Using Mass Media: Age of Reason Vs. Now

Age of Reason

Mail was often used, but was really slow

Any mail to and from Britain took about two months to get across Atlantic. This caused the delay of news to America from King George III according to the Revolutionary Betrayal 12. This also is one of the reasons why King George, would find it difficult to settle affairs. Letter writing was very common with individuals in the colony. Colonist such as Abigail and John Adams often wrote letters to each other discussing their personal interest and tactics in war. Additionally during the war letters were often the main way of communicating, they were often victims of espionage.

Printing presses and Newspapers

Documents such as the Declaration of independence were printed out to the colonies. This often led to a topic of discussion in the colonies according to the  Assumption College. The Pamphlet Common Sense by Thomas Paine provided colonists with the  motivation to rebel. Because of the lack of fast communication often newspapers  had limited topics of discussion and less world news.

A printed newspaper from the pre-revolutionary era

Have specific meetings and Meeting in Person

People often talked to each other in person.  An example was having delegates from almost each colony to form the Continental Congress. There they discussed what to do about the British especially with the Intolerable Acts, Sugar Acts, and Stamp Acts

Use of Images to attract attention

Pictures were truly worth a thousand words. After the Boston Massacre, images showed up which depicted white colonists as being innocently killed by Red soldiers. This in turn angered the colonist. 

Using religion to get the attention of colonist

Back then religion was common and a large part of the colonists' life. During the rebellion they had resistance flags that said "Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God." They Used Religion as an excuse to fight because colonist felt suppressed. 

Contemporary Era

Many options to communication it's much faster now

Any important information between countries can be told within minutes. This is because of the numerous forms of communication including: e-mail, mail, the internet and social media. However, people often say there is less privacy because of hacking, identity theft and being able to go through people's conversation history.

Online newspapers, printed newspapers, and articles are available

They can be accessed anywhere with internet. There is also a variety of topics such as health, economy, politics etc to appeal to the audience. Compared to the Era of Reason, the audience has lost the commonality of all believing in God. It also describes more foreign relations and world news, making the once small community larger. Additionally transportation such as cars, planes, helicopters and much more have connected the world together.

Possibility to have meetings anywhere at any time through the use of internet

It's possible to use the internet and see each other through the use of webcams and mics. Many meetings are held and  officials can meet with each other within a day or hours by taking the plane. 

Both

Propaganda

The use of media to establish propaganda is very common now and during the time of the  Age of Reason. During the age of reason many patriots and loyalists published papers that were in favor or against the crown. Documents published by the patriots included the Declaration of Independence which stated the issues of U.S. and how King George, ignored them. A document published by a Loyalist was "The True Interest of America Impartially Stated," which stated reason as to why United States should stay with British and refuting another Patriot document Common Sense.   

The use of media for propaganda is very common in the Contemporary Era. Topics in news on the television or newspapers are often over exaggerated or biased. For examples complaining commercials are very biased and derogatory to the opposition This is to attempt to persuade the voters to vote on their side. Additionally, topics such as Ebola, is kinda like propaganda There is  so much information everywhere about Ebola, from the symptoms and virulence of the disease. This fear is so common that many American citizens are afraid they will get it. In fact, many people are misinformed believing that they have Ebola, but really don't. This has caused for an Ebola Hysteria according to the CNN. To add on in countries such as North Korea, residents at such a young age are taught  propaganda in going against United States. 

Mass protest

Mass protesting is another example of mass media. Protesting not only provides awareness, but now it is often on the local news. During the Age of Reason there was a lot of mass protest. For example, was the Boston Tea Party. This protest was to show the Son's of Liberty's distaste is the King. This also helped established public attention as it was in many newspapers. Additionally, the burning of British effigies was common to show a sign of rebellion. This also got public attention.

In the Contemporary Era, there are still a lot of protests. People in United States often have labor union protesting because of a lack of pay.