A look at the past Essay

Kyle Brown
Professor Donaldson
MST 205
13 February 2012
A Window Into the Past: A Look at the media of a Different Era
It is hard for us to imagine things being different than they are now, with media and technology constantly changing right before our eyes. However, many remember “the good old days” when the newspaper would arrive each morning and once again in the afternoon to give them their daily news from around the world and just around the corner. In this world of ever-changing media, the older generation can offer us so considerable insight into the world as it once was. I interviewed my grandfather. Since he is 77 years old, and the elder statesman of my family, I thought he would provide the best insight into what technology and media as they were in the “golden era” of their respective mediums. My grandmother would step in from time to time to correct him, as his memory is not what it used to be (or so she thinks.) I decided to get into the newspaper first. He has read the newspaper all of his life and continues to read it daily. What I also found sort of interesting was that it is also his news media of choice. These days there are so many options and media outlets and many people have switched over to the Internet. I don't know if it is from stubbornness or reliability but for a multitude of reasons, the older generation has held on to the paper. Next, I asked him about his experiences with early radio. He is old enough that he remembered and loved many of the classic radio programming like the Lone Ranger, Cowboys, Jack Benny, and variety shows like Red Skelton and Bob Hope. He said those were all his favorites. He would listen to them I his living room with his friends and family like most people would at the time for evening entertainment. Next, we discussed the movies. He still remembered the early talkies, when talking in movies was just beginning to catch on. He went to the movies on Saturdays or in the evening with his family. He also thinks movies have changed drastically since his day. First of all, when he was growing up in 1930s Greensboro the movies were segregated. That changed in the late 1960s and early 70s but that was just the way it was until he was in his thirties. He also remembered the old Movie Palaces like the Carolina Theater which is still in existence. Another thing that has changed since his time is the language and dialogue, which back then, was very clean and conservative, which changed to the “foul language” as he put it, that is in movies these days. A big chunk of what we discussed was about Television, which has changed considerably from when he was younger. He said that the principal difference in TV from radio was that you could see what was going on and you didn’t have to use any imagination. That was an interesting concept for me to think about, with so many kids today just melting in front of the TV taking all of this information in, but not using any imagination. He watched TV with his family at home in the

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