Visual media cover every medium that uses sight as a primary communication method. Print media refer to static messages (images and words). Classically, print media include magazines, newspapers and other publications, but it can also cover posters, billboards and books. All print media are visual, but all visual media are not necessarily print.
People have been communicating with visual media since humans lived in caves. There was graffiti in ancient Rome. Print started becoming popular in the 18th century, with books, pamphlets and periodicals.
In the 20th century, new communication technologies became universal. The most powerful medium is TV, which incorporates both audio and visual elements.
The Internet, while also largely visual, is often called interactive because of its ability to connect people through computers. This medium is also called "experiential" because the experience of online media is greater than the sum of its audio-visual components.
Since the rise of the Internet, magazines and newspapers have seen their sales go down drastically. According to Crain's New York Business, 367 U.S. periodicals shut down in 2009, and 64 went online-only. This does not mean the print medium is dead. It heralds a move of content from physical paper formats to an online, on-screen format, to be read on devices such as Amazon's Kindle and Apple's iPad.