This is a historical overview of theory and research in the field of mass communication studies. It is an account of the scholarly discourses that have been concerned with mass communication within a period that extends from the early days of the press in the 17th century to the Internet and other advanced communication and information technologies. The discourses are described in regard to their essential points, and they are contextualized in the social and intellectual settings of their times. The aim of the book is to serve as a textbook, outlining the history of mass communication, not for history's sake, but to provide the reader with a meaningful entry into this scholarly field, for a historical approach teaches students the importance of looking at the field not only synchronically, but also diachronically, as a constellation of discourses which is continually in a process of evolution.
