Bangladesh university

Subject code:soc-4302
Assignment name: mass communication

Submitted to
Firoj All Mozahid (Senior lecturer)
Bangladesh University
Department of social science

Submitted by
Name: Md. Rabiul Islam
Roll:201711636016
Batch:36
Dep: social science
Date of submission :20/10/2020
 Assignment on Mass communication

Mass communication is an exhaustive course which helps inculcate the knowledge

and experience to work in the media sector. It also provides us with knowledge
about all aspects of communicating with the masses and helps us to work in
electronic media. All the information can be transmitted quickly to the large
number heterogeneous audience through mass communication and this process of
transmitting messages is done through newspaper, radio, magazine, television etc.

Basically, mass communication is concerned with communicating with people

through different channels. It involves five major aspects which include large
audience, forms of message reproduction, a similar audience exists, the flow of
mass communication, fast distribution of the message and low unit cost to the
customers.

Origins
Since the beginning of civilization, societies have been struggling to find one or
the other way to communicate with each other. They had a great need and desire to
find innovative ways to entertain in an expensive manner, to circulate opinions, to
pass knowledge along ideas to report environmental dangers and opportunity and
to broaden trade and communicate to new people.

Humans relied on oral tradition for communication before writing. In the 1920s,
people started to talk about the media and later on they began speaking about the
change in communication. In ancient cultures, verbal and nonverbal
communication played a major role. In order to impact the standards of culture,
past traditions, and knowledge, ancient people used stories to record and detail
them. Later on, with the development of alphabets, picture-based alphabets with
written languages came up and led to a change in cultural communication.
Eventually, when the papermaking process was perfected, mass communication
came into existence which resulted in a drastic change in the traditional values and
knowledge among cultures.

Today, life has become so easy and smooth with the high-speed digital media
connections, multiple sources and social networking to communicate placing
society at the core of technological revolution. Therefore, mass communication
was the most momentous and an important invention in the human history.
Characteristic and features of mass communication
Mass communication is the process, where a message is widely circulated among
different people who are far and away from the source. There are a lot of
characteristics of mass communication such as Specific goals, Everyday messages,
Origin of message, Messages are complicated and difficult, Restricted information,
Rapid and continuous distribution, Utility of modern technological media,
Communication is generally one way, Divided contests of information, Diversified
and scattered audiences, Huge audiences, Constancy etc

Types of mass communication

Conjointly, mass media consist of all the technologies of media that are aimed to
reach a huge audience through mass communication. Electronic media that is
comprised of radio, movies, film, televisions, camera, DVDs and so forth,
transmits their information electronically. Basically, mass media is a
communication that reaches to a large number of audiences. Mass media comprises
newspaper, magazines, movies, radio, advertising, radio, internet etc.

Television: These days, people depend on television for news, culture, weather

forecast, entertainment, music and even reality shows & dramas because it has
become an unavoidable part of modern culture some or the other how. Benefits of
Television are that it enables people to share their cultural and traditional
experience with each other, as television has the power to create powerful
standards. It is a great way to study and acquire knowledge by following up on the
programs. It provides a lot of information and even is a source of foreign movies
which are unavailable in your market easily.

Newspaper: A daily newspaper provides us with all kind of information and it

helps to express one's protest regarding any type of injustice work such as terrorist
problems, corruption, crime, accidents and even political issues in the national and
international regions. It is a source of education and awareness as it enhances our
skills. Newspaper consists of various benefits like it is very helpful to the job
seeker, students, and business and also very important to the sports lover as the
publisher mentions all the latest updates separately about the sports.

Radio: Radio is that medium of communication where it broadcasts programs for

people that are knowledgeable and entertaining like television, for instance,
cultural, educational, nutritional and agricultural programs. Radio is most
beneficial to those people who are living in the coastal area as they can be
informed about the unpredictable natural disasters, earthquakes, tsunami, and
drought or uncertain whether change. It is a universal medium that helps especially
to the people living in risky areas to take precaution according to the information
provided.

Mobile: Mobile has become the fastest means of communication today as people

can communicate in real time, no matter how far the other person lives. You can
easily get connected to anyone you want within a few seconds. For Example, you
can call, text messages, send pictures and even can transfer money through a
phone.

Internet: It is proved today that there is no faster alternative to the internet as it

has become the most popular medium of communication. Earlier, when there was
no internet, people found it very difficult to connect and send information to any
place or people because it took a very long time.

Thus, mass media has greatly contributed to the growth and development of us and
our country. Although there are a few disadvantages of using social sites due to the
rapid growth of people and prevalent laws in a country, the benefits cannot be
ignored.

Benefits of Studying Mass Communication

Increased creativity power: There are numerous creative fields that contribute to
increasing one’s artistic value and creativity. But, mass communication offers you
a great opportunity of studying the fields with the widened area such as journalism,
advertising, event management audio/video production and public relation. If you
really want to be successful in your venture, then all you need is to widen your
thinking ability, be creative, concentrate and work hard. Besides, through these
areas mentioned above, you can also achieve the desired advancement by learning
technical skills that can be of great help in your professional career in future. These
are the opportunity which makes this field extremely attractive for people.

Updated information: If you don’t have that ability to handle new equipment and
technology, then you may be a misfit to your organization. You should know how
to increase your company’s productivity for the development of your organization.
Today is the era of digitalization; due to which any modern organizations prefers
those employees who possess the knowledge of using advanced tools and
technology. Another important factor for any organization is human resource and
time because all the tasks are done with the help of a machine instead of doing it
manually. Social media makes you aware of all the latest development in the field
of technology and you can stay ahead of the curve. Being the one who knows the
most about what is new and how a new situation can be used to the organization’s
advantage can give you an edge over your peers and competitors.

Freedom of course: There is a wide range of subjects offered that adds interest to

your learning and research work. Choosing this field is a good choice if you like
being taught everything in the form of lecture producing an endless list of essays
which will not make you feel irritated or full of boredom. So, you can consider it
as the best option for you as it provides you facility of widening your area
inexperience and gathering information and knowledge in your desired field.

Good social life: Mass communication comprises of effective learning of soft

skills that are helpful in maintaining a good relationship with your friends, family,
and the public. It is a study of public relation that teaches you to handle your
workplace no matter whether you are related to teaching, sales, management or a
health sector. This area is all about your communication with people everywhere.
Thus, a mass communication and media study help you to be socially good in one
or the other way. It focuses on studying about people, writing about them, meeting
with them and sometimes interviewing them too. So, basically it helps you to grow
more social but here is the thing that it is not mandatory to be an amiable person in
order to study this field.

Decision making: Mass media helps you to handle all kind of people and thus
makes you a multi-cultured person. No matter what background you come from
such as cultural, educational, political or financial, the study of mass
communication helps you to develop your personality and become wise
psychologically. It also helps you to be capable of making decisions and provides
you with the better insight into your personal life.

Various options offered: Mass communication provides you with different

courses and profession in a wide range. It gives you the opportunity to set your
own business even. It gives various options ahead with. Once you have completed
the study of mass communication, you can work as a public relation officer, an
ideal marketing manager, Magazine journalist, Art director, Event manager,
Advertising copywriter and much more. Moreover, you even go for filmmaking,
audio video production, writing, journalism or editing. You can also study B.B.A
or M.B.A for more career opportunity.

No past experience is required: In comparison to other subjects such as science,

language and literature or commerce, prior experience is required but you don’t
need to have such experience or knowledge for studying mass communication. For
instance, if you want to do higher studies in English as a subject, your past
experience of secondary examination with grammar related subjects are required
but not in this case.

Combined course: Usually, the department of media study offers you various dual
honors degrees which mean you can strand two different areas of learning in detail.
It provides you with the facility of combining a cultural degree with another
passion of yours.

Career Option in Mass Communication

Fashion photographer: Nowadays, the demand for a skilled photographer is
increasing day-by-day as they can work for the magazines, newspaper, television
shows, etc. If you want to make your career in this field, then all you need is
creativity, artistic sensitivity and capacity to work. All the necessary skills that you
need can be achieved by taking up any certified course from a reputed institute.

Advertising: Advertising aims at promoting a certain product or service. It is a

video or audio form of marketing communication. So, if think you can grow in this
field of advertising, and then going ahead for a diploma from any top institute
should be your best bet.

Magazine journalist: A creative and exploring mind is very important for

becoming a magazine journalist as it requires a personal interest in different
culture, places, the people there and their traditions. For a wide variety of
publications, a journalist’s job is to research, survey and write news content and
report them.

Broadcast journalist: Broadcast journalist works for television, internet, and radio

because it is their goal to give accurate and balanced information in a creative and
interesting way.

Art Director: Basically, if you have interest in the field of art, drama, or theatre,
you have multiple career opportunities here. An art director works with a
production house, films, television serials, reality programs and much more. Apart
from public broadcast, it also works for various government departments. If you
are a fresher, then it is better to work with an experienced art designer in order to
get tricks of the trade during the course of the job.

Public relation officer: A public relation officer is a person who is responsible for
corporate communication. In order to represent their organization in the best
possible way, they maintain a balanced public image of the corporate performance.
The corporate communication plays a very important role, for maintaining best
mutual understanding among the members of an organization,

Market Researcher: The job responsibility of a market researcher is to provide an

analyzed set of data and information that further helps their clients to make social,
economic and political decisions. All their work is to collect and evaluate
important information for their clients.

Radio Jockey: These people mix recorded tapes while playing. Their work is to
mix for later distribution. There are various courses and job opportunities offered
in this field.

Reporter: A news reporter works for the public, as their job is to gather different
information from different places in order to keep their information updated as the
public informed of every important event.

Video jockey: It is also called a mechanism of editing and manipulating video

images and clips. There are various course under this field, so if you think you can
build your career in video editing then you can pursue your further study with this
course.

Information officer: In terms of sources, the role of information officer may

include managing internally produced information. An information officer
manages and distributes information for an organization or client.

Film director: In general, filmmaking is the process of making films that involves
production, editing, recording and much more. There are numerous courses offered
by different universities for filmmaking and it also requires different skills.

Advertising copywriter: The job of a copywriter requires an imaginative, creative

and excellent writing skill as they write text and slogans for television
commercials, printed advertisement and radio catch lines.

Event manager: An event manager is a leader of all members who commands

them to design, organize, coordinate, and work in unity. They work for festivals,
conference, corporate meetings, weddings etc. If you think you pose a leadership
quality and have skills to work on a large scale project, then this can be a great
career opportunity for you.
Critics: The person in this job works as a critical writer about the musical, literary,
or artistic work and performances for publication. His work is to arrange material
to emphasize eminent features and write reviews.

Photojournalist: A job of a photojournalist is a very challenging job as it the

journalist needs to be active and ever ready to work in any situation. There work is
to click pictures at any place that would generate news.

Usage of mass communication in the society

As a rule, media plays a vital role in shaping the social feudalism of large and ever-
growing role in society. Some important role of media includes:

Knowledge or information: These days, media has become a big bank of

information for people around the world. We are provided with each and every
type of information through media today whether it is related to government
policies, crime, natural calamities, celebrities and much more.

Perspicacity: Media plays a very important role in spreading consciousness among

the people all around the world to stay healthy and cheerful in this anxious world.
It is also considered as an essential way of broadening awareness with regard to
social issues popular in the society.

Expressing views or thoughts: Social media is helpful for the ordinary people as

they can easily express their opinion through online media or social networking
sites.

The function of mass communication

Environment observation: It is the observation of the constant flow of public
news or information about every happing. It is the most obvious of all function
because it refers all the information role of media and works as a guard. These
individuals provide us with the information that we cannot find ourselves. The
function of surveillance is divided into two main parts such as instrumental
surveillance and warning surveillance. Apart from this, it also strengthens social
control over the individuals of the society by bringing abnormal behavior into
public opinion.

But sometimes, mass communication can be harmful to the society if the given
information is proved to be faultless.

Entertainment: Since people are getting more leisure time, they have started to
prefer social media means of entertainment. Entertainment helps people to make
their sporting and leisure time more enjoyable. As the result of the free time
provided to people, the demand by a large number of people for media
entertainment has increased as it costs very little. Instead of going out and getting
socialized out with others, people now prefer to sit at home, listen and watch all
day long.

Socialization: Social media is said to be one of the best ways of promoting one's

business and creating values and norms consistent with a certain subcultural
lifestyle. Social media communication has greatly helped people in socializing into
an acceptable value of cultural behavior. Targeting lifestyle consumers can be
easily done by social media. Though it is risky, it can force a venture into the
competition.

Examining: Often, in order to show importance to people’s lives, fresh details and

information are required to review. A company's development of a new hard drive
depends on its impact if it makes computers work faster and safer or not.