3generations project:

Mass Media

Tomas van Beijnen

Noëlle Astafanous
Lynn van der Hagen

Het Rijnlands Lyceum Oegstgeest

 Introduction.
The aim of this project is to find out about different aspects of daily life in the period
that our grandparents (or people with the same age as our grandparents) and our
parents (or people with the same age as our parents) lived. We will do research
about the topic of Mass Media and our main question is as follows: to what extent
has the role of mass media and books changed?

We will collect the necessary information by interviewing various people. Since we

are a group consisting of three people, three parents and three grandparents are
being interviewed.

The interviewed people of the 3rd generation will now be introduced:

Jaap van Heiningen:

Hello, I am Jaap. When I was a teenager lived
together with my sister and my parents in my house,
so in total we were a nuclear family with the four of
us. We lived in Barendrecht.

My father used to own a caravan business and my mother’s

profession was doing the administration.
The historical event I remember is that Neil Armstrong was the first
man to visit the moon in 1968. It has impressed me because it was very
new at that moment and there was done a lot of research before he could Barendrecht, the
go there. Netherlands

Marius Huender:
Hello, I am Marius. I lived together with my two siblings and my parents
in a nuclear family. We lived in Oss, which is a city in North Brabant.
My father owned a tin factory and my mother used to be a
housemother.
The histo rical event which impressed me was the
‘watersnoodsramp’. It i mpressed me, because the pictures
which I saw were really horrifying.
Oss, the
Netherlands
Nadia Louis:
Hello, I am Nadia. I used to live together with
my three siblings and my parents. We were a
nuclear family consisting of six people in total.
We lived in Cairo, Egypt. The address was Ben
Nabata 18.
My father used to be a civil servant and the profession of my
mother was to be a housemother.
The historical event I remember is the Second World War, it
effected many people in Europe and many people died. This made a huge
impression on me.
Cairo, Egypt
Now, the three people of the 2nd generation will be introduced:

Rob van der Hagen:

Hello, I am Rob. I used to live with my sister and my parents in
a nuclear family existing of four people. We lived in Lexmond,
the Netherlands.
My father’s profession was plumber and my mother was a
housemother.
The historical event I remember was the fall of the Berlin wall. This
event impressed me, because the attitude of life between East and West
Europe changed. There was a lot more freedom, for example, to travel.

Lexmond, the
Magdy Astafanous: Netherlands
Hello, I am Magdy. My parents’ family existed of 25
members, but we only liv ed in a family of eight people
(extended). We lived in Luxor, Egypt.
The profession of my father was the owner of a shop and
my mother was a housemother. I can’t remember any
historical facts, because I lived in Egypt.

Luxor, Egypt

Suzanne Huender:
Hello, I am Suzanne. When I was a teenager I
lived together with my two siblings and my
parents in a nuclear family in Oranjestad, Aruba.
My father’s profession was working at an
insurance company and my mother used to be a
housemother.
The historical event I remember is the Soviet Union being broken
down. It impressed me, because it was a major change in the world.

Oranjestad, Aruba

Action plan:
As already mentioned, we will interview six different people. They will be asked
various specific questions about the subject of Mass Media, and later on, we will
compare and contrast the questions about Mass Media in the different generations.
Finally, we will give an answer to the main question.
 Research.
Questions for the grandparents:
Subquestion 1: Which types of mass media were available/popular?
Answers from interviews:
Jaap: used to have a daily newspaper, magazines, radio and television. There was
no internet, because it wasn’t invented yet.
The most popular type of mass media was the newspaper, because everyone read
that. His parents used to read a lot of magazines. Jaap and his sister used to read
books in their spare time.

Nadia: used to have newspapers, radio and television. There was no internet,
because it wasn’t invented yet.
The most popular type of mass media was reading newspapers and watching
television. A lot of reading was done as well.

Marius: used to have radio and newspapers. There was no internet, because it
wasn’t invented yet.
The most popular type of mass media was the radio. A lot of reading was done in his
family as well.

Answer to the subquestion:

In every household at least newspapers and radio were available, the most popular
type of mass media was the newspaper, because everyone used to read a lot.

Subquestion 2: how expensive was it to purchase a radio, a television,

newspapers, magazines, books and a computer? And was a well equipped
library available?
Answers from interviews:
Jaap: no idea about what the purchase costs were, because he was never able to
buy items himself. His parents used to do that.
There was a well equipped library in the village, but not one in school.

Nadia: a radio costs €20, a television costs €150, newspapers were €1 and
books were between €2,50 and €5.
There was a well equipped library in the village.

Marius: a radio costs €100, a newspaper costs €0,50 and books cost €1.
Yes, there was a well equipped library available, but only one.

Answer to the subquestion:

The exact costs of mass media differ per person, but if we take the average, we
come to: radio €60, a television €150, newspapers €0,75 and books were around €3.
There was a well equipped library available in every village.

Subquestion 3: how much time of your daily life did you spend on mass media
when you were a teenager?
Answers from interviews:
Jaap: spent around two hours of his daily life on mass media, one hour of reading
books and the other hour listening to the radio or reading the newspaper. He spent
one hour a day on reading books. This was school reading and reading for pleasure.
Nadia: spent around three to four hours of her daily life on mass media, this
consisted mostly of watching television. She spent one hour a day on reading books.

Marius: spent around one hours of his daily life on mass media, this consisted mostly
of reading books. As already mentioned, he spent one hour a day on reading books.

Answer to the subquestion:

On average, there was spent around two and a half hours on mass media per day.
This consisted of reading books for one hour, and the other hour something else
such as listening to the radio or watching television.

Subquestion 4: what are the favourites?

Answers from interviews:
Jaap: in his family, the favourite magazine was the ‘Libelle’ for women, and the ‘Auto
kampioen’ for men. Jaap didn’t really have a favourite magazine or programme,
because he didn’t read any magazines. Jaap’s favourite books were cowboy stories.
Favourite magazines/programmes were discussed a dinner.

Nadia: in her family, the favourite magazine was ‘song of the world’. Nadia can’t
remember her specific favourite magazine. Nadia’s favourite book was the bible,
because she believes in God. Favourite magazines/programmes were discussed
every day.

Marius: in his family, the favourite magazine was ‘Else4’. And also Marius’ favourite
magazine was the Else4. His favourite books were history books, because it
interested him how the world we know came in to place. Favourite
magazines/programmes were not discussed.

Answer to the subquestion:

The favourites differ per person. Favourite magazines/programmes were not always
discussed.

Subquestion 5: what are the positive and negative aspects of mass media in
your country when you were a teenager? Have mass media caused bad
effects?
Answers from interviews:
Jaap: can’t think of many positive and negative aspects. There were also no bad
effects of mass media on people.

Nadia: no negative aspects, and there were also no bad effects.

Marius: positive aspect is that the world we know seemed to get bigger and bigger.
No negative aspects, and also no bad effects.

Answer to the subquestion:

There were differences in the positive and negative aspects, some people think mass
media is a good thing and some see it as a bad thing. There were no bad effects of
mass media.
Questions for the parents:
Subquestion 1: Which types of mass media were available/popular?
Answers from interviews:
Rob: used to have a daily newspaper, magazines, radio and television. There was no
internet, because it wasn’t invented yet.
The most popular type of mass media was the television. His family used to read the
newspaper, but they didn’t read for pleasure.

Magdy: used to have newspapers, magazines, radio and television. There was no
internet, because it wasn’t invented yet.
The most popular type of mass media was watching television. A lot of reading
(newspapers) was done as well.

Suzanne: used to have newspapers, magazines, radio and television. There was no
internet, because it wasn’t invented yet.
The most popular type of mass media was the television. A lot of reading was done
as well.

Answer to the subquestion:

In every household a newspaper, magazines, radio and television were available, the
most popular type of mass media was the television.

Subquestion 2: how expensive was it to purchase a radio, a television,

newspapers, magazines, books and a computer? And was a well equipped
library available?
Answers from interviews:
Rob: can’t remember the exact purchase costs, but luxury items like television were
very expensive, compared to what we have now.
There was a well equipped library in the village and in school.

Magdy: a radio costs €35, a television costs €200, newspapers were €1 and
books were between €5 and €10.
There was a well equipped library in the village.

Suzanne: can’t remember the costs, because he never bought much.

Yes, there was a well equipped library available.

Answer to the subquestion:

The exact costs of mass media differ per person, and most people can’t remember
the costs, but it was around: a radio €35, a television €200, newspapers were €1 and
books were between €5 and €10. There was a well equipped library available in
every village.

Subquestion 3: how much time of your daily life did you spend on mass media
when you were a teenager?
Answers from interviews:
Rob: spent around two hours and twenty minutes of his daily life on mass media, two
hours of watching television and twenty minutes on reading the newspaper.
He spent one hour a week on reading books, which was only school reading.
Magdy: spent around one hour and thirty minutes of his daily life on mass media, this
consisted mostly of watching television. He spent thirty minutes a day on reading
books.

Marius: spent a lot of his day on mass media, this consisted mostly of reading books.
He spent around four to five hours a day on reading books.

Answer to the subquestion:

On average, there was spent around two and a half hours on mass media per day.
There was a lot of time spent watching television, and the time in which books were
read differ per person.

Subquestion 4: what are the favourites?

Answers from interviews:
Rob: in his family, the favourite magazine was ‘Panorama’ and Rob’s favourite
magazine was also the Panorama. He didn’t have favourite books, because he didn’t
read much. Favourite magazines/programmes were discussed at dinner.

Magdy: in his family, the favourite magazine was ‘El ahram’. Magdy’s favourite
programme was ‘Halam el bahar’. Magdy’s favourite book was the bible and favourite
magazines/programmes were discussed every day.

Suzanne: in her family, the favourite magazine was ‘Time’. And also Suzanne’s
favourite magazine was Time. Her favourite books were adventurous fiction books.
Favourite magazines/programmes were discussed, but not very much.

Answer to the subquestion:

The favourites differ per person. Favourite magazines/programmes were discussed.

Subquestion 5: what are the positive and negative aspects of mass media in
your country when you were a teenager? Have mass media caused bad
effects?
Answers from interviews:
Rob: there were not many sources of information. This could be seen as both a
positive and a negative. There were no bad effects.

Magdy: the positive aspects were that the distance between friends and family
became smaller and life became easier. The negative aspects were that mass media
was addictive. There were no bad effects.

Suzanne: positive was that you learned about life outside of your own city. There
were no negative aspects and also no bad effects.

Answer to the subquestion:

There were differences in the positive and negative aspects, some people think mass
media is a good thing and some see it as a bad thing. There were no bad
effects of mass media.
Subquestion 6: how did the presence of different types of mass media in your
household has changed since you were a teenager?
Grandparents:
A lot of new inventions were made, such as internet and smartphones. This resulted
in: a television with infinite channels and Google to look up everything instead of an
Encyclopaedia that costed a thousand bucks back in the day. Also, at first there were
only a couple of programmes to watch and to listen to on television and radio, but
later on a lot of new programmes were added.
Parents:
We have much more information from different sources. Also there are a lot of new
inventions such as internet, and mobile phones.

Subquestion 7: how did the presence of the computer and internet in your
household has changed life since you were a teenager?
Grandparents:
Nowadays there is a lot of choice. There wasn’t any internet or a computer in that
time. Right now there is, and people use it a lot.
Parents:
Internet and computers are available now. The apprehension of what happens in the
world is much more and there is more information and entertainment available.

Subquestion 8: what are the positive and negative aspects of these changes?
Grandparents:
Positives: contact between people is much better, also with foreigners. It is faster and
wider and we can look up everything we want.
Negatives: cyber bullying, less face-to-face contact, we get addicted to it, fake news
and sometimes it makes people unhappy.
Parents:
Positives: it makes contact more easy, shopping becomes more easy, it is faster for
school and communication, easy access to news and entertainment.
Negatives: you can become addicted to it and face-to-face contact disappears.
 Comparison.
Answers of grandparents
Similarities
Internet and computers were not
available yet
On average, most of the time spent on
mass media was on reading books
There were no negative aspects about
mass media
Differences
The time spent on mass media differs per
household
Favourite programs were not always
discussed
Not all the types of mass media were
available for everyone (e.g television and
magazines)

Answers of parents
Similarities Differences
All types of mass media were available The time spend on mass media differs
per household
Internet and computers were not Some saw mass media as positive, and
available some saw it as negative
Favourite magazines/programmes The popularity of books differs per
were discussed household

Compare the answers of the grandparents and the parents

Similarities Differences
Internet and computers were not Grandparents: not all the types of mass
available media were available for everyone (e.g
television and magazines)
Parents: all types of mass media were
available
The time spend on mass media differs Grandparents: there were no negative
per household aspects about mass media
Parents: some saw mass media as
positive, and some saw it as negative
Reading newspapers was popular Grandparents: favourite programs were
not always discussed
Parents: favourite
magazines/programmes were discussed

Our opinion about the situation in 2018:

Teenagers spend more time on social media and on reading books, than on mass
media (TV, radio, newspapers, magazines), because internet and social media are
used by teenagers everyday. We think mass media is mostly something of the past.
Social media is also easier and faster than mass media.
 Conclusion.
Main question: to what extent has the role of mass media and books changed?
Teenagers spent more time on social media than on mass media, because
teenagers think that mass media is something of the past and social media is a faster
way of communication. We also concluded that our parents, grandparents and
elderly people use more mass media than social media nowadays, because most of
them didn’t have internet in their time and were used to mass media while we as
teenagers use our phone very often and that makes us use social media very often
too. Nowadays, reading the newspaper for example can also be done online, on our
phones, while our parents like to be old-fashioned and just read the newspaper on
paper.