Is the rumor the oldest media in the world ?

Is the rumor the oldest media in the world ?

Rumors, they are sometimes relayed half-word in the newspapers, they are told at dinners in town and they are now everywhere on the Internet. No matter what form they take, rumors have always been an integral part of society. But we can ask ourselves is the rumor the oldest media in the world?

To begin with our reasoning, it is crucial to study the term of the question. A rumor is an unofficial, interesting story or piece of news that might be true or invented, and that is communicated quickly from person to person. The term media is defined like this:

the main means of mass communication (broadcasting, publishing, and the Internet) regarded collectively. With these two definitions, we can quickly identify a common point in both terms, indeed, each one is a means of releasing, spreading, diffusing an information whether true or false. Therefore, the close relationship between rumor and media cannot be denied.

I – Rumor before the arrival of traditional media

1. Word of mouth was the only way to spend an information

1. In the middle age, the rumor as a way for the popular classes to be heard

II – The rumor has always been a communication medium

1. The rumor: a working tool for journalists

One of the media’s favorite topics. More than 20 out of 100 articles are related to the rumor in the French-language press and one out of forty uses the word “rumor”

1. The rumor: a political instrument

Voluntary disinformation

Impeaching or decredibilizing a politician

1. The rise of new technologies and social networks: an acceleration of rumors

Remake the story online on Wikipedia

Photos montage

Rumors without borders

III - A different meaning to the word rumor

Nowadays can we still call the rumor a media today?

1. Rumor and media: still synonymous?

1. Rumor: a message more than a medium

1. The media: a support for the rumor

To conclude, I personaly think that talking about « oldiest media » makes no realy sense. Indeed, the term media is inseparable from the notion of society/group. But if we associates with rumour the definition of information diffused on a large scale then it finds its origin in the firmament of humanity, for example we can say that myhts as well was a sort of media. To go further, can’t we say that the drawings of prehistoric men was a srt of media at this time ?

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