The history of the birth, development and evolution of mass media, and also of mass communication is a long one, but it can be traced back to old times when books were created by hand. This form of printing, which preceded the great invension by Guttengerb in the 15th century, and which allowed people to be able to print paper, and thus create books in mass, replaced the old form of mass communication, which was, oral communication. Further on, down the line, in 1810, Friedrich Koenig invented a printing machine that used steam power, thus starting the massive printing press. From then on, mass communication, and the mass media, began to grow and develop into what we know today. I will start answering then your questions, starting with the last one:
1. How does mass communication differ from mass media? Mass communication is defined as the process of passing on information to as a large group of people as is possible. Mass media is defined as the means by which mass communication can be achieved, through a medium (television, radio, internet, etc.)
2. Communication media has evolved in the United States, especially since the 19th century and beyond. During the Industrial Revolution, in the 1800´s, there were two means of communication: printed press, and telegraphy, which was invented by Samuel Morse in 1837, and which later on became the precursor of wireless means of communication. During the two world wars, however, the communication media that became predominant was the radio, which appeared around the first half of the 20th century. However, at this time, telgraphy was still very much in use, especially by the military. In the 1960´s, however, a new media appeared on the scene, and became predominant: Television. All the post-world war era was lived, and experienced through this form of mass media. During the 1980´s and 1990´s, cable television came onto the scene, and not much later than that, digital and virtual mass media sprouted up with the appearance of Internet.
3. These forms of media differed probably in the quality, and also the fact that today, most of them have had to adapt to the virtual forms of communication. Since people are now used to communicating virtually, through computers and smartphones, and internet-connected devices, books, magazines, and even TV and radio, have adapted to also be part of this virtual world.
4. All these communication media that we spoke before helped to interconnect the world. From printing, when people were able to access much more information than before, to the telegraph, to the radio and TV, all these forms of mass media served to increase interconnections in the world. They also allowed people to become aware of a world that was much larger than the one that surrounded them immediately.
