Few would argue that television, with its dual components of audio and video, is the more capable form of media compared to radio, which only offers the former, except, perhaps, those who had no choice between the two during the early years. and mid-twentieth century.
But as old-fashioned as it may seem today, radio itself was considered a technological advance back then. Until now forced to obtain information and entertainment from printed materials, such as books, newspapers and magazines, those who met the novel device felt that it was the ultimate achievement. With the turn of a knob, they were able to connect with the world, bring it into their living rooms and listen to, rather than read, whatever current programming was on offer, from sports to music to special events.
Although television later usurped radio’s capacity with pictures and sound, it initially offered poor quality and only served to enhance its artificial representation. The radio, for its part, involved the listener, transforming him into an active part of the process.
Because it offered only sound and thus no visual cues, the listener needed to heighten his experience with imagination, which was paradoxically more vivid and authentic to him than the actual images could have been. Unable to enjoy a program if he remained in a passive mode, he was forced to become involved in it, concentrating on the conversation and the music to visualize the people and events in his mind.
Initially more realistic than those received by early televisions, whose screens were tiny relative to the huge cabinets that housed their actual picture tubes, radio programs were seen as more realistic and dramatic, providing what was called “theater of the mind”. “.
Because television was still in its early stages of development during the 1950s and 1960s, and generally reflected scenarios, their creativity was limited, but radio writers faced few of these restrictions with their scripts, allowing them to happen anytime and anywhere they want. thing. Together with one or more narrators and appropriate background music, these scripts led the listener through the story and its events exactly the way they were intended, allowing them to imagine them unfolding in their minds, which, in essence, became on your own “personal television”. screen.” Consequently, this human-radio interface also earned this form of media the title “art of the imagination.”
Above all, the radio allowed the person to connect with other people and with numerous parts of the world, as if it served as a form of sensory travel. Although newspapers and periodicals brought the reader stories and events that had already happened, radio provided this link as they happened, transforming him from a passive participant to a virtually active participant.
When the reporter said urgently, “Here we are at the corner of Preston and Elliot streets in front of the Third National Bank, where the robbery is unfolding before our eyes,” the listener believed he was.
There was no limitation to the range of airwaves, whether they spread across the city or across the Atlantic. When Winston Churchill gave a speech at Buckingham Palace, for example, the listener often felt as if he were there with him and imagined Big Ben’s golden clock chiming behind his shoulder.
Radio, as perhaps the intermediary link between the printed page and the television screen, also showed that there was a correlation between media technology and reader/listener/viewer participation. In fact, the more the former offered, the less active it became.
Devoid of any technology, newspapers and magazines only offered printed words and two-dimensional images, requiring the full participation of the participants to be effective. Later, through voices, sound and music, radios allowed him to dispense with reading, but intensified his need to listen, connecting him to the world and fine-tuning his mind’s ability to imagine and create. Finally, television, which offered sound and pictures, replaced some of his sensory enhancement requirements, but reduced him to a primarily passive viewer. Additional advances in television, such as those with 3D and 4D capabilities, further reduced his need to access the potential of his mind and created a virtual reality in which he was almost at the center of the experience.
While answers to which media can be considered superior vary depending on the generation and degree of technology in which they were introduced, those who lived in the early to mid-20th century would almost certainly vote for radio.
