Reading Response #1

Kelsey Hyde
Lapoe
MC 4095
6 May 2012

Why do we Study Media History?

             Why are we forced to take history classes in school? Well, for starters, the main point of studying history revolves around the statement that we cannot know where we are going unless we know where we came from. By studying events, leaders, politicians, etc. of the past, society can learn from mistakes, ideas, inventions and wars. By doing so, mankind can grow to serve and better our world. History is just like the study of art or music because people continually search for knowledge about it. Society’s reasons for studying history vary, but “the primary goal of historians is to explain the past truthfully” (Sloan, 2011, p. xi).

            Specifically, man can gain insight from the three values of the study of history. First, civic value expounds on the individual. It mainly provides information significantly for identity and background. Because it helps us get to know ourselves individually and collectively, it contributes to our professionalism. This is because we have the power to connect with members of the field of mass communication who have gone before us. Secondly, intellectual value regards the desire and necessity of expanding the mind. “Because historical understanding requires the full range of rigor, critical thinking, mature judgment, analytical ability and imagination, it is unsurpassed among scholarly disciple in exercising the mind” (Sloan, 2011, p. xii). Thirdly, moral value is the last value that one can gain from studying history. It involves the test of man’s morals and beliefs that help shape decisions. The moral value also provides models for standards of behavior and serves as a way to help us understand people. Without these three values, society would fail to learn from studying history.

            Primary and secondary sources serve as evidence to help tell a story. Primary sources are the best form of studying history because zero bias occurs and no one has to decipher importance or interpret them. Obviously, we do not have time travel machines to physically get us to a point in history to examine the events or people who lived during that time, but we can examine the records that people have left behind. However, limitations do occur with primary sources. In which case, you would use physical sources to evaluate and learn from the past.

            With the absence of present-mindedness, historians can gain an exponential amount of insight from performing well-done research. Is there a distinct difference between studying media history and history? According to Sloan (2011), the “study of media history is important for the same reasons that the study of any kind of history is” (p. xi). Even though media history is just one branch of historical study, does not mean that people take different values away from it. Civic, intellectual and moral values are all still prevalent in all forms of history, along with the use of primary and secondary sources. People have learned about the use of various mediums through history just like people have learned about effective war tactics by studying war history. From the period of time with propaganda to the first debate on television to the media exposing the Watergate Scandal, society (especially mass communication professionals) can learn the strengths, weaknesses, do’s and don’ts of covering monumental moments throughout American history. “Historical study provides the opportunity to inform later generations about the nature of humankind and historical truth; it offers an explanation for the complexity of past thinking and behavior; it contributes to the authentic record of human experience” (Sloan, 2011, p. xi). We study media history and all types of history to learn about the past in order to figure out where we are going.