The Very Beginning of Radio *Includes an Audio Sample

The Very Beginning of Radio

Radio was the first major nonprint form of media, and it had the ability to allow huge numbers of people to all tune in to the same event. The invention of the radio was a huge step forward for society, and it quickly evolved to serve numerous communicative purposes. 

Before the radio, people could not instantly get vital information from their homes, because all they had was newspapers that unfortunately took time to be printed and delivered. Soon after the radio was invented, everyone wanted one in their homes, and it was a revolutionary invention that completely altered how society mass communicated information.

The first step to this iconic invention was the discovery of electromagnetic waves. An article by PBS explains that in 1820, a man named Hans Christian Oersted was the first to say that electromagnetic fields exist because of currents. Soon after in 1830, physicist Micheal Faraday confirmed Oersted's theory, and he created the principle of electromagnetic induction. 

More on Hans Christian Oersted

As we talked about in class, two men known as James Maxwell and Heinrich Hertz theorized and proved the existence of electromagnetic waves in the late 1800s. Since the electromagnetic waves were finally proven to exist because of the two men, it initiated interest in the subject. 

Shortly after the theories were proven, a man named Guglielmo Marconi became interested in electromagnetic waves. The Italian inventor was the first person to bring the electromagnetic waves out of the lab and into the world.

The PBS article reveals that he started by doing short-distance broadcasts in his backyard. After experimenting with the waves at his own house, Marconi went on a ship, and in 1899 and he telegraphed the results of America's Cup yacht races to a land-based station in New York. 

Since Marconi was so successful in his endeavors, in 1901 he had founded his own commercial wireless company, and of course, he broadcasted the first transatlantic signal. 

More on the Marvelous Marconi

The idea of radio was now possible because of Marconi's experiments, but it was limited to only coded dots and dashes. The PBS article explains that 5 years after Marconi's transatlantic signal, a physicist named Reginald Fessenden sent the first long-distance transmission of human voice and music from his station. Unfortunately, Fessenden did not get much recognition for his work, since he did it right after Marconi's discoveries.

Now that someone had accomplished that, people recognized the potential of the incredible invention known as the radio. After Fessenden's discovery, more and more advancements were developed to further progress the use of radio. 

More on the Underrated Inventor Fessenden

The PBS article outlines that in the early 1900s, the Audion signal detector was invented, which allowed the sound to be amplified. Soon after that, another inventor developed another advancement called the superheterodyne circuit. 

Once all of these discoveries took place, the United States government decided to begin regulating radio communications, so they created the Wireless Ship Act of 1910. As we discussed in class, the act was sought to bring order to radio airwaves. 

More on the Ship Act

According to an article by Margaret Tullai, it regulated the airwaves by requiring cruise ships departing U.S. ports with 50 or more people and traveling 200 miles or more to have radio equipment as well as a  skilled operator onboard. Although this seemed to be helpful and promote safety, there were flaws within the act. 

Unfortunately, it did not allocate radio frequencies, and because of this inference over the airwaves became a significant issue within wireless communication. Additionally, when the tragedy of the Titanic sinking occurred, the interference caused their distress calls to go unheard. This horrific event caused the government to enact a new act soon after. 

This new act was called the Radio Act of 1912, and it addressed the issues that were raised because of the Titanic sinking. The act mandated two licensed radio operators per ship and assigned specific frequencies for specific purposes. 

The 1910 and 1912 acts laid the foundation for the regulation of radio as a form of mass communication.

Without all of these vital historical events, radio would not have had the impact that it has had in recent years. These amazing discoveries that I outlined were important stepping stones to get mass communication to where it is today. Although radio is not as popular as it used to be, people still listen to the radio in their cars or their homes. There is AM radio, FM radio, Satellite radio, and more. An example of a type of radio station that is normally AM is local news stations. These stations inform the audience living in the general area what the weather is like and if there are any traffic updates, etc. 

Local News Radio Sample