mass-communication-concepts-processes.pdf

7/27/2019 Mass-Communication-Concepts-Processes.pdf

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MASS COMMUNICATION CONCEPTS

& PROCESSES

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MASS COMMUNICATION

OBJECTIVES

To understand the meaning of Mass Communication To know the various definitions of Mass Communication

To study the different features of Mass Communication

To know the concept of Mass Culture

INTRODUCTION

Mass Communication involves communication with the mass audiences and

hence the name Mass Communication. When we are thinking, it is intra-personalcommunication, when there is face-to-face conversation etween two people it isinterpersonal communication, college lecture or speech would e an e!ample ofgroup communication, ut there is another level of communication when we readnewspapers, maga"ines, listen to #adio or watch T$. This would e called Masscommunication as the message is reached to the masses through different media.

Meaning & Deinitions o Mass Communication

The termcommunication

comes from the %atin word-communis!

which means

common. &n social situation the word communication is used to denote the act of

imparting, conveying or e!changing ideas through speech, writing or signs. Thus,

it is an e!pression of transferring thoughts and sound for hearing.

Mass Communication is defined as 'any mec"anica# $e%ice t"at mu#ti#esmessages an$ ta'es it to a #a(ge num)e( o eo#e simu#taneous#*(. Mass

communication is uni)ue and different from interpersonal communication as it is a

special kind of communication in which the nature of the audience and the

feedack is different from that of interpersonal communication.

Mass communication is t"e te(m use$ to $esc(i)e t"e aca$emic stu$* o

%a(ious means )* +"ic" in$i%i$ua#s an$ entities (e#a* ino(mation to #a(ge

segments o t"e ou#ation a## at once t"(oug" mass me$ia,

*oth mass communication and mass media are generally considered synonymous

for the sake of convenience. The media through which messages are eing

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transmitted include radio, T$, newspapers, maga"ines, films, records, tape

recorders, video cassette recorders, internet, etc. and re)uire large organi"ations

and electronic devices to put across the message. Mass communication is a special

kind of communication in which the nature of the audience and the feedack is

different from that of interpersonal communication.

Mass communication can also e defined as 'a (ocess +"e(e)* mass (o$uce$messages a(e t(ansmitte$ to #a(ge! anon*mous an$ "ete(ogeneous masses o

(ecei%e(s, *y 'mass (o$uce$( we mean putting the content or message of masscommunication in a form suitale to e distriuted to large masses of people.'-ete(ogeneous( means that the individual memers of the mass are from a widevariety of classes of the society. 'Anon*mous( means the individuals in the massdo not know each other.

The source or sender of message in mass communication does not know theindividual memers of the mass. lso the receivers in mass communication arephysically separated from each other and share no physical pro!imity. inally, theindividual memers forming a mass are not united. They have no socialorgani"ation and no customs and traditions, no estalished sets of rules, nostructure or status role and no estalished leadership.

*arker defines Mass communication as t"e s(ea$ing o a message to an

e.ten$e$ mass au$ience t"(oug" (ai$ means o (e(o$uction an$

$ist(i)ution at a (e#ati%e#* ine.ensi%e cost to consume(s.

With the &nternets increased role in delivering news and information, Masscommunication studies and media organi"ations have increasingly focused on theconvergence of pulishing, roadcasting and digital communication. Thus,graduates of Mass communication programs work in a variety of fields intraditional news media and pulishing, advertising, pulic relations and researchinstitutes.

/eatu(es o mass communication

We re)uire a sender, a message, a channel and a receiver for communication tooccur. urther there is feedack, which is the response or reaction of the receiver,which comes ack to the sender through the same or some other channel. notherelement, which plays an important role in communication, is noise or thedisturances. &t is oserved that the term mass communication must have at leastfive aspects/

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%arge audience

airly undifferentiated audience composition

ome form of message reproduction

#apid distriution and delivery %ow cost to the consumers

Sou(ce 0 ource or sender of the message may ecome same or different. ourcemostly represents the institution or organi"ation where the idea has een started. &ncase of source and the sender eing different, the sender elongs to mediainstitution or is a professional in media communication. Thus, a scientist or atechnologist may use the mass communication media himself for propagating hisidea. r else, they can send the script of the message to the media for deliveringthe message y an announcer or a reporter.

Message1 message needs reproduction for making it communicale through the

media. The message is processed and put to various forms like talk, discussion

interview, documentary, play, etc. in case of radio and T$. &n case of newspapers,

the message is processed y means of article, feature, news story, etc.

C"anne#1 The term channel and media are used interchangealy in masscommunication. Modern mass media like radio, television3 newspapers spread themessage with enormous speed far and wide. The aility of mass communication toencompass vast oundaries of space is e!pressed y Mc %uhan(s term ' g#o)a#%i##age(. The term e!presses that the world is smaller that efore due to advancesin mass communication. More information is coming faster, at cheaper rates perunit, from farther away and from more sources through more channels includingmultimedia channels with more varied su4ect matter. Channels of masscommunication can e classified into two road categories/

1. P(int-newspapers, ooks, maga"ines, pamphlets, etc.

2. E#ect(onic-radio, television, cinema.

There is also a third category which include all traditional media like folk dance,drama, folk songs and so on. The mass media may also e categori"ed according totheir aility to provide sensory inputs. Thus, visual media are newspapers,maga"ines, ooks, still photographs, paintings, etc. The audio medium is radio andaudio-visual media are television, motion pictures, drama, etc. udio-visual mediaare more efficient than either audio or visual.

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Recei%e( 0Mass communication means communication to the mass, so thereremains mass of individuals at the receiver end of the communication. This massof receivers, are often called as mass au$ience. Mass audience can e defined as'individuals united y a common focus of interest 6to e informed, educated orentertained7 engaging in identical ehavior towards common ends 6listening,

viewing or reading7(. 8et the individuals involved are unknown to one other6anonymous7 . The most outstanding characteristic of the mass communication isthat it has a widespread audience separated from the source y a consideraledistance. Mass communication has an enormous aility to multiply a message andmake it availale in many places. The greatest advantage of this mode ofcommunication is the rapid spread of message to a si"eale audience remainingscattered far and wide and thus cost of e!posure per individual is lowest.

/ee$)ac'1 Mass communication will have indirect feedack. source having

communicated a message regarding family planning through radio, television orprint either has to depend on indirect means like survey of audience reaction,letters and telephone calls from audience memers, review of the programme ycolumnists to know the reaction of audience to the message. 9irect feedack whichis possile in interpersonal and to a limited e!tent in group communication, isalmost asent in the mass communication.

2ate 'eeing1This is again a characteristic uni)ue to mass communication. Theenormous scope of mass communication demands some control over the selectionand editing of the messages that are constantly transmitted to the mass audience.

*oth individuals and organi"ations do gate keeping. Whether done y individuals ororgani"ations, gate keeping involves setting certain standards and limitations thatserve as guidelines for oth content development and delivery of a masscommunication message.

Noise1:oise in mass communication is of two types-channel noises and semanticnoise. Channel noise is any disturance within transmission aspects of media. &n

print media, channel noise will e misspellings, scramled words, omitted lines ormisprinting. ny type of mechanical failure stops the message from reaching the

audience in its original form. emantic noise will include language arriers,difference in education level, socio-economic status, occupation, age, e!perienceand interests etween the source and the audience memers. ne way of solving the

prolem of semantic noise is to use simplicity and commonality.

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C"a(acte(istics o Mass communication3

1. 9irects messages toward relatively large, heterogeneous and anonymous

audience.

2. Messages are transmitted pulicly 6no privacy7.

+. hort duration message for immediate consumption0. eedack is indirect, non-e!istent or delayed5. Cost per e!posure per individual is minimum;. ource elongs to organi"ation or institutions. There is need for fewer media to reach vast and widespread audience

ecause of wide reach of each1?.Communication is done y social institutions which are responsive to theenvironment in which they operate

Concet o mass & mass cu#tu(e

Mass is defined as ' grouping of individual parts or elements that compose a

unified ody of unspecified si"e or )uantity. &n mass communication, it refers to a

large group or large numer of audience and listeners.

Cu#tu(e is defined as a comple! whole that includes knowledge, elief, art, moral,law, customs and any other capailities and haits ac)uired y man as a memer ofthe society. Thus, culture will comprise of all the ways of living and doing andthinking that have een passed down from one generation to another and that

ecome an accepted part of the society. ynonyms of culture will e learnedehavior, social heritage, super organic, and design of living. T"e cu#tu(e!t"e(eo(e! means a g#imse o t"e +a* o #i%ing! t"in'ing an$ acting o ou(

ant"(oo#ogists,

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Mass Cu#tu(e

set of cultural values and ideas, that arises from common e!posure of apopulation to the same cultural activities, communications media, music and art,etc. Mass culture ecomes possile only with modern communications and

electronic media. mass culture is transmitted to individuals, rather than arisingfrom peoples daily interactions. Mass culture tends to reproduce the lieral valueof individualism and to foster a view of the citi"en as consumer. The rise of massculture is related to the development of mass society and the advent of mass media.

Mass Societ*

#efers to a society with a mass culture and large-scale, impersonal, socialinstitutions. @ven the most comple! and modern societies have lively primary

group social relationships. The modern network of transportation andcommunication is ringing various parts of mass society into fre)uent contacts.Thus, the mass society has aroused and enhances individuality y lierating thecognitive, appreciative and normal capacities of individuals. This way we can saythat larger elements of population have learned to value the pleasures of ear, eye,taste and touch.

Mass & Mass Cu#tu(e

* The ancient society had a dichotomous structure. few powerful, nole, refined,

r.. ,ich and educated persons pursued refined and high culture. They were the onesto form superior part of the society. The remaining part of the society, who wasfairly large in numer, was powerless, ignorant, primitive, superstitious, poor anduneducated sections of the society.

9uring the early stages of rench #evolution, the rise of lieral ourgeois societysynchroni"es with the proclamation of principle of 'culture and education for all(to create a civili"ed, responsile and creative mankind. The growth of the politicsof freedom and the spread of education and later the advent of the mass media notonly initiated human development on different lines ut also transformed thetraditional society into mass societ*and traditional folk culture into mass cu#tu(e.

Jo"n Stua(t Mi##points out, 'ormerly, different ranks, different neighorhoods,

different trades and professions lived in what might e called different worlds, at

present to a great degree, in the same- they now read the same things, listen to

same things, see the same things, go to same places, have their hopes and fears

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directed to the same o4ects, have the same rights and lierties, and same means of

ascertaining them.(

Mass culture is a set of shared ideas and ehavior patterns that cross cutsocioeconomic lines and su cultural grouping within a comple! society. These

commonly shared ideas and ehavior pattern serve as points of reference andidentification for memers of the society. Mass culture is also referred to as'Pou#a( cu#tu(e. Aopular culture flourishes, e!ists and is transmitted y the massmedia, the classical and true folk art, on the other hand, do not depend upon masscommunication for their development, transmission and e!istence. Thus, here liesthe distinction etween the relationship of mass media with mass culture and otherma4or strains of cultural heritage.

The mass re)uires distraction from life, thrills, sentimentality an escapism, the ulk

of mass culture deals in these )ualities. *ut, e!cessive communication tends toisolate people from one another and from real e!periences3 faricated e!periencesare 'realer( to them than the real ones. lso, since mass culture serves averagetastes, it tends to reshape all art-past and present-in order to meet the e!pectationsand demands of the masses.

To$a*s Mass Me$ia Cu#tu(e

'Mass Culture( concept mainly depends on our point of view and on what 'culture(means to us. Thus, the term can e used pe4oratively or positively. The 'mass( is

the rale, the uncouth, illiterate and uncultured lot3 the 'mass( is also vast,homogenous, scattered, and anonymous. *ut from a positive perspective, the massis volatile, dynamic, revolutionary.

9enis Mc Buail 61>;>7 states that mass culture refers to whole range of popularactivities and artifacts-entertainment, music, ooks, films. &t has een identifiedwith the typical content of the mass media and especially with the fictional,dramatic and entertainment material, which they provide. ermans terms massmedia culture as Kitschand Clement reenerg definedKitschand ersat" culture,

means artistic ruish. Kitsch makes culture cheap and vulgari"ed. reenergstates/ 'the new uran masses set up a pressure on society to provide them with akind of culture fit for their own consumption. To fill the demand of new market, anew commodity was devised, ersat" culture, kitsch, descried for those who,insensile to the values of genuine culture, are hungry nevertheless for thediversion that only culture of some sort can provide.(

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Mass entertainment is entertainment derived from the mass media of

communication such as television, radio, cinema, popular novels, newspapers, and

maga"ines. The entertainment as mass entertainment is centered on two aspects/

1. Mass Culture attempts to attract as large audience as possile. This appeal to

many socio-economic groupings produces a heterogeneous audience3 hence,producers of mass entertainment place emphasis upon e!ploitation ofcommon denominators of shared tastes within this 'mass(.

2. The term 'entertainment( is meant that activity, which provides pleasurale

diversion irrespective of any social message, or value that may e associated

with it.

Thus, mass culture is highly competent to entertain the mass audience and help theindividual to escape the hard reality of every day life in this turulent world. &t

provides escapism from stress and tensions. *ut in the process, the producers ofmass entertainment e!ploit them y lowering their taste for financial gain at thee!pense of their time and money. They provide cheap thrills and vulgarentertainment. This damaging outcome of the spread of mass culture, its increasinguse in sales promotion and its fast falling standards are harming the society. *utotherwise, in this age of social transformation, mass culture is inevitale andconsidered to e an important means of vigorous e!pansion of media.

SUMMAR4

Mass communication is uni)ue and different from interpersonal communication as

it is a special kind of communication in which the nature of the audience and the

feedack is different from that of interpersonal communication.

Mass communication is t"e te(m use$ to $esc(i)e t"e aca$emic stu$* o

%a(ious means )* +"ic" in$i%i$ua#s an$ entities (e#a* ino(mation to #a(ge

segments o t"e ou#ation a## at once t"(oug" mass me$ia,

set of cultural values and ideas, that arises from common e!posure of a

population to the same cultural activities, communications media, music and art,etc. Mass cu#tu(e ecomes possile only with modern communications andelectronic media. mass culture is transmitted to individuals, rather than arisingfrom peoples daily interactions.

&t is oserved that the term mass communication must have at least five aspects/

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%arge audience

airly undifferentiated audience composition

ome form of message reproduction

#apid distriution and delivery

%ow cost to the consumers

Mass entertainment is entertainment derived from the mass media of

communication such as television, radio, cinema, popular novels, newspapers, and

maga"ines.

E5ERCISES AND 6UESTIONS

B1. 9iscuss the various elements and features of Mass

Communication. B2. Write a note of 'Mass Culture(.B+. @!plain the various definitions of Mass Communication.B0. Dow is Mass Culture affecting our societyEB5. naly"e the different features of Mass Communication and discuss the variousdefinitions of Mass Communication.

/URT-ER READIN2

1. Mass Communication F 9evelopment 9r. *aldev #a4 upta2. Mass Communication in &ndia Geval H Gumar+. Mass Communication Hournalism in &ndia 9 Mehta0. Mass Communication Theory 9enis McBuail

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MASS COMMUNICATION & OT-ER /ORMS

OBJECTIVES

To understand the asic terms 'Mass( F 'Communication( in MassCommunication To know the various channels of distriutions of MassCommunication To compare Mass Communication with &ntrapersonal Communication

INTRODUCTION

Mass communication media make it possile to deliver messages to millions of

people at roughly the same time. The authors of these messages are usually

organi"ations, and the audiences are composed of individuals.

Dowever, individuals, not groups, take up the products of mass communication,

and these individuals interpret the messages and incorporate them into their lives

through comple! reception activities.

Mass communicationMass communication is the 7institutiona#i8e$ (o$uction an$ gene(a#i8e$$iusion o s*m)o#ic goo$s %ia t"e i.ation an$ t(ansmission o ino(mation

o( s*m)o#ic content9 6Thompson 1>>57. s it is generally used, the term ImasscommunicationJ can e misleading. 7Mass9suggests that message recipients area large, undifferentiated group of people. Dowever, individuals, not groups, takeup the products of mass communication, and these individuals interpret themessages and incorporate them into their lives through comple! receptionactivities.

lso, 7communication9 implies that mass communication is very similar toother forms of communicative activity. Dowever, mass communication is one-way communication, as opposed to face-to-face communication, which is

dialogical, or two-way, in nature. Thus, the recipients of mass communication areparticipants in a structured process of symolic transmission, rather thancommunication partners. ne important aspect of mass communication is that itcreates a structured reak etween the production and reception of symolicforms. &n all types of mass communication, symolic forms are produced in oneconte!t and transmitted to recipients in distant and diverse settings. The flow ofmessages is a structured flow in which the capacity of recipients to contriute tothe process of production is significantlycontrolled.

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nother important aspect of mass communication is that it e!tends the availailityof symolic forms in space and time. ince the media institute a separation

etween conte!ts of production and reception, the individuals who receivemediated messages are generally far removed in space andKor time from the

individuals who produce the messages. Mass communication makes the e!tendedavailaility of symolic forms a much more significant and pervasive social

phenomenon.

Mass communication media make it possile to deliver messages to millions of

people at roughly the same time. The authors of these messages are usually

organi"ations, and the audiences are composed of individuals.

The development and widespread use of printed te!t in @urope in the 15??sproduced a rand new form of communication. or the first time, a single messagecould e duplicated with little error and distriuted to thousands of people. irstused to propagate religious te!ts and arguments, this LmassL approach tocommunication )uickly caught on and was soon eing used to distriute news,entertainment, and government regulations.

rom these first primitive pamphlets, the Lmass media,L as they are often called,have grown to include theprint mediaof ooks, newspapers and maga"ines, theelectronic media of television, radio, and audioKvideo recording, and the newmedia of computers and computer networks. While these media differ in many

ways, they all share the characteristics y which scholars define masscommunication/

Mass communication messages are produced y organi"ations.

The medium for these messages permits accurate duplication.

The messages are distriuted to large audiences at roughly the same time.

ace-to-face communication occurs on many channels, with many opportunities to

send and receive messages, and with much comple!ity in the communication

process.

8et, the situation ecomes even more comple! when the many media

organi"ations with their production and distriution of millions of messages are

considered. Media may e received y millions of people, all of whom are also

engaged in face-to-face communication.

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C"anne#s o $ist(i)ution

cholars tend to identify the various mass mediay their distriution channels.*ooks, newspapers, and maga"ines are often called the Lprint media,L while radioand television are often called the LelectronicL or LroadcastL media. Two otherelectronic channels of distriution are also recogni"ed as very important/Lelectronic recordedL media which include such as C9s, cassette tapes, videotapes,and the like. These are electronic in nature ut are sold and delivered much in thesame way as ooks and LfilmL or LmoviesL which are similar to television utwhich are delivered in special uildings called Ltheaters.L

Telephones are electronic media, ut telephones have not traditionally eenincluded in the Lmass mediaL ecause telephones are used mainly in person-to-

person communication. imilarly, computers, especially large computer networks,

have the potential to e used as mass communication media3 however, these are sonew that their uses are still developing. lthough they have no true category as yet,computers are sometimes referred to as the LnewL media.

Int(ae(sona# & mass communication

&ntrapersonal communication is language use or thought internal to thecommunicator. &ntrapersonal communication is the active internal involvement ofthe individual in symolic processing of messages. The individual ecomes his orher own sender and receiver, providing feedack to him or herself in an ongoinginternal process. &t can e useful to envision intrapersonal communicationoccurring in the mind of the individual in a model which contains a sender,receiver, and feedack loop.

lthough successful communication is generally defined as eing etween two or

more individuals, issues concerning the useful nature of communicating with

oneself and prolems concerning communication with non -sentient entities such

as computers have made some argue that this definition is too narrow.

&n Communication: The Social Matrix of Psychiatry, Hurgen #uesch and regory*ateson argue that intrapersonal communication is indeed a special case of

interpersonal communication, as :$ia#ogue is t"e oun$ation o( a## $iscou(se,:

Int(ae(sona# communication can encomass3

9ay-dreaming

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:octurnal dreaming, including and especially lucid dreaming

peaking aloud 6talking to oneself7, reading aloud, repeating what one hears3the additional activities of speaking and hearing 6in the third case of hearingagain7 what one thinks, reads or hears may increase concentration andretention. This is considered normal, and the e!tent to which it occurs variesfrom person to person. The time when there should e concern is whentalking to oneself occurs outside of socially acceptale situations.

Writing 6y hand, or with a wordprocessor, etc.7 ones thoughts oroservations/ the additional activities, on top of thinking, of writing andreading ack may again increase self-understanding and concentration. &taids ordering ones thoughts3 in addition it produces a record that can eused later again. Copying te!t to aid memori"ing also falls in this category.

Making gestures while thinking/ the additional activity, on top of thinking,of ody motions, may again increase concentration, assist in prolem

solving, and assist memory. ense-making e.g. interpreting maps, te!ts, signs, and symols

&nterpreting non-veral communication e.g. gestures, eye contact

Communication etween ody parts3 e.g. LMy stomach is telling me its time

for lunch.L

&ntrapersonal communication involves communication with oneself. Aeople

normally communicate with themselves when they are alone in private or

semiprivate places. When people talk to themselves aloud in crowded, pulic

places, others find such ehavior strange.

8ou must e ale to communicate with yourself efore you can communicatewith others. &t can e surprising the numer of people who do not know whatthey want or where they want to go and hope that other people will figure it outfor them. These same people get upset when others are unale to mind read forthem, what they have een unale to discover for themselves.

Many people have stated that much of their stress in life is from a feeling of nothaving any control in their lives. The essential first step in gaining control is

getting a clear understanding with yourself, on what you want. Then you muste ale to figure out the details of that desire and the steps necessary toachieving it.

We need to do this in all areas of our lives, and have an idea, in each area, how

we would like to achieve it. This puts you in the driver(s seat of your life. 8ou

can e the one in control instead of having others control you. There are many

ways through the process of discovery and of finding the path to what you

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desire. The first step is 4ust to egin. tart writing in a 4ournal. tart writing

what you want in life and uild on it from there.

SUMMAR4

7Mass9 suggests that message recipients are a large, undifferentiated group ofpeople. Dowever, individuals, not groups, take up the products of mass

communication, and these individuals interpret the messages and incorporate them

into their lives through comple! reception activities.

lso, 7communication9implies that mass communication is very similar to other

forms of communicative activity. Dowever, mass communication is one-way

communication, as opposed to face-to-face communication, which is dialogical, or

two-way, in nature. Thus, the recipients of mass communication are participants in

a structured process of symolic transmission, rather than communication partners.

&ntrapersonal communication involves communication with oneself. Aeople

normally communicate with themselves when they are alone in private or

semiprivate places. When people talk to themselves aloud in crowded, pulic

places, others find such ehavior strange.


B1. 9iscuss the concept of Mass Communication.

B2. Write a note of '&ntrapersonal Communication(.B+. @!plain the various types of &ntrapersonal Communication.B0.What are the various channels of distriution of Mass Communication

messagesE

/URT-ER READIN2

1. Mass Communication F 9evelopment 9r. *aldev #a4 upta

2. Mass Communication in &ndia Geval H Gumar+. Mass Communication Hournalism in &ndia 9 Mehta0. Mass Communication Theory 9enis McBuail

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/UNCTIONS O/ MASS COMMUNICATION

OBJECTIVES

To understand the different functions of Mass Communication To reali"e the importance of Mass Communication

INTRODUCTION

Communication is vital for the e!istence of all human eings, and for the progress

of humanity. &t is impossile to imagine e!istence without communication and

interaction. Thus, communication functions as a relating tool, that creates

understanding, facilitates work, and strengthens collective living among people.

The content of mass communication seem diverse in nature to audience as theye!pose themselves to thousands of media stimuli throughout the day and round theclock. :ews, reviews, commentaries, advertisements, etc can saturate the audience.Thus, the audience memers select the messages according to their needs. Thema4or functions of mass communication are that it ino(ms! en(ic"es! e$ucatesan$ ente(tains,

/unctions o mass communication

The primary function of communication is to inform, instructKeducate, entertain,and influenceKpersuade people to make them function smoothly and effectively.*esides, communication has a secondary function to perform as well, throughdeates and discussion, cultural promotion and integration3 it fosters consensus,creativity, and understanding amongst people, groups and societies so that they livein peace and harmony.

Su(%ei##ance o en%i(onment/ &t is one of the most important ma4or functions ofmass communication conceptuali"ed y %aswell. chramm oserved that in thisfunction media took on watchman(s role. Su(%ei##anceis the process of monitoring

the ehavior of people, o4ects or processes within systems for conformity toe!pected or desired norms in trusted systems for security or social control.lthough the word surveillance literally means L+atc"ing o%e(L the term is oftenused for all forms of oservation or monitoring, not 4ust visual oservation.

urveillance of environment involves seeking out and then transmitting

information aout the society and all other relevant elements. Mass communication

keeps watch on socio-political-economic events of the close and faraway localities

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and reaches the accounts to the audience through creative reporting. The effect of

surveillance of environment function can e counted on individuals and society.

@ffects of news on individuals are/

17 &ncrease personal esteem/ Aersonal esteem is uilt through the

prestige that comes from knowing the news. There is social gain fromeing the first with the news. Buite many individuals are aware of thisgain and so collect news from various media sources.

27 Arovide social ase for personal interchange/ &ndividualsremain aware in advance aout what will e the su4ect of interactionwith their friends, how and what parts of the mass media content will

e highly desirale during conversation with others and so on.+7 ains in and feeling for knowledge/ individuals remain

knowledgeale aout the information on the environment and that

encourage them to seek more knowledge and satisfy their curiosity.

Ino(mation3 The )uality of our life would e poorer without the it ofinformation we get from mass media. &n the western countries, information is nowregarded as power. The more informed you are, the more powerful you ecome.Those who have access to information can take advantage of it in their owninterest. Mass communication provides us enormous information aout theenvironment in which we live. &nformation such as news of war, danger, crisis,earth)uake, famine, etc. is important for that helps us in taking appropriate steps tosafeguard our interests.

Ente(tainment3 We all need entertainment to reak the monotony of our hecticstressful life and divert our attention from the troules and tensions. uch diversion

will have a positive impact on our lives. Mass media provides a variety ofentertainment to audiences through films, T$ shows, drama, dance, music, art,

comedy, games, animation, etc.

Common people have the impression that mass media e!ist ecause they aredesigned to entertain. Mass media provide the audience with some sort of escapeor diversion from the realities and an!ieties of daily living. ame shows, situationcomedies, serials, movies, dramas, variety shows, sport events on television screenand huge discharge of message like music, dramas 6radio plays7, skits, etc. fromradio-provide variety of daily entertainment material to the audiences and thelisteners. @ven in print media, the use of color, fancy typefaces, the pictures andmany attractive features in the presentation style, may provide entertainment to thereaders.

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Pe(suasion3 Aersuasion is an alternative term used to denote an act of influencingothers. ne of the most important functions of mass communication is to persuadethe other person. &t is only through persuasion that one can control and governothers. *ut it is also possile that one may resort to persuasion with a ad motive.

The receiver must e careful aout the source of such persuasion. The persuasivepotential of mass communication is used heavily in oth developing and developedcountries. Media are e!tensively used for socio-economic progress and for sales

promotion of the consumer goods.

Aersuasion is the process of influencing the audience memers to develop afavorale attitude towards new ideas and ecome dissatisfied with the traditionalmethods. &t seeks change in the ehavior of the audience y way of sustituting theold practices with the new. imilarly, when an advertiser pleads for acceptance of

his product, he influences consumers to develop favorale attitude and ehaviortowards the advertised products. n the other hand, when a political leader delivershis election speech on radio, television or in newspaper he performs a propaganda

4o for his party candidate. *oth the electronic media and the print media havegreat persuasive potentials ut that depends on the nature of the delivered message.

Pe(suasi%eness o mass communication $een$s on t"e o##o+ing acto(s3

1. Sou(ce C(e$i)i#it*1 Crediility is the degree to which a communicationsource or channel is perceived as trustworthy and competent y the receiver.

The source and the medium are viewed as inseparale y the audience, socrediility of the source and the medium is often treated interchangealy.

2. P(esentation o t"e message1 the affectivity of the media communicatedpersuasion is largely dependent on how the message is presented y thecommunicators. Clarity, revity and preciseness are the pillars of persuasionon mass media.

+. Me$ia acto(1 there is a general impression that messages having persuasivecontent if communicated through television, ecome more effective thanwhen the message is communicated through radio or print. This impression

does not seem to have validity in every situation with the audience for everymessage.0. Au$ience acto(1 audience is the single most important factor to determine

the degree of persuasiveness of mass communication. The attitude of theaudience toward the persuasion message of the mass media largely dependsupon who gives what message in which channel3 to what e!tent the contentof the message satisfy their needs and the intentions3 to what measures the

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suggestions contained in the message are in line with their pre-held

e!periences and pre-e!isting preferences3 and, how far the message is

compatile with group norms and value system to which the audience

elongs.

Inst(uction3 Mass communication helps to instruct, educate and sociali"e thememers of the society. Mass communication provides a fund of knowledge,

e!pertise and skills that enale people to operate as effective memers of society.

&t also creates awareness3 give direction and opportunity to audience through

positive impact of mass media.

Co((e#ation3 This term was used y %asswell and is an important function of masscommunication. The role of mass media in correlation function was termed as'/o(um( y chramm. The mass communication in the role of forum is for the

e!change of comments and criticism. The said function of mass communicationarouses interests through lead articles, editorials, special articles in case ofnewspapers and maga"ines and news commentary, current affairs in case of radioand television. The purpose is to improve the )uality of usefulness of theinformation for the citi"en. orum implies a platform where e!change of viewstakes place. This function of media thus enales the audienceKreaders to widentheir understanding aout the environment and events happening all around them.

De)ate an$ $iscussion3 &t is through deate and discussion in media that the

pulic can clarify different viewpoints on issues of pulic interests and arrive at a

general agreement on matters that concern us all. lso the audience gets a chanceto present their views through deate and discussions in talk shows through

different mass media.

Cu#tu(a# P(omotion3 Media educate the people toward etter living andpreserving the traditions of the society. Mass media provide an opportunity forculture to e preserved and promoted. &t presents different cultures, eliefs andcustoms from different countries and helps us promote ours to all part of the world.Thus, individuals come to know one another, understand and appreciate other(s

ways of life and therey develop tolerance towards one another.

Integ(ation3 Communication is a great integrating tool. Through a fund of

knowledge or information, individuals, groups or cultures come to know one

another, understand and appreciate other(s ways of life and therey develop

tolerance towards one another. &t can also e the greatest disintegrating tool.

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McBuail(s 61>=+7 sums up the functions of mass communication as/

Ino(mation

finding out aout relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings,

society and the world seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices

satisfying curiosity and general interest

learning3 self-education

gaining a sense of security through knowledge

Pe(sona# I$entit*

finding reinforcement for personal values

finding models of ehavior identifying with valued others 6in the media7

gaining insight into oneself

Integ(ation an$ Socia# Inte(action

gaining insight into the circumstances of others3 social empathy

identifying with others and gaining a sense of elonging

finding a asis for conversation and social interaction

having a sustitute for real-life companionship

helping to carry out social roles

enaling one to connect with family, friends and society

Ente(tainment

escaping, or eing diverted, from prolems

rela!ing

getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic en4oyment

filling time

emotional release se!ual arousal

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IMPORTANCE O/ MASS COMMUNICATION

-Mass Communication &nforms

-Mass Media @ntertains-Mass Communication Aersuades-Mass Communication *inds-Aopularity of Mass Media

The mass media have an important role in modern democratic society as the mainchannel of communication. The population relies on the news media as the mainsource of information and the asis on which they form their opinions and votingdecisions. ny selection of messages in the mass media will thus have a profoundeffect on the entire society.

Competition has ecome increasingly keen in the area of the mass media as theykeep fighting for the attention of the readers, listeners, and T$-viewers. The lifeand death of each newspaper and T$ station is at stake here when the income fromadvertising and sponsoring is proportional to the numer of readers or viewers. The

printed media have prolems competing with the electronic media as sources ofnews. &n order to survive, they are increasingly turning to other strategies such asentertainment, titillation, scandal mongering, and spreading fear and spendingfewer resources on serious researching of news. This is not only aout the survivalof the fittest of the news media3 it is also aout cultural selection and politicalselection.

The news media are the most important channels for the propagation of culture,ideas, and opinions. Most opinion formation takes place when people sit and watchnews and deates on television. naly"ing the cultural selection in the electronicinformation society, we find that an important part of the selection lies in thechoice etween T$ channels. Millions of la"y viewers sit in their comfortalearmchairs with remote controls in their hands "apping etween action films,revivalist preachers, and commercials for a new fragrance, hardly reali"ing that ychoosing which cultural and political influences they e!pose themselves to, they

also chose the cultural and political evolution of their country.

&t is very important to analy"e which selection criteria are in effect here. Theelectronic media are first and foremost pacifying. &t is a rela!ation machine, andthe viewer wants to e entertained. The faces on the screen are not chosen for theiropinions ut for their entertainment value. T$ stations do not compete onideologies ut on sense impressions. n e!treme e!ample is music videos, satiatedwith fast changing sense impressions in sound as well as in pictures.

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Media scientists have often discussed how much influence the media have onpeoples opinions. Aeople tend to selectively read what they already agree with andto rationali"e their preformed opinions in the face of contrary arguments.@!perimental evidence seems to indicate that the mass media have little power tochange peoples opinions on issues for which they already have formed a strong

opinion, ut they have a profound influence when it comes to setting the agendaand priming people on new issues.

We live in the age where mass communication performs certain functions that areuseful to us. &t is through mass communication that millions of audience is e!posedto a variety of messages each day. While many consumers of media are satisfiedwith any single channel of mass communication, there are others who seeke!posure to more that one channel. There is increasing an!iety aout the adverseeffect of mass communication on society in general and individuals in particular.

&n spite of limited reach, mass communication is so central to society that lifeseems inconceivale without mass media. They inform and shape our social life.Their influence is positive if they are ale to fulfill the information andentertainment needs of the people in accordance with the e!isting norms, valuesand culture in society. sually, the mass communication messages are positive likeconveying messages for communal harmony, peace, anti-terrorism, anti-socialevils, anti-drugs, etc.

The newspaper can influence the people to a large e!tent creating awareness and

political development. *roadcasting under government control can e use for thepurpose of education, social change and development of the society. ilms canring forward unhealthy social issues of our society and promote peace andharmony within communities. Thus, these mass media can contriute immenselytowards nation development and social awareness.

Media like television and cale television can sometimes have ad effect in oursociety. The audience of these media are watching everything eing telecasted inhope of entertaining themselves, e it violence, vulgarity, etc. esides this,

advertising also leaves images and impact on young minds. They give children amaterialistic world, which desires unaffordale things. lso too much of televisionwatching is creating health prolems of oesity and diversion from studies, sleepand eating proper diet.

Mass communication does influence 6and even reflect7 social values and practices,

ut this influence is always in comination with a whole lot of other socio-cultural

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and economic and political factors. *y themselves, the media have little power toinfluence, change and develop. or e!ample, Dindi films may start fashions for menand women in the areas of clothes, hairstyles, manner of speech, manner of greeting,or ways of sociali"ing. We may even go to the e!treme of acting out what we see orhear in the mass media, say a violent gesture or protest, ut it takes much more than

film or T$ to change our social and cultural values.

SUMMAR4

The primary function of communication is to inform, instructKeducate, entertain, andinfluenceKpersuade people to make them function smoothly and effectively. *esides,communication has a secondary function to perform as well, through deates anddiscussion, cultural promotion and integration3 it fosters consensus, creativity, andunderstanding amongst people, groups and societies so that they live in peace and

harmony.

The mass media have an important role in modern democratic society as the mainchannel of communication. The population relies on the news media as the mainsource of information and the asis on which they form their opinions and votingdecisions. ny selection of messages in the mass media will thus have a profoundeffect on the entire society.

Competition has ecome increasingly keen in the area of the mass media as theykeep fighting for the attention of the readers, listeners, and T$-viewers. The life and

death of each newspaper and T$ station is at stake here when the income fromadvertising and sponsoring is proportional to the numer of readers or viewers. The

printed media have prolems competing with the electronic media as sources ofnews.

&n order to survive, they are increasingly turning to other strategies such asentertainment, titillation, scandal mongering, and spreading fear and spending fewerresources on serious researching of news. This is not only aout the survival of thefittest of the news media3 it is also aout cultural selection and political selection.

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B1. 9iscuss the various functions of Mass Communication.B2. @!plain the importance of Mass Communication.

B+. Dow does mass media act as surveillance of the environmentE

/URT-ER READIN2



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T-EORIES O/ MASS COMMUNICATION

OBJECTIVES

To understand the asic terms 'Mass( F 'Communication( in MassCommunication To know the various channels of distriutions of Mass Communication

To compare Mass Communication with &ntrapersonal Communication

INTRODUCTION

@arly theories were ased on the assumptions that mass media have enormous and

direct influence upon society. *ut later researches provided evidence against any

direct cause and effect relationship etween the mass communication and society3

rather they underline the importance of individual differences and personal

influences on transmission, acceptance and retention of the message.

MEANIN2 O/ T-EORIES & ANA;4SIS

/(e$(ic' S, Sie)e(t! T"eo$o(e Pete(son! an$ ;+, it has een widely accepted and utili"ed y mediascholars. :evertheless, a critical evaluation shows that ieerts theories areoutdated and too simplistic to e useful in todays media research.

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Mass media do not operate in a vacuum. This assertion is generally agreed upon,

and has led researchers to study the relationship etween mass media and the

government.

The first well-known attempt to clarify the link etween mass media and the

political society was introduced y rederick . ieert in 1>;+, and presented inFour Theories of the Pressy ieert, Aeterson, and chramm. The purpose of thework was to estalish and e!plain four normative theories that ought to illustratethe (ess osition in relation to its political environment. *y LpressL ieert,means all the media of mass communication, including television, radio, andnewspaper.

ieerts four theories =t"e aut"o(ita(ian! t"e #i)e(ta(ian! t"e So%iet! an$ t"esocia# (esonsi)i#it*> are still acknowledged y many mass media researchers asthe most proper categories to descrie how different media systems operate in theworld. lmost every article and ook dealing with philosophical ases for

4ournalism has alluded to this ook 'Four Theories of the Press(, commented on it,or )uoted from it. &t has definitely made an impact. There is, therefore, a need toevaluate the four theories analytically in order to find out if ieerts approach stillis the most functional. critical evaluation shows that ieerts theories, whichseek to e!plain the relationship etween mass media and the government, areoutdated and too simplistic to e useful in todays media research.

Pete(son! T"e Aut"o(ita(ian T"eo(*

ccording to ieert, the authoritarianstate system re)uires direct governmentalcontrol of the mass media. This system is especially easy to recogni"e in pre-democratic societies, where the government consists of a very limited and smallruling-class. The media in an authoritarian system are not allowed to print or

roadcast anything, which could undermine the estalished authority, and anyoffense to the e!isting political values is avoided. The authoritarian governmentmay go to the step of punishing anyone who )uestions the states ideology.

The fundamental assumption of the authoritarian system is that the government isinfallile. Media professionals are therefore not allowed to have any independencewithin the media organi"ation. lso foreign media are suordinate to theestalished authority, in that all imported media products are controlled y thestate.

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The relationship etween the state and the media in an authoritarian system can e

illustrated as such/

The uthoritarian theory of the press can e traced to the very eginning ofprinting. t that time, truth was thought to reside in those who held power-that is,

the governing agency. Thus there was strict control of the press through thelicensing of printers y the throne. Censorship was practiced if the ruler thoughtthat information should e with held from the masses. Therefore, although thegovernment did not necessarily own the press, it was looked on as eing anadvocate of the state. Today many nations will not admit that their countries aregoverned according to authoritarian principles, they pulicly espouse liertarianconcepts, ut ehind the scenes authoritarian practices are carried out.

This term was first used y ieert refers to an arrangement in which the press is

suordinated to state power and the interests of a ruling class. The theory 4ustifiesadvance censorship and punishment for deviation from e!ternally set guidelines.nacceptale attack on authority, deviation from official policy, or offencesagainst moral codes should e criminal offences. nder certain circumstances,media are su4ected to authoritarian tendencies in democratic regimes as well,especially in times of war and during internal and e!ternal emergencies. thermedia like film, video, etc are su4ected to censorship. @ven the press, which isfree, lost its independence and freedom during the emergency 61>


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T"e ta)#e )e#o+ +i## "ig"#ig"t t"e (actice o t"is t"eo(*3

Complete Control to varying egrees of control

Com#ete (ess C(iticism Secia# (ess Su(ession

cont(o# a##o+e$! )ut #a+s #ea$ to o (essgo%e(nment a((est o e$ito(s oosition is

in%o'es mo(e co%e(tCenso(s"i

oviet nionChina Colomia outh frica Turkey8ugoslavia @gypt &ran, &ra) rgentina

yria Aakistan &ndonesia

%eanon

=)> T"e ;i)e(ta(ian T"eo(*

redrick . ieert, Theodore Aeterson, and Wilur chramm(s go on to e!plainthe li!ertariantheory, which is also called the (ee (ess t"eo(*. &n contrast to theauthoritarian theory, the liertarian view rests on the idea that the individual should

e free to pulish whatever he or she likes. &ts history traces ack to the 1


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s this illustration shows, there is no e!plicit connection etween the government

and the media in the liertarian theory/

Today t"e oen ma('et #ace o i$easand the se#1(ig"ting (ocessdefine theoundaries of the liertarian theory of the press. &n the seventeenth century HohnMilton defended the concepts of reason and the moral integrity of man in tellingright from wrong, good from ad, and truth from falsehood in a powerful argumentfor intellectual freedom. ther e!ponents of this philosophy were Hohn tuart,Thomas Hefferson and other who elieved in freedom of e!pression, rationalism, andnatural rights. They saw as the press(s function to inform, to sell, to entertain, touphold the truth, and to keep check on the government. Aress ownership in countries

espousing the liertarian philosophy is likely to e private and should e free fromdefamation, oscenity, impropriety and wartime sedition.

Countries practicing the liertarian philosophy today are the nited tates, reat

*ritain, and other western @uropean nations. ther theories related to liertarian

theory are the social responsiility theory and the o4ective theory of the press.

%iertarian theory is ased on the fundamental right of an individual to freedom ofe!pression, which is regarded as the main legitimating principle for print media inlieral democracies. &n its simple form, it prescries that an individual should e freeto pulish what he or she likes, it is thus e!tension of other rights to hold opinionsfreely, to e!press them, to assemle and organi"e with others. The free press theoryneeds no elaoration as is evident from the first amendment to the mericanconstitution, which states that 'congress shall make no lawNaridging the freedomof speech or of the press, it is thus simply an asolute right of the citi"en(.

*ut the application of press freedom has hardly een straightforward. Milton, tuartMill and many others argued that if freedom is aused to the e!tent of threateninggood morals and the authority of the state, it must e restrained. ccording to de

ola Aool 61>


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=c> T"e So%iet Communist?


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soviet media theory the press and the state are held to e one. The main purpose of

the soviet-media theory is to ensure the success and continuance of the soviet

socialist system and to promote the o4ectives of the soviet socialist party. This

system is found mainly in the oviet nion and other communist countries.

#ussian media was reorgani"ed after the revolution of 1>1


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government on the same level, signifying an interaction where oth parts are

allowed to critici"e the other/

The social responsiility theory is an e!tension of the liertarian theory in that the

press recogni"es that it has a responsiility to society to carry out its essential

functions. The social responsiility theory ascries asically the same si! functions

to the press as the liertarian theory/

1. Aroviding information, discussion, and deate on pulic affairs

2. &nstructing and informing the pulic to make it capale of self government+. Arotecting the rights of the individual against the government through its

watchdog function0. Maintaining the economic e)uilirium of the system y ringing together

uyer, seller, and advertiser5. Aroviding entertainment;. #emaining independent of outside pressures y maintaining its own economic

self-sufficiency.

The asic principles of the social responsiility theory uphold conflict resolutionthrough discussion3 there is high regard for pulic opinion, consumer action, andprofessional ethics and 4ealous guard over private rights and important socialinterests. This theory emerged in the nited tates in the twentieth century, and it isevidenced today in the nglo-merican nations.

The social responsiility theory is ased on the assumption that media serveessential functions in society. Therefore, it should accept and fulfill certainoligations to the society. These oligations are to e met y setting high

professional standards in communication of information, truth, accuracy, o4ectivity

and alance. &n accepting and discharging these oligations, the media should eself-regulatory within the framework of law and estalished institutions. &n the

pulic interest, the media should underplay that news which might lead to crime,violence, and social tension or cause offence to ethnic or religious minorities. Themedia should e pluralist, should reflect the diversity of their society and allowaccess to various points of view, including the right to reply.

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=e> Ot"e( T"eo(ies

De%e#oment Me$ia

9evelopment media or 9evelopment Communication refers to a spectrum ofcommunication processes, strategies and principles within the field of internationaldevelopment, aimed at improving the conditions and )uality of life of peoplestruggling with underdevelopment and marginali"ation. #eflective of the field(shistorical evolution, 9evelopment communication is characteri"ed y conceptualfle!iility and diversity in the application of communication techni)ues used toaddress the prolems of development.

ome approaches in the field include/ information dissemination and education,

ehavior change, social marketing, social moili"ation, media advocacy,

communication for social change, and participatory communication. 9evelopment

communication is for the etterment of the society though raised from a particular

group ut affect the whole mass for etter.

The limited application of the four estalished theories of the press to the third worldcountries, which are vastly different from each other and also from westerncountries, led to the irth of a new approach wherey communication is use to carryout development tasks. These tasks are carried out in line with nationally estalished

policy. The est source for information on this issue is the report of the :@C

sponsored international commission for the study of communication prolems.ccording to it, some common conditions of developing countries that limit the

potential enefits of other theories here are/

The asence of communication infrastructure

9ependence on the developed world for hardware and software

The commitment of these societies to economic, political and socialdevelopment as a primary national task

The developing countries awareness of their similar identity and interest in

international politics.

*ecause of these different conditions, the developing countries overriding o4ectives

would e to use mass media for nation uilding. &n the interest of this task of

national development, the freedom of the media and of 4ournalists needs to e

cured to an e!tent. The ma4or thrust of development communication theorists has

een on the use of media as a support to national development programmes like

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poverty alleviation, population control, literacy drive, employment generation

schemes, etc. *ut the effectiveness of this theory depends on how governments

e!ercise their right to restrict freedom or to intervene in media operations and how

they use devices of censorship, susidy and direct control.

Democ(atic Pa(ticiant T"eo(*

This is the most recent addition to the list of normative theories3 is relevant to thedeveloped lieral societies ut has some elements of the development media theory.Mc Buail notes that it is most difficult to formulate this theory 'partly ecause itlacks full legitimi"ation and incorporation into media institutions and partly ecausesome of its tenets are already to e found in some of the other theories(. &n hisopinion, this theory represents a challenge to the reigning theories and meritsseparate identification.

The main feature of the democratic participant theory relates to the needs, interests,and aspirations of the active receiver in a political society. &t is concerned with theright to information, the right to answer ack, the right to use the means ofcommunication for interaction in the small-scale settings of the community. Thetheory favors

Multiplicity of media

mallness of scale, of operation and

Dori"ontality of communication at all levels. &t opposes uniform, centrali"ed,high cost, highly professionali"ed and state-controlled media.

&t is argued that the media should e!ist primarily for the audiences and not for media

organi"ations and professionals.

Stu$* & ana#*sis o ou( (ess t"eo(ies

Theodore Aeterson, Wilur chramm and redrick . ieerts theories wereintended to e normative, meaning that Lthey do not attempt to stipulate how social

systems dooperate, ut rather with specification of how theyshouldor couldworkaccording to some pree!isting set of criteriaL. n evaluation of the theories should,therefore, not find out if they provide perfect descriptions of the various politicalsystems, ut rather if the approach leads to a valuale understanding of the massmedias position in society. or instance, it would e a mistake to 4udge ieertstheories as dysfunctional solely on the asis of a study that shows that the ovietmodel does not entirely tell how the current #ussian media operate.

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With regard to this, two notes need to e made/ irst, the ideal system is not

synonymous with the !estsystem as ascried to the author. econdly, one must not

mistake ieerts theories as eing a representation of how the mass media systems

actually work.

ieerts theories have relevancy over at least three to four decades. nfortunately,several recent political changes in the world indicate that ieerts approach fails todo so. Most apparent are the drastic changes of @astern @uropes politicalconditions during the past five years. The collapse of the iron curtain and theoviet nion makes it irrelevant to talk aout a Loviet media theory,L ecause itno longer reflects the conditions of the oviet superpower. The other three modelsare also closely related to political ideologies of their age, as e!plained y ieerthimself. When introducing the asis for the four theories, he does not make anyattempt to hide the fact that all of them have their roots from specific periods of

time and are closely tied to the political conditions of those ages.ieerts theories are easy to understand, ecause the simple approach makes use of

well-known concepts from the area of political science. or instance, one does not

have to e a communication scholar in order to understand how words like

LMar!ism,L Lworking class,L Lcommunism,L and LAravdaL are connected.

The names of the four press theories not only testify the close link etween media

and their political environment, ut also reveal that ieerts starting-point is

political, not communicative. irst he oserves the political conditions, and then he

provides a mass media theory according to the known conditions.

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A ne+ (oosa#

The fundamental o4ection against ieerts approach is the lack of

fle!iility. &n order to avoid this weakness, the following model may e

proposed/

This models strength lies first of all in its starting- point/ communication,

The two continuums illustrate the two elements re)uired for a

communication event to occur/ Conte!t 6the medium itself7 and content 6the

message7 . nother strength is the reakdown of strictly given categories,

which opens up for new ideas.

The model seeks to answer the )uestion LWho owns the medium, and whodetermines what message is to e sentEL ieerts four-division is put into the

model to demonstrate how it may e used. This model remains normative as

one might suggest that media ought to strive for an audience-oriented

content.

Mass communication theory is est understood as a ranch of social theory.&ndeed, the attempt to theori"e IsocietyJ and IcommunicationJ arise in thesame moment. theorist is, one who argues, gives reasons and makesconnections to larger prolems. Theory is not only something that people doin their armchairs3 it is an art that every scholar, if not citi"en and human,should cultivate. ll theories are a re-approach with the past of anestalished theory.

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SUMMAR4

ieerts four theories =t"e aut"o(ita(ian! t"e #i)e(ta(ian! t"e So%iet! an$

t"esocia# (esonsi)i#it*> are still acknowledged y many mass media

researchers asthe most proper categories to descrie how different media systems operate

in the world.

ccording to ieert, the authoritarian state system re)uires directgovernmental control of the mass media. This system is especially easy torecogni"e in pre-democratic societies, where the government consists of avery limited and small ruling-class. The media in an authoritarian system arenot allowed to print or roadcast anything, which could undermine theestalished authority, and any offense to the e!isting political values isavoided. The authoritarian government may go to the step of punishinganyone who )uestions the states ideology.

ieert goes on to e!plain the li!ertarian theory, which is also called the(ee(ess t"eo(*. &n contrast to the authoritarian theory, the liertarian viewrests onthe idea that the individual should e free to pulish whatever he orshe likes. &ts history traces ack to the 1


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estalished theory.

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B1. 9iscuss the ieert(s four theories of Aress.

B2. What are the features of the uthoritarian Theory given y ieertEB+. Critically analy"e the relevance of the four theories of Aress given y

ieert.B0. Write short notes on/

6a7 uthoritarian Theory67 %iertarian Theory

6c7 ocial #esponsiility Theory6d7 oviet CommunistKWorkers Theory

6e7 ther Theories/ 9evelopment Media F 9emocratic Aarticipant Theory

/URT-ER READIN2



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01


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TOO;S O/ MASS COMMUNICATION

OBJECTIVES

To know the various tools of Mass Communication To study the role of :ewspapers, Maga"ines, #adio, T$, ilms,#ecords, &nternet

To recogni"e the role of dvertising, Aulic #elations and Aulic

ffairs as the tools of Mass Communication

INTRODUCTION

There are different media involved in the process of mass communication. They

reach every corner of the world and are very powerful. They invade even theprivacy of our edrooms. They inform, educate, entertain and persuade. They alsohelp in the transmission of culture and perform the 4o of surveillance of thesociety. They are the mass me$ia. The mass media are 'the vehicles of masscommunication(. The prominent ones, which have ecome household names arenewspapers, maga"ines, ooks, radio, film, television, and more recently, satelliteT$ and cale T$. Mass media is roadly divided into print media and electronicmedia. While the print media are the oldest, having a history of aout five hundred

years, the electronic media are products of the 2?th

century technologicalrevolution.

Too#s o mass communication

=a> Ne+sae(s! Maga8ines! Ra$io! TV! /i#ms! Reco($s! Inte(net

T"e Ne+sae(

Those who do not read the newspaper are uninformed and those who do read

the newspaper are misinformed--Mark Twain.

It is t"e (inte$ means o con%e*ing cu((ent ino(mation. The modernnewspaper is a comination of elements from many societies and many periods oftime. @ven efore the irth of Christ the #omans posted newssheets called 'actadiurna( in pulic places. The Chinese and Goreans were using wood-carved typeand paper for printing several centuries efore these appeared in @urope. &n thesi!teenth century, well after printing had come to @urope, the $enetian

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government printed a small newssheet, which could e purchased for aga"eta6asmall coin7. The use of the word 'ga"ette( to refer to newspapers has survived tothis day. cholars of the history of 4ournalism suggest that many features of themodern newspaper such as the editorial, sport articles, illustrations, politicalcolumns, and even comics, were used in one place or another long efore the true

mass press came into eing.

B(ie -isto(* o Ne+sae(

lthough printing was introduced to @ngland in the late 10??, it was not until1;21, nearly a century and a half later that early forerunners of the newspaper

egan to appear. These were called 'co(antos(. Their content focused on foreignintelligence, and they were not pulished regularly. rom the eginning the

pulication of corantos was strongly regulated y the government. ne of theinteresting patterns discernile in the history of press was that the greater the e!tentto which a form of government is actually dependent upon favorale pulicopinion, the more likely it is to support a free press. When the common people playsignificant roles in the determination of their own political destiny, the distriutionof news and political opinions is an important process.

The merican and the rench revolutions egan germinating and the whole faricof western society was changing. ld pattern was slowly eing replaced y a newsocial structure within which a strong middle class would e prominent. Thiscommercialism was dependent upon improvement in the availaility of various

kinds of communication media. @ngland had many skilled writers and 4ournalistslike ddison, teele, and 9aniel 9efoe. The colonial press was edited and

pulished y people who were not great literary figures. They were still using thesame printing technology used y 2utten)e(g, the first person to discover printing

procedure three centuries ago. *efore a true mass press could develop, a series ofsweeping social changes was necessary in the society. numer of printers and

pulishers had e!perimented with the idea of a cheap newspaper that could e soldto uran population.

$arious approaches to this prolem were tried oth in @ngland and in the nited

tates, ut without success. &t remained for an oscure :ew 8ork printer,*en4amin D.9ay, to find a successful formula. Dis little paper, the#ew $ork Sun,

egan modestly enough on eptemer +, 1=++3 with the motto ' It s"ines o(A;;(. s suse)uent events proved, it did indeed shine for all. *en4amin D.9ayhad egun a new era in 4ournalism that within a few years would revolutioni"enewspaper pulishing. The un attracted its impressive circulation primarily y

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appealing to new readers who had not previously een reached y a newspaper.

The newspaper had redefinition of 'news( to fit the tastes, interests, and reading

skills of the less-educated level of society.

p to that time, 'news( generally meant reports on social, commercial, or political

events of genuine importance, ut Ben@amin Da*, however, filled the paper withnews of another sort-news the people in the street found e!citing, catastrophe,disaster, crime, amusement, etc. the paper was vulgar, cheap, and sensational andaimed at new literate masses. *y 1=+< the un was distriuting +?,??? copiesdaily, more than the comined total of all :ew 8ork daily papers. &mitators of 9ayhad started rival papers almost immediately. This penny press was successful

ecause it had great appeal for advertisers.

More and more newspapers egan to seek out the news. The role of reporter grew

more comple! and speciali"ed as papers added foreign correspondents and specialnews gatherers of various kinds. #eporters were sent to the scene of attles. The'su(%ei##ance( function of the press ecame well estalished. The rising demandfor fresh news was met y newly formed cooperative news gathering agencies,which made use of the telegraph wires. Arinting technology was making rapidstrides, moving toward ever-increasing automation. #evolving presses, with printcast in a solid metal stereotype, ecame capale of rolling out 1?,??? and even2?,??? sheets and hour.

Aapers continued to gain in popularity. &n 1=5? there were aout two copies of a

daily newspaper purchased in the nited tates for every ten families. This rapidgrowth actually continued until aout the time of World War &. The last decade of

the 1>th

century is one of special significance in the growth of the press ecause itwas the eginning of new kind of 4ournalism. '4e##o+ @ou(na#ism( was one of themost dramatic episodes in the development of press.

Within this competitive conte!t, rutal struggles for additional readers developedetween the leaders of giant rival papers. They would fight y any means availaleto e!pand their circulation figures, which were, of course the key to increased

advertising revenue and profits. $arious features, devices, gimmicks, styles, ande!periments were tried y each side to make its paper more appealing to the massof readers.

:ewspapers today contain many of the devices that were actually products of the

rivalries of the 1=>?s 6one of these was color comics3 an early comic character was

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called the '8ellow Gidd( from which '4e##o+ @ou(na#ism is said to derive its

name.7 4e##o+ @ou(na#ism is a pe4orative reference to 4ournalism that features

scandal-mongering, sensationalism, 4ingoism or other unethical or unprofessional

practices y news media organi"ations or individual 4ournalists.

&ntellectuals in general were deeply wounded y yellow 4ournalism. ccording tothem the great new means of communication, which held forth the tantali"ing

potential of mass cultural and moral upliftment, was turning to e societal

degeneration.

%eaders in religion, education, law and government increasingly voiced strongprotests. The press lords were faced with the threat of losing pulic confidence.These considerations led a numer of ma4or pulishers to egin to put their ownhouses in order. #esolution of the conflicts rought new social arrangements.

radually, the press ecame less sensational and more responsile. set of codesand norms defining its limits and responsiilities gradually ecame increasinglyclear.

While the mass press today varies in its degree of such strict codes, the e!cesses ofthe yellow 4ournalism is a thing of the past. Today, the newspaper is regularly

pulished printed unounded newsprint in roadsheet or taloid si"e and servesgeneral interests of specific communities with news, comments, features,

photographs and advertisements.

/utu(e o Ne+sae(

:ewspaper will undoutedly survive with some further reduction of market share.ew changes in literacy or other factors related to potential increases in readershipare proaly in the immediate future. :ewspaper pulication houses today havefeatures all modern features like &nternet3 four color offset printing, electronicnewsrooms and many such gadgets.

The future newspaper could e a talet newspaper having li)uid crystal 6%C97screen in which the contents could e collected through telephone lines or cales.

@verything could e displayed on the screen at the click of a utton. nother ma4ordevelopment could e that newspaper could e customi"ed, and people will get toread only the things, which interests them. This way the readers will e!ercise a lotof control on the contents of the newspaper. *ut only few people will get access tosuch electronic newspaper.

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Maga8ine

Maga"ine means a 'sto(e "ouse( and thus has a variety of contents in it. Maga"ineshave specific well-defined readers and thus advertiser can reach specific target

people through it more effectively. The maga"ines are dependent on advertisingand try to reach particular segments of men, women, film lovers, young generation,etc through it. We also have trade and usiness maga"ines for people in such

professions.

:ewspapers, private pulishing houses, societies, educational institutions or somereligious organi"ations may pulish maga"ines. @ven some governmentdepartment and political parties pulish their regular maga"ines. Maga"ines are

pulished weekly, fortnightly, monthly, half yearly and even yearly. ne of theearliest maga"ines known was theJournal des Scavansfounded in Aaris in 1;;5

and initially it carried astracts of ooks.

The golden age for maga"ines in merica came in the late half of the 1>th

centuryduring which channels of distriution were created as transmission networkdeveloped. Aaper pulp was now cheaper3 the printing processes were improved andinvention of linotype facilitated automatic typesetting. 8et another advancementwas etter photographic reproduction.

Today, we have maga"ines for every topic under the sun like, eauty and fashion,

usiness and commerce, art and craft, education and career, health and grooming,

photography, automoiles, electronics, science and technology, etc. maga"ines doplay an important role in information, education, and offer variety of su4ects for

entertainment of its specific target readership.

T"e Ra$io

2ug#ie#mo Ma(coni of &taly invented a way to transmit sound without using wires.*y 1>?1, Marconi succeeded in creating a wireless communication link etween@urope and :orth merica. &n 1>?;, %ee orest with Hohn leming perfected the

'audion( or the vacuum tue, which made clear transmission of voice and musicpossile. These developments paved the way for the first ever roadcast that tookplace on Christmas @ve, in 1>?; in . %ater it took ten years of hard work toperfect the radio.

#adio estalished its place very fast in the minds of listeners. Deavy doses of

infotainment including music, drama, talk shows, etc supplemented with news

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made radio popular overnight. oon radio industry developed wide spreading

networks and y the 1>+?(s radio ecame prime mass medium. #adio roadcasting

was introduced in &ndia y amateur radio clus in Calcutta, *omay, Madras and

%ahore, though even efore the clus launched their ventures, several e!perimental

roadcasts were conducted in *omay.

#adio programmes may e classified into two road groups

1. So'en +o($ (og(ammes, which include news ulletins, talks,discussions, interviews, educational programmes for schools and colleges,specific audience programmes directed at women, children, rural and uranlisteners, drama, radio features and documentaries.

2. Music (og(ammes, which include disc 4ockey programmes, musicalperformances of all types and variety programmes.

St(engt" o t"e Ra$io

2. #adio reaches messages to illiterates, neo-literates and highly educated

receivers simultaneously.

+. &t is a fairly affordale to e owed y everyone.0. The want of visual effect is compensated y sound effects, oth natural and

mechanical and so live effect is moderately high. The )uality of voice andsound makes the communication fairly en4oyale.

5. Musical sound effect enlivens the communication and often reaks

monotony.;. &t has the capacity to deliver instantaneous messages.. nce a transistor radio is purchased, messages flow constantly and no cost is

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2. poken messages are su4ect to interpretation of listeners according to theirimagination, e!perience and predisposition3 hence possiility ofmisinterpretation is very high.

+. %isteners need lot of imagination and therefore understanding of messagedepends largely on the characteristics of the receivers.

0. Communication is time limited and presents tiny fragments of topics in ahapha"ard mosaic. The medium has also limitations ecause of its audionature.

5. #eceivers cannot put off listening parts of message for suse)uent listening

at their convenience.

/utu(e o Ra$io

#adio(s future is a mystery. &t is not easy to predict the future of radio. The futureof radio would depend on changing regulatory scenarios, technological

developments and change of listener(s appeal. #adio(s current locali"ation andspeciali"ed programming will continue. Technologically, radio transmission willimprove greatly. M will continue to grow faster and igger.

#adio listeners have indeed grown manifold, and the network is e!panding a greatdeal an now it offers a daily service for many hours transmitting news, comments,songs, music, comedies, thrillers, sports, esides special programmes for children,youth and farmers. ne of the est advantages that radio has over other media isthat it can serve and entertain an audience, which is otherwise occupied. or

e!ample, people can listen to it while working at home, in the fields and factoriesand even while traveling.

Te#e%ision

nlike other forms of mass media, television has ecome one of the mostpowerful media of Mass communication. With a modest eginning in the1>+?s, it has grown into a massive network of mass information and massentertainment in today(s world. The attraction of the '%isua# ness( of themedium makes people remain glued to the T$ set for hours. Television

captures our imagination and is the most complete and dramatic of all massmedia. &n addition to providing news and events, television also packagesfiction, drama, culture, economy and many other things. Thus, this idiot o!6ecause it provides everything on a platter and we need not do any thinking7has een increasing its hold on us.

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-isto(* o Te#e%ision

The inventions and discoveries in the late 1>>?s and early twentieth century, whichgave us radio, films and the telephone, also lead to the invention of the television.V#a$imi( +o(*'in, an merican scientist, who developed an all-electronic

television system in 1>2+ and perfected it y 1>2=, took the first ig step in thedevelopment of T$. Dowever, only e!perimental T$ roadcasts were conducted inthe early days. &n 1>+=, T$ sets ecame widely availale and since then there is nolooking ack. &n &ndia, television arrived with small scale e!perimental telecastingfrom 9elhi in 1>5>. lowly the half hour programme e!periment grew. While9oordarshan was the only channel availale through 1>=?, the T$ in &ndia hascompletely changed with the arrival of private T$ channels.

St(engt" an$ +ea'ness o Te#e%ision

&t has all the strength of radio e!cept that it needs captive audience, has notattained portaility and miniaturi"ation and needs power line for ine!pensiveworking. T$ viewing is essentially a family affair and so helps family unity. &t isfar from slow and availaility is constant. #epetition of message does not incure!pense e!cept nominal fees for cale connections. Television like radio, is in allsense a 'now( medium.

Television gives cursory overview of the events and is never capale of providingin-depth analysis and reporting. &t is severely time limited and presents tiny

fragments of topics. Television programmes skip and 4umps demands constantchange of mental gears from programmes to commercial, from documentary tocartoon and news. lso contents are high in entertainment and low

mass-communication-concepts-processes.pdf

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