Why the binary of old versus new media is a modern historical illusion

Cultures · Published 30 September 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: Traditional media institutions, from printing presses to television networks, once held absolute control over the public narrative. While the internet has disrupted their dominance, theorists argue that the label old media is a social construct, emerging only in hindsight to define our transition into the digital age.

Old media, or legacy media, encompasses the centralized institutions that defined mass communication prior to the internet. This lineage traces back to 1440, when Johannes Gutenberg’s movable type printing press enabled the mass production of texts. Over the following centuries, industrialization and innovation—such as Friedrich Koenig’s steam-powered press in 1810 and Guglielmo Marconi’s radio in 1897—expanded the reach of these institutions. By the mid-twentieth century, broadcast television became the primary cultural force, with three major networks capturing 93 percent of American television viewing by the 1970s.

The rise of the internet in 1991 fundamentally altered this landscape, introducing decentralized, peer-to-peer communication. This shift created significant economic pressure on legacy conglomerates like NewsCorp and the Tribune Company. Newspapers, in particular, have struggled with declining readership, the loss of classified advertising revenue to digital platforms, and difficulties in monetizing online content. These pressures led industry figures like Rupert Murdoch and Sam Zell to accuse search engines of misappropriating copyrighted material, while some firms even sought government tax relief to offset mounting losses.

However, the narrative that new media renders old media obsolete is contested by media historians. Scholars like Marshall McLuhan and Wolfgang Ernst suggest that media should be viewed as a spectrum rather than a binary. Because a medium’s information is inherently tied to its form, older technologies do not simply vanish; they persist and evolve. Simone Natale argues that the term old media is a social construct, gaining popularity only as the internet became ubiquitous. By framing media as a binary, we overlook the reality that legacy institutions remain deeply embedded in our economic and political structures, ensuring their continued relevance regardless of digital disruption.

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