Introduction to Mass

Communication UNIT 2 MASS MEDIA AND

COMMUNICATION

Structure
2.0 Objectives
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Types of Mass Media
2.2.1 Journalism
2.2.2 Broadcasting and Telecasting
2.2.3 Internet
2.2.4 Publishing
2.2.5 Mobile
2.3 Impact and Dangers of Mass Media
2.4 Impact of Journalism
2.5 Impact of Radio and Television
2.6 Impact of Films
2.7 Impact of Internet
2.8 Let Us Sum Up
2.9 Answers to Check Your Progress

2.0 OBJECTIVES
Through this Unit our aim is to introduce you to the various mediums of mass
communication and discuss their impact on our lives. We shall take up all these
Medias in details.

We have touched briefly on the concept of mass communication in the earlier Unit
of this Block. After going through this Unit, you would have a fair idea of the
impact of mass media in the Indian context. By the end of this Unit you will be able
to:
• Outline the development of journalism in India from a mission to an industry
and explain its present impact on people
• Describe the reach of radio and its impact on the masses
• Explain the role of films as a mirror of social realities and its effects on society
• Describe the role of TV among the Indian elite and masses and
• Describe the new technologies like the internet and identify its relevance to
the Indian media scene

2.1 INTRODUCTION
Reaching out to thousands and millions of people is accomplished through a mass
media like television or newspapers. Mass communication can be defined as the
process of using mass media to send messages to large audiences for the purpose of
informing, entertaining or persuading. In many respects the process of mass
communication and other communication are same. Some one conceives a message,
16 essentially an intrapersonal act. The message then is encoded into a common code,
such as language .Then it is transmitted. Another person receives the message, Mass Media and
Communication
decodes it and internalizes it. In other respects mass communication is distinctive.
Crafting an effective message for thousands of people of diverse backgrounds and
interest requires different skills than chatting with a friend across the table. Encoding
the message is more complex because a device is always used, for example a camera
or recorder.

We shall first take up the print media because that happens to be the original type of
mass media in India. We shall then give an account of radio, film and TV as media
of mass communication in India, their spread, reach, people’s access to these media
and their impact on the society. New technologies made their entry during 1970s
and 1980s. They are video, cable and satellite TV. We shall discuss the effect these
new channels of mass communication have on the people.

2.2 TYPES OF MASS MEDIA

Mass media is a term used to denote a section of the media specifically envisioned
and designed to reach a very large audience such as the population of a nation state.
It was coined in the 1920s with the advent of nationwide radio networks, mass-
circulation newspapers and magazines, although mass media was present centuries
before the term became common. Mass communication media makes it possible to
deliver messages to millions of people at roughly the same time. The authors of
these messages are usually organizations and the audiences are composed of
individuals.

Mass media can be used for various purposes. For instance, it can help both for
business and social concerns. This can include advertising, marketing, propaganda,
public relations and political communication. It can also be used for enrichment,
education and entertainment, through performances of acting, music and sports, as
well as for public service announcements

The concept of mass media is complicated in some internet media as now individuals
have a means of potential exposure on a scale comparable to what was previously
restricted to select group of mass media producers. These internet media can include
television, personal web pages, podcasts and blogs. The communication audience
has been viewed by some commentators as forming a mass society with special
characteristics, notably atomization or lack of social connections, which render it
especially susceptible to the influence of modern mass-media techniques such as
advertising and propaganda. The term “MSM” or “mainstream media” has been
widely used in the blogosphere in discussion of the mass media and media bias.

2.2.1 Journalism
Journalism is a discipline of collecting, analyzing, verifying and presenting
information regarding current events, trends, issues and people. Those who practice
journalism are known as journalists.

The development and widespread use of printed text in Europe in the 1500s produced
a brand new form of communication. For the first time, a single message could be
duplicated with little error and distributed to thousands of people. First used to
propagate religious texts and arguments, this “mass” approach to communication
quickly caught on and was soon being used to distribute news, entertainment and
government regulations.

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Introduction to Mass News-oriented journalism is sometimes described as the “first rough draft of history”
Communication
(attributed to Phil Graham), because journalists often record important events,
producing news articles on short deadlines. While under pressure to be first with
their stories, news media organizations usually edit and proof read their reports
prior to publication, adhering to each organization’s standards of accuracy, quality
and style. Many news organizations claim proud traditions of holding government
officials and institutions accountable to the public, while media critics have raised
questions about holding the press itself accountable.

2.2.2 Broadcasting and Telecasting

Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and/or video signals (programs) to a number
of recipients (“listeners” or “viewers”) that belong to a large group. This group may
be the public in general, or a relatively large audience within the public. Thus, an
Internet channel may distribute text or music world-wide, while a public address
system in (for example) a workplace may broadcast very limited ad hoc sound bites
to a small population within its range.

Television and radio programs are distributed through radio broadcasting over
frequency bands that are highly regulated by the Communications Commission.
Such a regulation includes determination of the width of the bands, range, licensing,
types of receivers and transmitters used and acceptable content.

Cable programs are often broadcast simultaneously with radio and television
programs, but have a more limited audience. By coding signals and having decoding
equipment in homes, cable also enables subscription-based channels and pay-per-
view services.

A broadcasting organization may broadcast several programs at the same time,

through several channels (frequencies), for example BBC One and Two. On the
other hand, two or more organizations may share a channel and each use it during a
fixed part of the day. Digital radio and digital television may also transmit
multiplexed programming, with several channels compressed into one ensemble.

When broadcasting is done via the Internet the term webcasting is often used. In
2004 a new phenomenon occurred when a number of technologies combined to
produce podcasting. Podcasting is an asynchronous broadcast/ narrowcast medium,
with one of the main proponents being Adam Curry and his associates’ the Podshow.

2.2.3 Internet
The Internet (also known simply as “the Net” or “the Web”) can be briefly understood
as “a network of networks”. Specifically, it is the worldwide, publicly accessible
network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching
using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It consists of millions of smaller domestic,
academic, business and governmental networks, which together carry various
information and services, such as electronic mail, online chat, file transfer and the
interlinked Web pages and other documents of the World Wide Web

Contrary to some common usage, the Internet and the World Wide Web are not
synonymous. The Internet is a collection of interconnected computer networks,
linked by copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless connections etc. The Web is a
collection of interconnected documents, linked by hyperlinks and URLs. The World
Wide Web is accessible via the Internet, along with many other services including
e-mail, file sharing and others.
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2.2.4 Publishing Mass Media and
Communication
Publishing is the industry concerned with the production of literature or information
– the activity of making information available for public view. In some cases, authors
may be their own publishers.

Traditionally, the term refers to the distribution of printed works such as books and
newspapers. With the advent of digital information systems and the Internet, the
scope of publishing has expanded to include websites, blogs and the like.

As a business, publishing includes the development, marketing, production and

distribution of newspapers, magazines, books, literary works, musical works,
software, and other works dealing with information.

Publication is also important as a legal concept; (1) as the process of giving formal
notice to the world of a significant intention, for example, to marry or enter
bankruptcy and (2) as the essential precondition of being able to claim defamation,
that is, the alleged libel must have been published.

2.2.5 Mobile
Mobile phones were introduced in Japan in 1997 but became a mass media only in
1998 when the first downloadable ringing tones were introduced in Finland. Soon
most forms of media content were introduced on mobile phones.The mobile media
content includes over 8 billion dollars worth of mobile music (ringing tones, ring
back tones, true tones, MP3 files, karaoke, music videos, music streaming services,
etc); over 5 billion dollars worth of mobile gaming and various news, entertainment
and advertising services. In Japan mobile phone books are so popular that five of
the ten best-selling printed books were originally released as mobile phone books.

Similar to the internet, mobile is also an interactive media, but has a far wider
reach. Like email on the internet, the top application on mobile is also a personal
messaging service, and SMS text messaging is used by over 2.4 billion people.
Practically all internet services and applications exist or have similar cousins on
mobile, from search to multiplayer games to virtual worlds to blogs. Mobile has
several unique benefits which many mobile media pundits claim, make mobile a
more powerful media than either TV or the internet, starting with mobile being
permanently carried and always connected. Mobile has the best audience accuracy
and is the only mass media with a built-in payment channel available to every user
without any credit cards or PayPal accounts or even an age limit. With the inclusion
of various aps like Whatsapp or Wechat the mobile is perhaps the most popular
medium of mass communication.

Check Your Progress 1

Note: a) Space given below the question is for writing your answer.
b) Check your answer with the one given at the end of this unit.
i) For what purpose can mass media be used?
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Introduction to Mass
Communication ii) List the various types of mass media.
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2.3 IMPACT AND DANGERS OF MASS MEDIA

While new media technology is sweeping across India, many questions about the
precise impact of mass media remain unanswered. We know that the various mass
media have an impact, but the answers to questions such as what impact they have,
why they have impact and how all that happens, remain elusive. Behavioral scientists
are examining the effects of mass media. We know that we can predict certain
outcomes in certain situations. But the variables are numerous. Two social scientists,
Bernard Beralson and Morris Janowitz, once summarized knowledge about the
effect of mass media thus in Readers in Public Opinion and Communication:

“The effects of communication are many and diverse. They may be short- range or
long run. They may be manifest or latent. They may be strong or weak. They may
derive from any number of aspects of the communication content. They may be
considered as psychological or political or economic or sociological. They may
operate upon opinions, values, information levels, skills, taste, or over behaviour.”

The growth of mass communication has made it possible for us to get far more
information today than any time before. Information is indispensable in a complex,
advanced society. We are an information-hungry society; we need an ever-increasing
amount of facts in order to maintain and enhance our standard of living. We have
often been told that information is power. The question is, what do we have to do to
ensure that the information we receive from the mass media will serve our needs,
not the purpose of someone else?

We shall now discuss the situation of mass media in India and describe the possible
impact of each one of these media- print journalism, radio, film, TV, video, cable
and satellite TV. India, towards the end of the 20th century, still largely remained an
oral society. We spent more time communicating interpersonally rather than through
the channels of mass communication. The situation in the West was different. There,
an average person daily spends at least six hours “consuming” mass media products,
mainly TV, radio, film and newspapers.

However, the situation has changed drastically now. The developments on the mass
media scene in India which we have described above are having an intense impact
on the society. The behaviour, thinking, and expectations of people everywhere
have been altered and will be molded even more extensively as the full influence of
the information flood is felt. It is claimed that this proliferation of information and
the swiftness of its distribution would certainly improve the human condition.
However, along with the positive values it fosters, the communication explosion
has created areas of danger that must be recognized and controlled.
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Among them are these five major concerns: Mass Media and
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Manipulation: Perversion of truth by electronic trickery is a major concern today
.Clever users of electronic devices can alter the meaning of recorded visual and
audio material, making it appear to be what it really isn’t.

Privacy: There have been innumerable complaints about the invasion of privacy.
The whole question of co-relating the right to privacy with public interest has become
a big problem for policy planners and social scientists alike.

Security: Violation of security, both governmental and institutional is another major

concern. Protection of secret government information, private financial transactions,
and institutional records in computer systems has become a matter of concern.

Democratic Process: It is axiomatic that democracy functions best when voters

are widely informed on all problems and issues. However, given the power to select
the information they desire with the aid of new technologies, will citizens be exposing
themselves to a sufficiently broad range of knowledge? By choosing to see and
hear only what interests them most— for example, sports, stock market quotations,
and entertainment— will they be able to vote intelligently? This power of selectivity
might actually serve, under some circumstances, as a limiting factor (rather than as
a broadening one) in the education of the citizenry.

Isolation: While the communication revolution has the power to draw the global
community closer together, simultaneously, it also isolates individuals and small
groups, Instead of mingling with crowds at movie theaters, couples and families
stay home to watch television and video on their TV screens. Both adults and children
sit for hours, aware only of what appears on the small screen. Often they seem
visually drugged, almost bewitched. A growing number of workers do their jobs at
home, linked to their offices by personal computer. This isolation from comrades,
this loss of the group dynamics, has forced some intense media users to seek
psychiatric help. The negative influence of such aloneness of a large number of
people has still not become a big problem in our country, but we are definitely
heading there. This can be seen across cities where groups of people are sitting
together, yet are busy with their laptops or mobile phones rather than interacting
with each other.

Obviously, society has a long way to go in comprehending and controlling the

communication explosion. A little awed by these feats of electronic wizardry and
new marvels just coming into use, we the people of India, are still struggling to
harness the media potentialities to improve the human condition. More than ever
before, responsible citizens need to learn how the mass Communication system
works and how to deal intelligently with the deluge of information it delivers.

2.4 IMPACT OF JOURNALISM

Newspapers in India have undergone revolutionary changes, both in form and content
since the eighties. Today, there are hundreds of dailies and magazines crying for
attention. Splashes of colour and slick typography based on computer technology
are making them brighter and visually more appealing. To keep up with TV,
contemporary journalism has increasingly become more pictorial. While still clinging
to the traditional news coverage formula with its emphasis on politics, they have
also started discussing social economic and environmental issues. This has resulted
in a drastic jump in circulations and revenues.
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Introduction to Mass Newspaper readers, though numerically small in India, largely constitute the
Communication
intelligentsia. The influence of the press is decidedly far wider than reflected by
mere circulation statistics. It has a “multiplier effect”; its message spreads far and
wide, even into the villages.

The impact of the press can be judged only in the perspectives of current
developments and pace of change in the country. Despite its predominantly urban
and middle class moorings, the press has done a reasonably good job in highlighting
the issues of poverty, corruption and unemployment, and has given the ruling class
a sense of guilt. The power of the press is also seen to be mainly responsible for the
major political developments in India. The capacity of the Indian press to generate
a healthy debate on public issues has been only partially realized. But with increasing
literacy, it holds infinite possibilities in the future.

Barring a few instances of blatantly biased reporting, the Indian press has, by and
large, shown a high degree of social responsibility.. However, we must add that
with increasing competition, the press is increasingly being used as the battleground
for political and corporate warfare. This has inevitably led to an invasion of privacy,
smearing of reputations and even practicing of deception.

2.5 IMPACT OF RADIO AND TELEVISION

Radio programmes are received by over three crore receiving sets in India. Radio
serves as an effective medium not only to inform and educate people, but also to
provide healthy entertainment. AIR’s home-service programmes are transmitted in
19 languages and 146 dialects and Vividh Bharati Programmes of 13 hours a day
through 185 transmitters. There are external services broadcasts in 17 foreign
languages and 8 Indian languages. The external service is designed to give India’s
viewpoint on important issues to listeners abroad, and project the cultural heritage
of the country, its art, literature, music and socio­economic developments.

Television is one of the greatest inventions of man. It has an edge over other forms
of mass media like radio and newspapers. It is multi-media system predominated
by the visual medium. There is an urgent need for mass education and it has been
accepted that communication media are needed for accelerating social change, for
creating awareness and for inculcating scientific temper among the masses. TV has
the power to instill desired attitudes (necessary for national development) among
the masses. It has greater influence than any other medium on the perception,
emotions and the outlook of the masses.

An experimental television service was introduced in India with the inauguration

of Delhi Kendra, with a UNESCO grant, on September 15, 1959. Entertainment
and information programmes were introduced from August 1965. A number of other
television centres (Bombay, Srinagar, Jalandhar, Calcutta, Madras and Lucknow)
came into existence, from 1972 onwards in quick succession.

TV can transport the viewers to the actual scene of action to see things as they
happen. But many have also come to hold TV responsible for inciting violence
corrupting the young and creating a make belief world of illusion to keep us away
from the realities of life. But if TV can distract and distort, it can also instruct and
inspire. As an instant medium, TV is ideal for news presentation. TV news gives
the audience a sense of excitement and involvement that cannot be matched by any
other medium.

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 Mass Media and
2.6 IMPACT OF FILMS Communication

In India, with its cultural and linguistic diversities and the problems of illiteracy,
films are the most powerful medium of mass communication. With its universal
language, films can, to a considerable extent, cut across cultural and linguistic
barriers.

Films carry not only information but they can even create a yearning for change and
modernization. By dexterously employing the mechanical tricks of photography
and camera angles, by exploiting the ingenious use of close-ups, by building up of
suspense and illusion, and by weaving human elements and story in appropriate
sequences, films can create social awareness and even arouse strong emotions.
Films can inform, inspire and express feelings and emotions most dramatically
with lasting impact.

A film calls for creative collaboration between the filmmaker and other performing
and visual artists. Films fired the imagination of people by the closing years of the
nineteenth century. By the twenties, films came to be recognised as an art from, a
distinct mode of creative expression. They also earned universal acclaim as a versatile
means of communication. Films came to be produced on all subjects of human
interest and include, feature films, documentaries and newsreels.

The Indian film industry remains a paradox in many ways; India has entered the
21st century with the largest number of illiterates in the world. Therefore, there is an
urgent need to have proper communication among these illiterate people. Films in
many ways meet this need. Because the only meaningful access to audio-visual
entertainment for the poor people is films, which are extremely popular among the
masses. And the Indian film industry continues to be the world’s largest producer of
films, releasing on an average 750 films every year in 16 languages.

Indian films followed the Hollywood model right from the start with heavy emphasis
on entertainment. But individual filmmakers broke away from the mainstream, and
made socially purposeful films, even in the thirties.

2.7 IMPACT OF INTERNET

The Internet is the decisive technology of the Information Age, just as the electrical
engine was the vector of technological transformation of the Industrial Age. This
global network of computer networks, largely based nowadays on platforms of
wireless communication, provides ubiquitous capacity of multimodal, interactive
communication in chosen time, transcending space. The Internet is not really a new
technology: its ancestor, the Arpanet, was first deployed in 1969. But it was in the
1990s when it was privatized and released from the control of the U.S. Department
of Commerce that it diffused around the world.

The internet is so popular nowadays that almost everyone uses it. It is accessible by
almost any person who tries to connect to one of its central, main networks. Moreover,
it can be accessed by users of any age and condition. But what are the positive and
negative aspects of the internet? The Internet has some great positive effects. For
instance, Internet search engines are the best information retrieval systems available.
They bring any kind of information for internet users, from local restaurants to
international news. The Internet also provides some of the most effective means of
communication among people, including online emailing and instant messaging.
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Introduction to Mass Thanks to the internet, people can take action and avoid adverse circumstances.
Communication
For instance, hurricane, storms and accidents can be tracked through the internet.
The internet has allowed the interchange of ideas and materials among scientists,
university professors, and students, in addition to providing servers, resource centers
and online tools for their research and scholarly activities. Moreover, millions of
books, journals and other material are available through the internet because of the
digitization of public domain material from libraries. This action enables people to
learn all sorts of new things.

However, the internet can also have certain negative effects. For instance illegal or
inappropriate materials can be found on the internet. One can also illegally download
music or other copyrighted material for free. This action has had a negative impact
on the music industry and has led to several lawsuits. The addiction to online social
networks can disturb a person’s way of living and professional activity. Some
criminals use the internet for spreading computer viruses or even intercepting credit
card or bank details for wrong purposes.

You will be reading more about the internet and all the new technologies available
to us these days in Block 4 of this course.

Check Your Progress 2

Note: a) Space given below the question is for writing your answer.
b) Check your answer with the one given at the end of this unit.
i) List two positive and two negative influences that TV programmes may
have on children.
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ii) List some negative impacts of the internet.

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2.8 LET US SUM UP

In this unit, you have been exposed to the major mass media channels available in
India, their evolution, growth and use in the Indian context. We also discussed
some of the effects these mass media have on their audiences. Because they form a
primary channel through which the various units of society communicate, the mass
media illuminate and interpret the constantly changing social relationships. Some
critics contend that the media, or at least some of the national electronic and print-
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media, try to mould society to their own design by seeking to influence the attitudes, Mass Media and
Communication
habits, and political beliefs of those who make the society. Other observers see the
media role as more passive, reflecting rather than promoting change.

To conclude we can say that the bulk of the print, electronic, and film media does
not consciously try to shape society, although a small minority of them vigorously
and openly pleads causes dear to them. The media as a whole are concerned with
reporting and interpreting society’s conduct (information and education angles); by
presenting material that pleases audiences and earns profit (entertainment angle);
and with marketing goods and services through advertising to make a profit for
themselves (commercial angle).

2.9 ANSWERS TO CHECK YOUR PROGRESS

Check Your Progress 1
i) Advertising, marketing, propaganda, public relations, enrichment education,
entertainment and public service announcements among many others.
ii) Journalism; Radio and TV; Internet: Publishing and mobiles
Check Your Progress 2
i) Positive: 1) Children may see places that they may not get a chance to see.
2) TV programmes educate children.
Negative:1) May lessen their capacity to imagine
2) Excessive violence shown on TV can dehumanize children.
ii) There are many negative impacts. Children can access sites which may not be
suitable for them. etc

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