Media in TW2000

[unkated]

Media in the late 20th century is technology driven.

1. Continental broadcasting (national in the US and Canada) need good communications links. These are probably not available in the post TDM time frame.

As was noted, it is likely that direct wire routes survived - but some of these may be commandeered by various governments if more tech systems cease to be available. Or, simply to have ample control of the dissemination of information...

2. Television and radio are only useful in locations/areas with widespread power available. TVs are of little value if there is no power available for viewers to run them. Cities with limited power availability will probably have their broadcast hours adjusted. Those without, will have.... no broadcast media.

Radio may have a longer reach; radio receivers can run off a smallish set of batteries - TVs need more power to make that cathode ray tube shine.

3. Newspaper are lower tech, as has been pointed out. You don't need much for a small "newspaper." There are existing (and plans for) mechanically driven presses, as well as ditto machines and mimeogrpahs (still sitting in storage rooms in schools all across America. And that will be fine until the paper runs out.

I would imagine that local/regional news will take a larger portion of coverage in any location, simply because the ability to disseminate information over distance is diminished.

You also have more of an interest for local news, as local news will be more likely to have an immediate effect (for good or ill).

Or so I think, anyway.

Fox News started in October, 1996, to a mere 10 million households, and was not available in New York or Los Angeles.

One can make a case that if they aggressively began to cover the NATO invasion, Fox News's popularity might have risen faster.

Until cable systems are destroyed by TDM.

Uncle Ted

[aspqrz]

Or you could go the old time route ...

* Acta Diurna: Public Notices (Court Cases, Decrees of assorted Magistrates etc.) and some general news, placed in the Roman Forum from the mid 2nd century BC till the government moved to Constantinople. Evidently inscribed on copper or metal plates and archived, sometimes copied by scribes and sent to Provincial Governors.

As an extension, Caesar's 'De Bello Gallico' were letters sent back to Rome to be published/read or generally made public to the Plebs to maintain support against the Patricians who, generally, hated his guts.

* Town Crier: A long tradition going back to early medieval times. A public official whose job it was to make public announcements of laws, regulations, decrees, market days etc. etc.

Don't need a lot of tech to do those things.

Getting the news in the first place would come via the usual suspects, depending on the degree of damage to comms infrastructure, but you don't really need newspapers or radio stations for basic news distribution.

Phil

[Silent Hunter UK]

Originally Posted by aspqrz

* Town Crier: A long tradition going back to early medieval times. A public official whose job it was to make public announcements of laws, regulations, decrees, market days etc. etc.

We still have one in my borough; he's brought out for royal births etc.

[aspqrz]

Originally Posted by unkated

And that will be fine until the paper runs out.

It's actually fairly easy to make recycled paper from roneo/mimeo/gestetner quality paper ... some water, enough power to run a blender, and a fine mesh screen (and you can probably work something out instead of the blender).

Even the ink would be relatively easy ... linseed oil and lamp black.

Phil

[WallShadow]

The most difficult component of a mimeo/spirit duplicator machine to find or manufacture would be the mimeo master blanks, which are sheets of paper that are coated in a thin coating of (usually colored) wax that a typewriter key makes an impression on. These would be the achilles heel of the system.

[aspqrz]

Originally Posted by WallShadow

The most difficult component of a mimeo/spirit duplicator machine to find or manufacture would be the mimeo master blanks, which are sheets of paper that are coated in a thin coating of (usually colored) wax that a typewriter key makes an impression on. These would be the achilles heel of the system.

ISTR that in the 1632verse this proves to not be much of a problem. Of course, that's fiction, but the tech side of things is always (afaict) well researched.

ISTR that the problem they had was getting the wax coating thin and flexible enough ... they may even have created a flatbed rather than rotary machine to use the stencils, it was evidently simply enough to be assembled and run by locals with hand tools and not much else.

Where there's a will there's a way!

Phil

[Silent Hunter UK]

Printing presses have been around since the 15th century, BTW.

[aspqrz]

Well, in Western Europe.

Printing Presses have been around for much much much longer in China. About 1300 years longer ... and the method they used was much simpler than the initial Gutenberg style presses and successfully competed with Western style presses in China until all woodblock printing was suppressed by government fiat after the 1911 revolution for reasons of 'modernity' (hell, knowing how inherently corrupt the KMT were, they probably received kickbacks from owners of the newstyle presses to suppress the competition, as like as not).

They also used moveable type from about 1000 AD or so in China and at least the late 14th century in Korea, though neither methods were widespread because of the cost of the thousands of ceramic (or metal) ideograms necessary.

Phil

[Jason Weiser]

Folks...something germane to the discussion?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1i...g&pref=2&pli=1https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1i...g&pref=2&pli=1