Mass Media and
Communications
CUET
1. What is Mass Media?
Aspects of Mass Media which
Definition
we will discuss in chapter
It refers to the media technologies reach Growth of modern mass media in the world and
mass audiences – audiences comprise very in India
large numbers of people Role of government in growth of mass media in
India
For ex- Newspaper, television, radio, Dialectical relationship between mass media
internet, social media, films, magazines, and communication with society.
podcasts. how easily different sections of people can use
mass media i.e. digital divide
It is a part of our everyday life
2. Modern Mass Media
Beginning of Printing in Europe Impact of Printing in Europe
It began with the development of the printing press. Thousands of books/manuscripts were translated and
This technique was first developed by Johann printed
Gutenberg in 1440 Rapid spread of information
The first products of the press were restricted to an As per scholar Benedict Anderson, it led to the growth
audience of literate elites. of Nationalism
It was only in the mid 19th century, with further He suggested that we could think of the nation as an
development in technologies, transportation and ‘imagined community’.
literacy that newspapers began to reach out to a mass
audience.
Note –
As per Benedict Anderson, mass spread of
information developed a sense of
togetherness among the people.
3. Mass Media in India
Famous nationalist newspapers/magazine in
Print Media During Colonial Period
colonial period
Under British rule newspapers and magazines, films Sambad-Kaumudi (Bengali) – Raja Ram
and radio comprised the range of mass media.’ Mohan Roy
Mirat-Ul-Akbar (Persian) – Raja Ram Mohan
Anti-colonial public opinion was nurtured and Roy
channelized by the nationalist press. Bombay Samachar (Gujarati) – Fardoonji
Murzban
This led the colonial government to clamp down on Shome Prakash (Bengali) – Ishwar Chandra
the nationalist press and impose censorship Vidyasagar
The Times of India was founded in Bombay
It led to the Ilbert Bill agitation in 1883. in 1861.
The Pioneer in Allahabad in 1865
Ilbert bill proposed censorship for The Statesman in Calcutta in 1875
newspapers/magazines The Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore in
1876
Radio During Colonial Period Impact of Mass Media
Radio came to India through amateur broadcasting During colonial India, literate public was
clubs limited
It went on to become public broadcasting system in Hence, Mass media couldn’t create MASS
1940s impact directly as it was consumed by
National views could not be, therefore, expressed via limited audience
radio But information was read and spread by
word of mouth from commercial and
administrative hubs.
Movies during colonial period This way they reached to the illiterate public
too
Like newspapers, films were autonomous too Mass media contributed in growth of
But they too were strictly monitored nationalism
Led to spread of ideas of a ‘free India’.
4. Mass Media in
independent India
Approach of government
As per Nehru, media was the fourth pillar of
democracy
He considered media as the watchdog of democracy
The media was seen as a means to inform the
people of the various developmental efforts.
The media was also encouraged to fight against
oppressive social practices
Government policies were promoted through
documentaries and film reels.
These documentaries were shown before screening
of films.
5. Radio
Inception of Radio in India All India Radio
It began through amateur radio broadcasting It was established in 1936
clubs “Ham radio clubs” in 1920s Initially the AIR’s programes consisted mainly
of news, current affairs and discussions on
It developed into a public broadcasting system development.
in the 1940s during the World War II In 1957, AIR acquired the hugely popular
channel Vividh Bharati.
It became a major instrument of propaganda It developed a money-spinning channel for
for Allied forces in South-east Asia AIR.
In 1947, six radio stations located in the major
cities Licensing in Radio-
Before 1990s, license was required to
By 1950, there were 5,46,200 radio licences all purchase radio. License was to be renewed
over India. every year without failure.
Growth in infrastructure Rise in popularity of radio
In 1947, the country had 280,000 radio receiver sets The transistor revolution in the 1960s made radio as
for a population of 350 million people. a mobile (portable) device
Government gave priority to the expansion of the This also cut down the per unit cost substantially
radio
This led to the mass purchase of radio
Expanded the radio broadcasting infrastructure,
especially in state capitals and in border areas.
Evolution of content of AIR
It operates a three-tiered — national, regional, and
local — service to cater to India’s geographic, AIR initiated “daily talk” programmes during war
linguistic and cultural diversity. with China in 1962
In August 1971, during Bangladesh crisis it
introduced news on the hour, from 6 o’ clock in the
morning to midnight
After the tragic assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, it
introduced 24 hour bulletin
6. Television
Beginning Commercialization of TV
It was introduced experimentally in India to The television programmes became more commercial
promote rural development as early as 1959. with time.
Later SITE, broadcasted directly to community Entertainment programmes grew and were directed to
viewers in the rural areas of six states the urban consuming class
between August 1975 and July 1976.
Colour broadcasting came in 1982 during the Asian
Television stations were set up under games
Doordarshan in four cities (Delhi, Mumbai,
Srinagar and Amritsar) by 1975. The expansion of the national network led to rapid
commercialisation of television broadcasting
Three more stations in Kolkata, Chennai and
Jalandhar were added by 1976
Every broadcasting centre had its own mix of
programmes i.e. kid’s programme, farmer’s
programme etc.
Beginning of Commercial Shows Growth of television
Hum Log was India’s first long-running soap During 1984–85, the number of television
opera transmitters increased all over India
Hum Log (1984–85) and Buniyaad (1986–87) Today, India is second largest market for
were aired. television after China
Popularity of “Hum log” was a big commercial As per 2016, more than 50% households have
success television sets
Hum Log promoted a new consumer product
in India, Maggi 2-Minute noodles
Famous epics were broadcasted—Ramayana Major reason behind growth of television
(1987–88) and Mahabharata (1988–90).
Development of infrastructure
Popular daily soaps
Variety of programs
Rapid increase in demand for advertisement
7. Print Media
Background Impact of emergency on print media
It began in 1780s Media was censored
Hickey Bengal Gazette was the first news Fortunately, the period ended and democracy
paper of India, launched in 1780 was restored in 1977
From the beginning, it contributed in spread of
the social reform movement and the
nationalist movement
8. Globalization and Music
Impact of globalization on Music Impact of internet to Music
Music has been distributed globally like Easy download of music from internet has created a
never before challenge for music industry
Modern tech i.e. television, CDs, internet are Internet and mobile apps (Spotify, YT, Gaana) have
making them available across the globe changed the way of distribution of music
9. Impact of globalization on
Print Media
Pre assumptions regarding Print media Types of News paper
It was expected that television and
internet will slow down the growth of
print media National Dailies Regional dailies
However new technologies have helped It refers to English It generally refers to regional
boost the production and circulation of newspapers language newspapers
newspapers. E.g. The Hindu, Times of Includes Hindi, Bengali, Tamil
India and other local language
E.g. Hindustan, The Eenadu
story, Prabhat Khabar
Reason behind growth of Indian
Indian Newspaper revolution
Language newspaper
Hindi, Telugu and Kannada recorded the highest 1. Rise in number of literate public
growth 2. Addition of local (district) addition
Print publications in the country had an increase in 3. Giveaway of supplement magazines based on
the average daily circulation of 23.7 million copies personal health, career and literature
from 2006 to 2016 4. Consumer contact programmes,
The top two Hindi dailies in India are Dainik Jagran 5. Door-to-door surveys, and research.
and Dainik Bhaskar
The Eenadu story (a Telugu newspaper) adopted
creative technique to witness massive growth
Note
It launch ‘district dailies’ in 1989.
Hindi Dailies such as Prabhat khabar and
Dina Thanthi, another leading Tamil newspaper, has
Dainik Bhaskar credit their success largely to
always used simplified and colloquial language.
consumer contact programmes and surveys
Impact of electronic media Impact of technology on print media
It affected largely the English dailies Increased efficiency with modern tools like
They had to reduce the price to compete with digital cameras, PC, proofreading software
electronic media etc.
Developed a new branch of electronic media
Newspapers like Mint, Economic times earn
more revenue from online subscriptions
Impact of sponsorship Overall Changes in print media because of
globalization (summary)
Dependency on sponsors has increased with Growth of “Indian language” newspapers
time Technological transformation (use of PC,
Sponsors have also influencing the content of Phones, digital recorder)
newspapers Variety in contents
Infotainment (combo of information and Reduction in prices of English newspapers
entertainment) is seen as an important tool to
sustain the interest of leaders.
10. Impact of globalization on
Television
Major developments How TNC media channels got
popularity?
In 1991 there was one state controlled TV Initially used the familiar content
channel Doordarshan in India The early strategy of Sony International was to
By 1998 there were almost 70 channels. broadcast 10 Hindi films a week.
The Gulf War of 1991 popularized the TV They gradually decreased the number as the station
Star TV was launched in 1991 by the Whampoa produced its own Hindi language content
Hutchinson Group of Hong Kong Eventually launched their own hindi language
In 1992, Zee TV, a Hindi-based satellite channel – MTV India, Star Plus,
entertainment channel began beaming Sports commentary also had dual language track
programmes. (English and Hindi)
Regional language channels emerged like Sun-
TV, Eenadu-TV, Udaya-TV, Raj-TV, and Asianet.
Cable network was expanding
VCR was becoming popular
How Star group penetrated Indian
market?
In 1996, Star plus started producing Hindi
language belt of programming between 7 and 9
PM.
By February 1999, the channel was converted to
a solely Hindi Channel.
All English serials shifted to STAR World (English
language international channel)
Used Hinglish slogan: ‘Aapki Boli. Aapka Plus
Point’ to promote the channel
11. Impact of globalization on
Radio
The FM era Role of Movies
Privately owned FM radio stations came in 2002 Bollywood movies has also played an important role
They were not allowed to broadcast news in popularizing radio
Hence they specialized in genre which appeased Radio has played a significant role in movies like Rang
youth i.e. Music and entertainment de basanti and Lage raho munna bhai.
Famous FMs belong to big media conglomerates
Radio Mirchi belongs to the Times of India
Red FM is owned by Living Media
Radio City by the Star Network
12. Important for CUET
Important dates Important Personalities
1440 – Printing press was invented in Europe Amita Roy – Disc Jockey in AIR Lucknow
1883 – Ilbert bill agitation Ramoji Rao – Founder of The Eenadu story and
1861 – Foundation of Times of India in Bombay Ramoji film city
1920s- Radio came as amateur Fardoonji Murzban - pioneer of the Gujarati Press in
1940s- AIR established Bombay, started Bombay Samachar
1957 – AIR acquired Vividh Bharati
1959 – TV came to India
1982 – Colour TV came
1984-85 – First daily soap, Hum Log was aired
1999 – Star Plus became a Hindi channel
2002 – FM radio stations came
