revolution
3. The Press and the End of the Newspaper Era

SECTION II: The Visual Revolution
4. Photography: Giving Vision to History
5. Cinema: The Empathy Machine
6. Advertising, Public Relations, and the Crafted Image

SECTION III: The Electronic Revolution
7. Telegraph, Phonograph, and Telephone
8. Radio: Like Discovering a New Continent
9. Television: A Window on the World

SECTION IV: The Digital Revolution
10. Computers: Tubes, to Transistors, to Chips
11. Digital Networks, Tech Giants, and the New Media
12. Global Cultures

References
Table of illustrations
Index

Editorial Reviews

A stunning work of research, it conveys intellectual excitement and stimulates creative thinking about the social construction of communication.” —Maurine H. Beasley, Professor Emerita of Jourbanalism, Philip Merrill College of Jourbanalism, University of Maryland College Park, USA

“I could almost imagine myself standing next to William Caxton as the newly inked printed pages of the Canterbury Tales began to accumulate on the table next to his printing machine. Bill Kovarik's latest work on the history of the media has brought together under one academic roof the role of technology and how it has shaped our way of life and our world. He deserves full credit for the way his words take on both colour and a sense of adventure. This work belongs on the book shelves of any university or college program in which the study of technology and its companion media has a central focus. Let it be said that Kovarik's readers will never suffer a dull moment in this beautifully tailored work as he walks through some of the most important history of the age from the iPad to the cell phone to the Internet.” —David R. Spencer, Professor of Information and Media Studies, University of Western Ontario, Canada

“Kovarik has the most complete understanding of media technology among jourbanalism historians working today. It is a very interesting and useful work.” —Mark Neuzil, Professor of Communication and Jourbanalism, University of St. Thomas

“As an historian of both technology and the media, Bill Kovarik has made a unique contribution to our understanding of communication history. He explains how the print, visual, electronic, and digital technological revolutions have shaped communication. Equally important, he shows that that new technologies have been invented to overcome the limitations of existing media. This is fascinating reading, both for communication scholars and historians.” —James E. Grunig, Professor Emeritus of Communication, University of Maryland, USA

From the Publisher

As an historian of both technology and the media, Bill Kovarik has made a unique contribution to our understanding of communication history. He explains how the print, visual, electronic, and digital technological revolutions have shaped communication. Equally important, he shows that that new technologies have been invented to overcome the limitations of existing media. This is fascinating reading, both for communication scholars and historians.

James E. Grunig

Kovarik has the most complete understanding of media technology among journalism historians working today. It is a very interesting and useful work.

Mark Neuzil

I could almost imagine myself standing next to William Caxton as the newly inked printed pages of the Canterbury Tales began to accumulate on the table next to his printing machine. Bill Kovarik's latest work on the history of the media has brought together under one academic roof the role of technology and how it has shaped our way of life and our world. He deserves full credit for the way his words take on both colour and a sense of adventure. This work belongs on the book shelves of any university or college program in which the study of technology and its companion media has a central focus. Let it be said that Kovarik's readers will never suffer a dull moment in this beautifully tailored work as he walks through some of the most important history of the age from the iPad to the cell phone to the Internet.

David R. Spencer

A stunning work of research, it conveys intellectual excitement and stimulates creative thinking about the social construction of communication.

Maurine H. Beasley