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NBC News reported the discovery of a 40000-year-old cave painting in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Several other discoveries of cave art around the world have proven that even at a time when no known civilizations existed, the media have been part of man’s life.

After the Stone Age, ancient civilizations began to emerge along with a certain form of speech. The development of language made record keeping among civilizations possible. This is where the ancient forms of writing came into the picture. The earliest of which is the hieroglyphic script of the ancient Egyptian civilization developed around 32000 BCE. (Scoville, 2015) The Sumerians developed another notable ancient form of writing around 5000 BCE called the cuneiform. (Mark, 2011)

The creation of paper allowed ancient scribes to preserve history through manuscripts. These manuscripts are referred to as the earliest form of the print media.

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The industrial age brought improvements in mass media. In the book Industrialization in the modern World, Hinshaw and Stearns cited the changes in mass media in the industrial age. In print, faster, steam-driven presses and methods of translating photographs to the printing press. The year 1850s paved the way for cheaper manufacturing of paper. In 1890s automatic composing machines allowed semiskilled typesetting from keyboards to replace highly skilled manual setting. Advances in photography allowed illustration.

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The electronic age of media began with the invention of the telegraph during the mid-1840s. According to Howe, it was part of a widespread revolution in communications along with mass production of newspapers, magazines and books. Bill Kovarik said that the invention of the telegraph led to telephones, radios and televisions. It revolutionized communication and the media from the physical –print to transmitted signals over distance.

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Today’s media has come a long from way cave paintings. While traces of the industrial and electronic age still remain in modern media, the internet is the prevailing platform of media in the information age. The internet is a development instead of an invention. What people know today as World Wide Web began as a more secure alternative means of communication during cold war, called the ARPAnet. Janet Abbate define the ARPAnet as a single network connecting a few dozen sites. By using packet switching or the process of breaking down information and sending it through different routes, the United States communication system can survive a Soviet attack. (Abbate, 2000)