Media and Communication Skills - Unit I-V

B.Com(H)/B.A.
(H) Political Science Semester-I/II/III
GENERIC ELECTIVE (ENGLISH)

Media and Communication Skills
Study Material : Unit 1-5
SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

University of Delhi
Department of English
Generic Elective
Media and Communication Skills
Contents
Unit-1 : Mass Communication: An Introduction

Unit-2 : Understanding Advertisement
Unit-3 : Cyber Media and Social Media
Unit-4 : Writing for the Media
Unit-5 : Some Significant Issues of Mass Communication
Edited by Prepared by
Nalini Prabhakar Deb Dulal Halder
Assistant Professor
Department of English
Kirori Mal College
University of Delhi
SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
5, Cavalry Lane, Delhi-110007
Unit-1
Mass Communication: An Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Mass Communication is a potent field of study in recent times as different mass
communication channels and networks have encroached into our lives in such a manner that
we cannot but think without it. Social Media, Television channels, WhatsApp, and other
channels of mass communication, including the traditional mass communication means such
as newspapers and magazines, etc. are present all around us all the time making us aware of
the happenings around the world and at the same time helping us to form opinions about
things. This unit will introduce you to be basic concepts related to mass communication. This
is an introductory chapter, therefore make your ideas clear by reading this Unit thoroughly so
that it may come handy for you to understand the later Units. This unit has been modelled on
the introductory from the book Mass Communication: A Handbook, written by Hari Prasad
and Deb Dulal Halder, published by Book Age Publications, New Delhi. For details on Mass
Communication, you can consult the book.
1.2 Learning Objectives
In this Unit, you will learn about
 Mass Communication
 Mass Media
 Different Types of Mass Media
1.3 What is Mass Communication?
Mass communication can be simply defined as “public communication transmitted
electronically or mechanically.” Mass communication is communicating with the mass for
the purpose of disseminating information, for the purpose of forming opinions, to create
awareness of different social, ethical and cultural as well as political and economic issues and
also to issue advisories of different kinds. To understand mass communication, we need to
understand what the term ‘Mass’ means and then understand the ways in which the
communication media are used to communicate with the mass.
The term “mass’’ in mass communication can be defined as a large, heterogeneous,
assorted, anonymous audience.
 By ‘Large’, one means that one cannot exactly count the number of the members of
audience. However, it does not mean that mass means the entire population at a given
time and circumstance. It means a specific kind of audience but still good enough not
be countable.
1
 By ‘Heterogeneous’ one means that the audience includes people from different
walks of life – the rich, the poor, farmers, bureaucrats, politicians or people from
different religion or caste background.
 By ‘Assorted’ one means that the audience of mass media is not necessarily limited to
a particular geographical area. The people may be scattered everywhere.
 By ‘Anonymous’ one means that it is very difficult to specifically identify a reader of
a newspaper or the people watching a particular advertisement. Today one may be a
reader of a particular newspaper; but tomorrow, s/he may change his/her media habit.
Anybody at any time may be a member of mass media audience. The channels of
communication that produce and distribute news, entertainment content, visuals and
other cultural products to a large number of people.
1.4 Origin of Mass Communication
The term ‘mass communication’ is usually considered as a twentieth century phenomenon as
in the twentieth century a lot of mass communication devices as well as needs have given rise
to the mass communication being one of the most dominant forms of communication. Today
sending messages to a large number of people and at greater speed is something that has
become natural to our culture and civilization; though it was not so from time immemorial.
People used to send messages even in earlier times, but then the means were very different.
Men on horseback used to go long distances to deliver messages. Pigeons were often used to
deliver messages. But these means were slower and time taking as compared to the faster
means such as email or messaging of our times. The development from the ancient times to
modern times in terms of communication needed many developments – both technologically
as well as culturally.
It can be said that the invention of paper and printing, and later newspapers, were the
first steps towards mass communication. But even then, things were slower, and it was only
through the invention of the telegraph, by Samuel F. B. Morse in 1835, that messages could
be sent to long distances using a code. This made communication faster. The next step was to
send messages through human voice. Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 succeeded in using
wires to send the human voice across long distances. However, it was the invention of the
radio by Marconi in 1901 which made sending of human voices over long distances possible
and unfolded newer means of mass communication. In 1947 the invention of the transistor
made radio the most popular medium for sending voice messages. Today television, which
can send voice as well as pictures, is found almost everywhere. This was invented by Baird in
1920. In the last two decades of the twentieth century, along with radio and television, the
advent of internet has revolutionized the world of mass communication as with internet one is
able to instantly send messages across the world and also to multiple people at the same time.
2
1.5. Different Kinds of Mass Media
Mass media can be classified into three major groups on the basis of their physical nature.
They are:
o Print Media like newspaper, magazines and periodicals, books, etc.
o Electronic Media like radio, cinema, television, video, audio records, etc.
o Digital Media like CD RoMs, DVDs and the Internet facilities (Cyber Media).
1.6 Nature of Mass Communication / Mass Media
 Mass Communication is public one, in the sense that anyone can participate in mass
communication process as and when he or she wishes to. As it is communication with
the public therefore one must be careful in one’s communication so as to hunt
nobody’s feelings and sentiments and not to do anything which will create any social
disharmony. The role of mass communication is not to make people be afraid to one
another; but to come to harmonious existence where people live a better life by being
informed about things happening around him or her.
 Mass Communication is a mediated communication act in the sense, like any other
communication process a medium of communication is involved – either the
communication is in printed form (as in Newspapers, magazines or books) or audio-
visual (as in Television, movies and other audio-visuals) or enacted (as in Shows and
performances) or aired (in radio) or telecasted (as in television) or a mix of all these as
in the cyber media.
 Mass Communication is often filtered communication as there is usually some
gatekeeping or filtering in mass communication processes. For Example, a news item
in a newspaper or television is controlled at different levels by editors.
 Often mass communication involves complex technologies to communicate with a
larger audience. Think about digital networks which help in mass communication.
Cyber Media is often more complex and much more technological advancements
involved. Often in case of big media houses, management structure, marketing etc. is
also involved.
 Mass communication processes have the potential in them to alter the way people
think and behave. Often different mass communication processes are used by
politicians and bureaucrats to alter people’s attitudes and actions. Think about the way
companies use advertisements to create a demand for their product or services.
 In Mass Communication, there are very little chances of two-way communication
(which is a usual norm of Communication). Communication is often one-way (except
in cases of cyber media where feedback can be provided, and a dialogue can be
established). Think about the newspapers. The news is presented to the readers and
3
readers just go through them. The only way the readers can interact is through letters
to the editors. Usually in mass communication there is very little chance of active
conversation between sender and receivers of the information and messages.
 In modern days, the nature of Mass Communication has become such that the
communicators usually do not have the chance of meeting their audience directly.
When a news reader reads a news, he or she is not aware of who his or her audience
are.
 Mass Media is the main source of our information and entertainment these days. We
all are bombarded with information all the time from all corners by different
advertisements, news, information, etc. therefore different mass media companies are
always finding newer and newer ways of catching the attention of the people. Think
about the ways advertisements are always trying to gain our attention by being
innovative and creative. Think about the ways politicians try to woo us before the
elections by using various tools of mass communication.
1.7 Types of Mass Communication
Mass Communication has been categorized into different types based on the physical form,
the technology involved and the nature of the communication process.
1.7.1 Print Media
Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of the moveable metallic type in the fifteenth century created
havoc in the world of Mass Communication. Before the invention of printing press, books
and other materials needed to be handwritten and would take much time. But printing press
revolutionized the world of books and other printed matter as the process of making a copy of
a book or any other written matter became cheaper and consequently could be made
affordable for the common people. Earlier, books were only meant for the elite and the royal
families. In the later date, Newspapers came into being which revolutionized the war mews
was made available to people. Print Media includes Newspapers, Magazines, books and other
textual documents, such as pamphlets, leaflets, etc.
1.7.2 Electronic Media
Today when we think of Radio and Television as mass communication devices (Electronic
media or Broadcasting Media), we do not feel surprised at the marvel that they are as it has
not only become every household products but also has found place in our cars and moreover
is available in our hand held devices, such as mobile phones and tablets. In the last hundred
years technology has advanced at such a rapid rate, that each technology lasted for a few
years, sometimes a few months and then a new technology replaced it. In this phase of rapid
growth of technology, radio and television, also came in as surprises once – radio during the
post Second World War as a medium of mass communication and Televisions during 1980’s
as a medium of mass communication. This generation of ours has seen it all – the medium of
writing letters as a form of interpersonal communication – to writing emails – to SMS – to
4
MMS – to Orkut, Twitter and Facebook and other social media Sites – to WhatsApp and
other Messaging services and Skype. We have also seen radio as a style statement to the
introduction of tape recorder – to walkman – to television – to CDs and DVDs – to
downloading songs, movies and games in our hand-held devices. We have also seen the
journey of Television from being a prized possession of an entire community when a rich
person buys a Television and had to throw open his or her drawing room for public viewing
of TELEVISION programs – to television becoming a household thing – to introduction of
set top boxes – to HD channels – to Television programme recording facilities and Television
in our mobile phones. This growth of technology in the last few decades (and the commercial
use of technology to make our lives easier and also for making profits for the capitalists) has
changed the way we communicated, we lived, we interacted with other communities, we
behaved, we thought about our culture and tradition, we eat, we dress, we shop – in short,
almost everything has changed for people who are within the coverage of the satellite and
internet receptibility.
One of the questions, therefore, is what about the others – the select few – who are left
out? The down trodden, the underprivileged, the poor – who does not have the money to buy
any technology or technological devices and are still left in the supposed dark corners of their
own huts and or are still on the streets of the cities or living in ghettos with no means to even
have their daily bread. It is for them that the light of the mass media devices needs to be
active in bringing about certain social changes so that they are left behind in the supposed
progress of our civilization. It is with this aim that developmental journalism has been
promoted from 1970’s onwards; but the mainstream journalistic practices and the mainstream
entertainment media has forgotten that they have a socially responsible role to perform. Radio
and Television has a major function in the development of their lot.
1.7.2.1 Role of Electronic Media
Electronic Media is not only for entertainment, but also for dissemination of information and
education of the masses. In the present circumstances, electronic media has a great role to
perform in a democratic set up – it can not only act as a watchdog to the society but at the
same time can act as a disseminator of information required for a healthy democracy. It is
only informed citizens who can take proper decisions and in achieving it electronic media can
do much. Moreover, electronic media can facilitate the formation of public opinion as well as
help in creating pressures on government to take up right course of enactment and
implementation of legal provisions. Moreover, different forms of cultural arts can be kept
alive through the electronic media. Along with it, electronic media can also help in
socialization, cultural promotion, heritage maintenance, national integration and other things
which are of national, international and environmental concerns. In other words, if the world
must develop and develop sustainably then the electronic media has to play a major positive
role in doing so. Electronic media cannot just be a mere source of entertainment as that would
ruin our civilization, our habitat; it is therefore necessary that the people concerned with the
running of the electronic media understand that crass commercialism can do no good; what is
5
needed is a long term project of sustainable development and cultural cooperation. In this
context, UNESCO Declaration on Cultural Co-operation (1996) is very significant document.
Some of the significant principles of this international document are –
1) Each Culture has a dignity and value which must be respected and preserved
2) Every people have the right and the duty to develop its culture
3) In their rich variety and diversity, and in the reciprocal influences they exert on one
another, all cultures form part of the common heritage belonging to mankind.
4) Nations shall endeavour to develop the various branches of culture side by side and, as far
as possible, simultaneously so as to establish a harmonious balance between technical
progress and the intellectual and moral advancement of mankind.
5) International cultural co-operation shall cover all aspects of intellectual and creative
activities relating to education, science and culture.
6) The aims of international cultural co-operation in its various forms, bilateral and
multilateral, regional or universal shall be:
a) to spread knowledge, to stimulate and to enrich culture;
b) to develop peaceful relations and friendship among the peoples and bring about a
better understanding of each other’s way of life;
c) to enable everyone to have access to knowledge, to enjoy arts and literature of all
peoples, to share in advances made in science in all parts of the world and in the
resulting benefits, and to contribute to the enrichment of cultural life; and
d) To raise the level of spiritual and moral life of man in all parts of the world.
7) Cultural Cooperation is a right and a duty of all peoples and all nations, which should
share with one another their knowledge and skills.
8) International cooperation shall respect the distinctive character of each.
9) Broad dissemination of ideas and knowledge, based on the freest exchange and
discussion, is essential to creative activity.
10) In international cooperation stress shall be laid on ideas and values conducive to the
creation of a climate of friendship and peace.
In the present era of globalization, cultural exchanges have become very common as cultures
and cuisines of one nation is travelling from one place to another and becoming very popular
elsewhere because of mass migration of people across nations as well as mass media devices
and multinational companies. What are needed are not merely cultural exchanges, but also
cultural cooperation which may lead to sustainable development and development for all and
only then can one think of a better world. In bringing about change, electronic media has a
great role to perform.
6
1.7.2.2 Radio
It is believed that Marconi started radio broadcasting in 1896, though some people think that
before Marconi, Jagadish Chandra Bose in Kolkata has shown the example of radio
broadcasting though he did not patent his experiment. From then on, a journey started which
revolutionized the world of mass communication. Radio broadcasting in India began as a
private venture in 1923-24 when three radio clubs were established in Bombay, Calcutta and
Madras. It was in the year 1936 that a radio station was commissioned in Delhi and the Indian
Broadcasting Service was named as All India Radio (AIR). Delhi became the centre of
broadcasting from then on within India, but at that time it the network of Radio was limited to
the major urban centres. It was in 1939, that a short-wave service covered the entire country
and it was only after the independence of India the real progress happened in radio
networking and almost all corners of India came under the network of AIR.
1.7.2.3 Television
The age of satellite communication began in 1962 when the first communication Satellite
Early Bird was launched. Other two international satellites – Intelsat and Intersputnik were
made operational from 1965 and 1971 respectively. It is after the operations of these satellites
that a havoc change happened in the world of communication and from then on, the on-ward
march of television as a mass media started. Today, we see that almost all the countries have
earth stations which are linked to satellites for transmission and reception which has changed
the face of mass communication by introducing the option of people switching on the
television set at their own time and watching things which concerns them – from news, to
entertainment, to movies, to songs, to matches played anywhere in the world, etc. Marshall
McLuhan, the media sociologist, therefore, rightly says that that it is after the introduction of
communication satellites that the world has been transformed into a “global village.”
A Brief Look at the major achievements of Television in India

First Regular Public Transformation
 in U.K. – 1936
 in France – 1938
 in U. S. A. – 1941
 In India – 1959, on experimental basis in Delhi
1972, a second Television station in Bombay
1973, in Srinagar and Amritsar
1975, in Calcutta, Madras and Lucknow
1982, Asian Games which made Television viewing Popular and
Colour Television was also introduced in the same year.
1990’s – a challenge to the viability of Government’s control of
7
the Electronic media –
(i) the emergence of a democratic consensus
(ii) the growth of a more independent press
(iii) the popularity of vides
(iv) the beginning of economic liberalization
(v) the development of a new, extended, urban middle class
(vi) local Cable with multi-system operators (200 – 300 Channels)
The recent development – Conditional Access System (CAS) – a
combination of hardware (Set-top Boxes) and Software at the MSO/
operator’s end.
1.7.3 New Media

Online and digital means of producing, transmitting and receiving messages are called new
media. The term encompasses computer mediated communication technology. It implies the
use of desktop and portable computers as well as wireless and handheld devices. Every
company in the computer industry is involved with new media in some manner. The forms of
communicating in the digital world include CD-RoMs, DVDs and Internet facilities like
World Wide Web, email, etc.
1.8 Functions of Mass Media
Mass media has significant effects on lives. We are being made subject to various
information and messages throughout our lives from different sources even if we want to or
not. And many a times we willingly get ourselves hooked to different Mass Media to get
ourselves entertained or for getting some information. There are different functions that mass
media performs. The functions can be broadly be seen as –
 Informative,
 Educative,
 Entertainment, and
 Persuasive.
1.8.1 Informative function
Media’s one of the prime most functions is to disseminate information among the masses. In
our present day life, we need a lot of information for our day to living – for example – traffic
regulations, government policies, weather forecasts, traffic updates, precautions to be taken
due to deteriorating weather conditions, examination schedules, etc. are some of the
information we need on a day to day basis. And for each piece of information regarding
these, we fall back on the different mass communicative practices that go on around us. Can
8
you think of your life in the present day without internet facilities? What does internet
provide us? – Information and lots of information. Some of the information is necessary for
day to day living while others are for entertainment. Thus, Media’s primary role is to provide
us with information which makes our lives easier. Most advertisements are also information
which tells us about the product or service – these advertisements help us in guiding our
buying choices, etc. Often classified advertisements have information which we use for our
beneficial purposes, whether it is about renting a car or a house or buying a house or
matrimonial ad.
1.8.2 Educational function
Media educates us by providing information. But information is not education. If that would
have been so, then Google would have been the greatest educator – there would have been no
use of schools and colleges and their teachers. Education requires information, but
information that is systematically organized with predefined objectives. These objectives then
color the information in a particular way to form knowledge.
Media sometimes performs the function similar to educational institutions as it tries to also
provide knowledge in a systematic way about the happenings around us. Think about the
editorials in the newspapers – are they mere information? No, they are not. They tell us how
to perceive information in a particular way so as to understand the happenings around us.
1.8.3 Entertaining function
One of the prime functions of media is to entertain – remember that if things are not
entertaining then often people will have less interest in them. For example, Newspapers are
about news; but they also publish, cartoons, comics, puzzles, entertaining news, gossips,
weekend supplements on special topics, etc. for the entertainment of the people. Think about
an Advertisement whose primary role is to inform us about the product or a service; but if the
advertisement merely gives information no one is going to see advertisement. You will swap
your channel in TV in an ad is boring. Therefore, a piece in mass media first needs to be
entertaining to grab the attention of the people and within that entertainment; it could try to
be informative and educative. Movies need to be entertaining before it needs to be educative
because no one goes to a theatre hall to learn – with entertainment if learning or information
comes to the audience then it is secondary.
1.8.4 Persuasive Function
Another important function of Media is to persuade the mass to think and act in a particular
way that is for societal good. Advertisements are at their persuasive best as they try to
persuade the mass to buy the product for which the advertisements are made. Sometimes,
advertisements are created in such a way that it creates the demand for the product for which
there should be no need. Think about the advertisement of Chewing Gums or wafers, etc. Not
only advertisements, but Newspapers often are persuasive in their editorials, columns and
articles and help in forming public opinion.
9
But apart from these four primary functions – (informative, educative, entertaining and
persuasive) media has some other functions which it is performing. They are –
1.8.5 Surveillance of the environment
Media is often a watchdog of the society and wherever there are any wrongs committed
anywhere in the society it is the role of the media to properly represent the wrongdoing in
such a manner that the victim gets justice. Not only wrong doings, media’s role also is to
report the good doings of the society so that the good deeds do not go unnoticed and people
are encouraged to do more and more good deeds. Thus, the role of media as a watch dog is
often very important. In a democratic political world, the media often is terms as the fourth
pillar, the other three being the Legislative, Judiciary and Executive.
1.8.6 Interpretation of information
As suggested earlier, information is nothing till they are read in a particular way. Information
may mean different thing to different people. The interpretation of the information depends
on how you are approaching the information. Media’s one of the prime roles is to interpret
information so as to make it easier for the mass to get what a piece of information is all about.
Often the why, where, when what and how of the information is probed by the media and
presented to the mass. Editorials, articles in newspapers, talk shows in News Television
Channels are examples of interpretation of information in mass media.
1.8.7 Transmission of heritage
Heritage is the rich cultural past of any culture or civilization which needs to be preserved so
that the future generations can reap benefit out of it. These days because of the efforts of
UNESCO and other national and international organizations working on the field of Heritage
Management and Preservation, there is a growing awareness about the need for the
preservation and continuation of our heritage, both cultural as well as natural. The role of the
media is also important here as media can create awareness about the heritage and its
significance as well as help in disseminating information which are necessary for the
preservation and continuation of our heritage sites.
1.9 Development and Media
Media has a great role to play in the development of a nation. As suggested earlier Media is
the fourth pillar of a democratic country. Apart from the political function, media can
perform a great role in letting people know about the governmental and non-governmental
policies and regulations for the development of the nation. Moreover, Media because of its
coverage to places where the bureaucratic eyes cannot reach can cover those people who need
assistance – for example, there can be a group of people who need special assistance from
government because of a particular reason, the media through its different means can make
the government aware of the needs of that community. Moreover, media can be helpful to
voice the grievances of the people as well as be a significant critic of the government
policies.
10
1.10 Nature of Mass Communication
1. The nature of mass communication is thus that anyone and everyone can be a part of
it as and when he or she wants to in the present circumstances. For example, when we
tweet or write a blog, we are communicating with the mass. With the advent of the
new media, mass communication is possible for anyone given that he or she has a
device with internet connectivity.
2. Even though anyone and anybody can communicate with the mass at any point of
time, but if one uses print media or electronic media that communication is often
mediated as the editors sit in between to judge and decide whether an item is fit to be
printed, aired or telecasted. The role of the editor is such that s/he decides if a piece of
item is significant and or ready to be aired, printed or telecasted. In that sense, it is a
filtered communication where there are gatekeepers, often in the form of editors,
censor board, etc.
3. Apart from traditional Mass Communication, such as Nautanki, Jatras, speeches, etc.
most of the modern day mass communication involves complex technology, digital
services, a management structure from where the news needs to pass to get it to the
mass and also sometimes mediated by the marketing chains.
4. Mass Communication has the potential in it to change the society – it can bring a
change in the way people think, believe and behave or act. It has the power in it to
mould the sensitivities and sensibilities of the mass and can provoke them to behave
in a particular way. Sometimes, therefore Media is considered to be the fourth pillar
of democracy.
5. Often mass communication loses its immediacy and therefore loses its importance.
For examples, nobody reads an old newspaper; sometimes the new generation finds
the movies of the gone by age to be boring.
6. Mass communication is often a one-way communication as the transmitter of the
information or message in a mass communication often does not get (immediate)
feedback. Do we as newsreaders or news viewers respond to the news that we read or
watch? Most times we are passive recipients of the news except for times when we
write a Letter to the Editor.
1.11 Let’s Sum Up
In this Unit, you have learnt that –
 Mass communication can be simply defined as “public communication transmitted
electronically or mechanically.”
 The term “mass” in mass communication can be defined as a large, heterogeneous,
assorted, anonymous audience.
 The term ‘mass communication’ is usually considered as a twentieth century
11
phenomenon as in the twentieth century a lot of mass communication devices as well
as needs have given rise to the mass communication being one of the most dominant
forms of communication.
 Mass media can be classified into three major groups on the basis of their physical
nature. They are:
o Print Media like newspaper, magazines and periodicals, books, etc.
o Electronic Media like radio, cinema, television, video, audio records, etc.
o Digital Media like CD RoMs, DVDs and the Internet facilities (Cyber
Media).
 Online and digital means of producing, transmitting and receiving messages are called
new media. The term encompasses computer mediated communication technology.
1.12 University Questions
1. Define Mass Communication. What are the various functions of mass
communication?
2. What are the different kinds of Mass Communication devices? On the basis of
that what ways can Mass Communication be classified?
3. What does the term “mass” in Mass Communication mean?
4. Define the nature of Mass Communication.
5. Write short notes on –
(a) Print Media
(b) Audio-visual Media
(c) Traditional Mass Communication
1.13 Recommended Readings
 Prasad, Hari and Deb Dulal Halder. Mass Communication: A Handbook. 2nd Revised
Edition. New Delhi: Book Age Publications. 2019.
 Kumar, Keval J. Mass Communication in India. Jaico Publications, 1994.
 Boyd, Andrew. Broadcast Journalism: Techniques of Radio and Television News 2000
Burlington: Focal Press 6 edition, 2009.
 Carroll, Brian. Writing for Digital Media. Taylor & Francis, 2010.
 Cushion, Stephen. Television Journalism. Sage Publications, 2012.
 Feldman, Tony. An Introduction to Digital Media. Taylor & Francis, 2004.
 Joseph, M. K. Outline of Editing. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 2002.
 Kamath, M. V. Professional Journalism. New Delhi: Vikas Publishing House, 1980.
 Macquail, Denis. Mass Communication. New Delhi: Om Books, 2000.
 Saxena, Ambrish. Fundamentals of Reporting and Editing. New Delhi: Kanishka
Publishers, 2007.
12
Unit-2
Understanding Advertising
2.1 Advertising: Introduction

We are surrounded by advertisements from every corner – wherever we look we are always
forced to view an advertisement in this globalized world of ours. Every corner of the world is
sufficed with advertisements as that would help the seller sells their products and services to
us. Wherever the potential customers are there, advertisements are always there. As we are
the potential customers therefore advertisements are everywhere – in markets, in bus stands,
in railway stations, in airports, on buses, on metro trains, on billboards, on kiosks in
significant places and numerous other places. We switch on the TV and there are ads; we
switch on FM radio and in between songs, there are ads; we visit a site on the internet, there
are advertisements; we go to a movie hall, advertisements come before the movie begins;
even within the movies certain products and services are advertised. In other words, it can be
said that we are surrounded with advertisements in such a manner that it feels that we are
bombarded with advertisements.
Why do the advertisers do so? The advertisers find every possible avenue to reach the
potential customers so as to reach the each and every customer in the remotest corners of the
world so that they have the information about a particular product or service and their buying
behaviour can be moulded according to the demands of the company which is advertising.
Sometimes, advertisements are for essential products for which many companies are vying
for attention so that we buy their products and sometimes advertisements are made in such a
way that they will make the potential customers think about a product to be essential to his or
her life when it is not so. Thus, the primary job of an advertisement is to woo the potential
customers to become customers.
In this chapter, we will endeavour to make ourselves understand some significant aspects
of advertisements so as to understand how and why the advertisements are so essential in a
capitalistic society of ours. We will also try to look at the aspects of the advertisement which
we need to understand critically to focus on how they are made and for what purposes. Thus,
various facets of advertising will be the focus of the present chapter. This unit has been
modelled from the chapter on “Advertising” from the book Mass Communication: A
Handbook, written by Hari Prasad and Deb Dulal Halder, published by Book Age
Publications, New Delhi. For details on Advertising, you can consult the book.
In this Unit, you will learn–
(a) What is advertising?
(b) Definitions of advertising
(c) Models of advertising
13
(d) Principles of advertising
Task I
Before we progress any further with our discussion on Advertising, let us first
delve ourselves deeper in our understanding of Advertisements from what we
see all around us. Try to make a list of the advertisements that you have
noticed since today morning till now? Then make a chart to figure out what
made you notice the advertisement. When the chart is being made, please try
to think whether the noticing of the advertisements will help or woo you to
buy those particular products that you have seen in the advertisements.
2.3 What is an Advertisement?

An advertisement can be defined as a selling message for the mass from an identified sponsor
whose objective is to sell a product or a service or an idea to the mass. It is one of the most
persuasive of all messages which provokes people to become prospective customer of a
product or service. Marshall McLuhan is of the opinion that “advertising is the greatest art
form of the twentieth century.” It is a greatest form of art as within a short span of time the
ad-maker has to tell an interesting story for making the audience get hooked to the story and
within the story has to tell about a particular product or service within a short period of time
so that people are forced to get attracted to the product or service and then buy it. It is a form
of art on which capitalism thrives; and therefore, there is a constant endeavour on part of ad-
makers to constantly come up with attractive images and videos along with innovative tunes
and catchy phrases so as to market a product or service.
The Definition of Advertisement according to the

Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI)
An advertisement is defined as a paid-for communication, addressed to the
public or a section of it, the purpose of which is to influence the opinions or
behaviour of those to whom it is addressed. Any written or graphic matter on
packaging, or contained in it, is subject to this Code (ASCI Code).
Source: http://www.ascionline.org/index.php/asci-about
By now it must have been clear to you that like any other communication process, advertising
also have all the elements associated with communication. They are
(a) An identified Sponsor – the person or the organization giving the ad with a motif –
primarily to sell and make profit
(b) A Target Audience – whom the identified sponsor wants to target so as to provoke,
persuade, attract their attention towards the product or service and also to keep on
reminding them about it.
14
(c) The message – The Ad itself
(d) The Channel – the medium through which the ad is presented to the target audience –
whether audio-visual or visual, etc.
(e) The feedback – the feedback to the advertisement may come in terms of the actual
sales of the product of the service or it may also be in terms of proper feedback of the
advertisement as people do not swap channels when the advertisement is coming on
air.
Origin of the term Advertising
The term advertising is derived from a Latin word advertere, which means,
“turning attention towards a specific thing.”
Let us try to understand the way the advertisers use appeal and attract the people (the target
group) – usually whenever we see a household product like a refrigerator being advertised, it
usually shows a household family, whereas when high end – high definition product is being
advertised, it usually appeals to the element of luxury of watching. Similarly, when a life
insurance product is being advertised it is usually the strong family ties which are
championed in the advertisement. What is significant about each of these advertisements is
that the ads try to create an emotional bondage with the audience. But if one thinks of
advertisements of chewing gums, we see that the advertisements are usually based on some
absurd idea so as to make the audience remember the brand of the chewing gum as the
foremost brand. The absurdity of the ad makes us remember the brand.
Thus, each product uses a different kind of an idea to sell its product. These days we see
that Patanjali products are being advertised with the idea of ‘swadeshi’; whereas Dabur is
using the star power of an aged actor Amitabh Bachhan to sell its products. Each product or
service tries to find an equivalent brand ambassador and/or a bright idea to advertise their
product. It is to be remembered here that still the golden rule of KISS (Keep it Simple and
Stupid) works best in the world of ad-making as common people still buy those products
where the simplicity of the idea is associated with the product or service. Think about the
edible oil advertisements and each one of their insistence on health concerns – some trying to
prove that their product have low cholesterol, whereas some are oils which are fit for diabetic
people. An idea is being picked up and that idea is being championed in the advertisement to
connect to the mass so as to sell the product.
Thus, there are various successful ad campaigns that we see all around us all the time.
Some of the success stories of ad-campaigns are–
1. Hamara Bajaj Campaign – the target audience being the middle class where a middle-
class family is incomplete without a Bajaj Scooter. The catchy lines “Buland Bharat
ki buland Tasveer” immediately stroke a chord with the people.
15
2. Cadbury Campaigns -- Kuch meetha ho jaye’, ‘Kuch khas hai’ and ‘Shubh Aarambh’
campaigns – where the emotional and psychological quotient of the audience is stirred
as Indian festivals are usually celebrated with sweets whether its Rakhi or Diwali.
3. Coca-Cola Campaign – Thanda Matlab Coca-Cola – In India common people still
term a cold drink as thanda and when Coca-Cola came up with the campaign it
immediately established a connect to the people.
4. Amul Ad – ‘Utterly Butterly” delicious Amul Butter – the Amul Girl ad is still a
favourite amongst the people. This campaign is also one of the longest campaigns.
Till now we have just discussed how advertisements are used to sell products or services
– sometimes, advertisements are also on air or printed to disseminate information. Think
about the traffic advisory during and before the Republic Day Parade on 26 th January when
the traffic is diverted, and the Delhi Police provides advertisements to avoid roads during
those days in newspapers. Or think about the UNICEF sponsored Pulse-Polio Campaigns on
television featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Shahrukh Khan so as to eradicate Polio from India
by vaccination of each and every child.
By now it must have been clear to you that Advertisement is one of the strongest mass
communication mediums in the present day of high capitalism when we are bombarded with
advertisements all the times – whether it be the audio-visual ads in TV or audio ads in FM
radio, or the printed ads in Newspapers, magazines, etc. or Bill boards, or Kiosks, or Metro
train walls or exteriors of buses or T-shirt or SMSes or Whatapps or Facebook or Emails or
different internet sites that we visit. We are encountered with advertisements all the time and
with the coming up of the new media (cyber media) we are trapped within the world of
advertisements. Wherever our eyes can see, and ears can hear, we are surrounded by
advertisements. With so much ads all around us all the time, it has become difficult for
advertisers to draw our attention to these ads if they are not different from the rest. So, all ads
are trying their best to catch our attention with something more than the ordinary.
All art works are objects which presents an ordinary thing in such a way that it looks
extraordinary to us. A rose photographed become more beautiful with the lens of a
cameraman. A horse in a meadow looks more beautiful with in canvas than probably it does
in reality.
Types of Advertising
Media Examples
Print Newspapers, Magazines and Journals
Broadcast Television and Radio

Outdoor or Mural Neon-sign boards, stickers, posters, banners, wall
Advertising painting, posts on vehicles, sky ads
16
Direct Mail Leaflets/pamphlets, booklets, brochures, circulars,
Advertising business reply cards, catalogues, personal letters
Internet Blogs, banner ads, e-mails, web search
Others Yellow pages, exhibitions and trade shows, displays in
windows and interiors, tele-advertising etc.
2.4 Publicity and Advertising

Both Publicity and Advertising are forms of non-personal mass communication meant to
create awareness, but they differ in terms of the money involved in the communication
process. Whereas Advertising is a paid form of communication intending to create awareness
about a specific product or service or an idea, publicity is mostly free of charge – as publicity
is usually done through grapevine, or through articles, editorials or announcements or
feedback article. Often comments and photographs by users and consumers in different social
media sites and elsewhere also creates free publicity.
Often companies before launching or re-launching a product or a service look at the
publicity strategy so as to gain attention of the potential consumers. Often publicity is not
related to the actual sales figure but to grab the attention of the consumers, whereas in
advertising the sales figure comparison is a must. In most cases, publicity is meant to create a
positive awareness of a thing, but often negative publicity also happens. Think about the
negative publicity that happens before the temporary ban of Maggi Noodles. The company
(Nestle) has to come up with positive advertisement about the product to counter the negative
publicity during the re-launch of Maggi after the ban.
2.5 Objectives of Advertising
According to the traditional model of advertising, the aim of any advertising campaign should
be to achieve AIDA, i.e. gain Attention, hold Interest, arouse Desire and then obtain Action
from the Target Audience (TA). Over the years, professionals and practitioners in the field
have added other steps to the model, namely,
 Make it believable
 Prove it is a bargain
 Provide a compelling reason to buy
And since today people are inundated with advertisements, some advertising gurus also
recommend that gaining attention may be replaced with the more direct method of ‘Interrupt
and Engage’! The advertising guru Philip Kotler presents his own matrix of ‘Inform,
Persuade and Remind’ as the essence of all advertising. He also proposes the ‘Five Ms’ of
advertising as a guiding principle for ad campaigns.
17
5 Ms of Advertising
MISSION i.e. advertising objectives

M
M MONEY i.e. budget
MESSAGE i.e. core content aim

M
M MEDIA i.e. platform
MEASUREMENT i.e. evaluating impact

M
Moving beyond the AIDA Model

According to the author John M Myers, “Advertising is dissemination of information
concerning an idea, service or product to compel action in accordance with the interest of the
advertiser.” While the core of advertising remains the AIDA model, the new age market has
increased the scope and focus of advertising campaigns.
Today, ads speak to more stakeholders than just the customers and so the objectives of
advertising are also more wide ranging. The objectives of advertising can thus be broadly
summarized as:
 Creating a demand for a product or service. This may also include inputs on
understanding the usefulness of the product/service and methods of using it.
 Reminding users of the product/service about how it is the more beneficial option.
 Informing the target audience about changes in design, colour, packaging, name and
even features (read: improvements).
 Building brand preference by talking about quality, difference from existing brands in
terms of pricing and features, etc.
 Overcoming dissatisfaction of customers and re-establishing reputation.
 Neutralizing competition or protecting the brand from rivals.
18
 Developing better relations by conveying information to suppliers and dealers about
products and partnerships.
 Creating general awareness about improved standards of living and choices in the
case of social advertising.
2.6 How to create an effective advertisement?

The touchstone of an effective advertisement is not just the recall of the message but its
ability to induce the audience to buy the goods and services being showcased. This
‘effectiveness’ is achieved through the selection of appropriate media, appropriate timing
of release, and cost control. To ensure the same, research, planning and design are
essential. Three key steps of the process are given below:
 The first step involves knowing your target audience in terms of the following:
- spending patterns i.e. which products are they likely to spend on.
- media usage patterns i.e. what form of mass media they are most likely to use and at
what time of the day.
- frequency appeal i.e. how many times will the advertisement have to be repeated
before it leads of actual buying.
- duration of campaign (i.e. timelines) based on specifics like academic calendars,
seasonal validity etc.
 The second step entails development of the message keeping the following in mind:
- highlighting special features of the product that will differentiate it from similar
brands.
- incorporation of educative and motivational aspects that promote positive action i.e.
buying.
- ensuring comprehension/ understandability of the message along with believability
and easy recall value.
 The third step involves creating an appealing Advertising Copy:
“A copy, in advertising parlance, refers to the text of a print, radio, or television advertising
message that aims at grabbing and retaining the interest of prospective buyers, in order to
persuade them to make a purchase within a span of seconds.” (Business Dictionary, 2010)
- Appropriate appeals should be built into ads so that they can influence the
feelings/emotions of the target customers. These could be rational or emotional
appeals depending upon the nature of the product/service as well as age, educational
background and income levels etc. of the target audience.
19
- Some general features of effective advertisements are brevity, use of simple language
for slogans and text, attractive colour schemes and fonts, catchy phrases and engaging
situations.
- The ads should be attractive and should be framed keeping in mind the interest and
choices of prospective customers. Entertaining ads ensure that people remain
interested despite repeated re-runs.
- The messages should have some retention value i.e. they must be easy to memorize.
- They should be educative and credible.
2.7 The Ethical Dimensions of Advertising – manipulation, distortion, confusion and
exploitations
Selection and Framing: Depiction of Gender, Class and other Differences
Much like a framed painting on the wall, what is selected from life acquires importance. In a
similar fashion, ads make sensible everyday experiences and audience members become
consumers of a live framed experience that is selected, organized and presented in such a
manner that it emphasizes and clarifies a slice of life.
Those who create framed experiences select out of their culture what is important and
organize it into meaningful patterns that acculturate and influence. Advertisers follow the
same principle while creating/conceptualizing ads. Advertisements can therefore be looked
upon as ‘frames’ within the framework of a given mass media – Television, Cinema, Print,
Radio, etc.
Like all media products, advertisements too contain signs that not only convey the
content of the text, but also establish a relationship with audiences comprising both
consumers and non-consumers. The production, reading and consumption of ads as media
products provides rich materials for analyzing the interplay of signs employed.
According to Kuypers in Rhetorical Criticism: Perspectives in Action (2009), "Framing
is a process whereby communicators, consciously or unconsciously, act to construct a point
of view that encourages the facts of a given situation to be interpreted by others in a
particular manner. Frames operate in four keyways: they define problems, diagnose causes,
make moral judgments, and suggest remedies. Frames are often found within a narrative
account of an issue or event, and are generally the central organizing idea” (p 13)
Similarly, in advertisements too one can analyze the central message, look at the
strategies of presentation, the cultural significance of what is depicted and examine the
impact that it has on viewers. Erving Goffman in his work Gender Advertisements (1979)
uses the frame of print advertisements to study the power equations encoded in
advertisements through an analysis of setting, position and reproduction of societal equations.
He observed that irrespective of the nature of product being advertised and the context, the
representations favoured men over women.
20
A similar analytical approach can be extended to the study of race, class and region-
based differences and depictions too.
It is the repetition of such images that leads to unquestioning acceptance and
reinforcement of social situations that are being reproduced in advertisements. And over the
years, as time slots have reduced and the competition for grabbing the viewers’ attention has
increased, advertisers have responded by creating the ‘vignette approach’. Narrative and
reasoning-why et al- have been subsumed under a rapid succession of lifestyle images, timed
with music, directly selling feeling and emotion rather than the product.
Pierre Bourdieu (1990) uses the term habitus to elaborate the same when he says, ‘that
which is constructed seems inevitable and natural.’ For example, have you ever heard the
phrase – A diamond is forever? Do you remember where you first heard it? Did you know
that it originated from an advertising campaign that was developed by a New York based
advertising agency N. W. Ayers? Clearly, the campaign was so successful that it converted
the act of purchasing a diamond from a financial investment into a symbol of committed and
everlasting love for generations across the world.
2.8 Advertising and Laws

The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has a motto: “Regulate yourself or
somebody else will.” This is true not only of advertisement but of many other forms of mass
communication. The ASCI regulates in the following four major areas:
1. Honesty: Advertisements often uses graphs, statistics, scientific and other
explanations and comparisons with rival companies in order to promote a product or
service. In doing all these the advertiser must always keep in mind that honesty
should be followed, in the sense that no misinformation should be provided to the
potential consumer, no distorted facts should be aired as that breaches the consumer’s
trust. The ignorance and inexperience of the people should not be misused to sell any
product.
2. Decency: Advertisements should not use any vulgar, obscene, indecent or repulsive
ideas or pictures or videos.
3. Social safeguarding: Advertisements should not present anything in it which may
incite violence or hatred against any community in particular. It should not be
communal in nature, should not deride any caste or race, should not adversely affect
relations with any foreign states, should not exploit the innocence and vulnerability of
children, should not disregard safety, sovereignty and integrity of the nation, should
not breach the law, should not champion criminality or criminals, and should not
promote products or services which are illegal according to the law of that land.
4. Fairness of Competition: Comparisons between products has often been a major way
of advertising for a product. Such comparisons should be fair, factual and capable of
being substantiated. In such comparisons, it should be stated which features of the
21
products are compared and why. The comparison should not undermine or discredit
any product without providing a valid ground.
These are the essential ethical codes that the advertiser should follow while making and
broadcasting/printing any advertisements.
The idea of Caveat Emptor

‘Caveat Emptor’ (‘let the buyer beware’) is a concept which
means that the consumer is ultimately responsible for
safeguarding his or her rights. Advertisers are not morally or
ethically bound to present facts, figures and details of a
particular product or service so that the consumers get the right
information before choosing a particular product or service.
With consumer protection rights becoming stricter in many countries the concept of
‘Caveat Emptor’ is becoming redundant. But in countries like India, many advertisers still
think that they are not ethically bound to avoid ideas in an advertisement which may be
detrimental to the society at large or individuals in particular. For example, the Lux cozy and
Amul Macho underwear advertisements were described as “indecent, vulgar and suggestive”
but the advertisers of these companies carried on broadcasting the advertisements till the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting banned them on 27 th July 2007.
Advertising is a medium of mass communication which is used by the different
organizations and companies rampantly in the age of high capitalism. With rampant uses of
the medium there was also a need for mapping certain ways through which advertisements
could be regulated so that no unethical and unlawful means and ways are used in
advertisements. It is with these aspects that certain ethical and legal codes became necessary
so that advertisers do not make false claims in their ads, neither do they make misleading
comparisons and not any kind of discriminatory practices (whether against women or any
other subaltern group) is represented in the advertisements. It is for this purpose that the
Advertising Standards Council of India was formed in 1985.
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) is a non-profit, self-regulatory body,
it comprises a governing body and a Consumer Complaints Council (CCC). These are
composed primarily of advertisers, media-representatives, ad-agencies and academicians. The
role of ASCI is to promote codes of ethics among advertisers and also to deal with complaints
received against any advertisements. The council’s mission statement reads: “Do False,
Misleading, Unfair Ads make you Offended? Outraged? Appalled? The next time you come
across an Ad that offends your sensibilities, do not just let off steam. Send in a complaint to
The Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) – the organisation that believes
Advertising is a necessity, but false, misleading, unfair Advertising is not.”
22
Extracts of Memorandum and Articles of Association of ASCI
Registered in Oct. 1985, u/s 25, as a Not-For-Profit Co.,
under the Companies Act 1956
The main objects to be pursued by the Company on its incorporation are:
1. To monitor administer and promote standards of advertising practices in
India with a view to …
ensuring the truthfulness and honesty of representations and claims made
through advertising and safeguarding against misleading advertising.
ensuring that Advertising is not offensive to generally accepted norms and
standards of public decency.
safeguarding against the indiscriminate use of advertising for the promotion of
products or services which are generally regarded as hazardous to society or to
individuals or which are unacceptable to society as a whole.
ensuring that advertisements observe fairness in competition and the canons of
generally accepted competitive behaviour.
2. To codify, adopt and from time to time modify the code of advertising
practices in India and implement, administer and promote and publicize
such a code.
3. To provide facilities and machinery in the form of one or more Consumer
Complaints Councils having such composition and with such powers as
may be prescribed from time to time to examine complaints against
advertisements in terms of the Code of Advertising practices and report
thereon.
4. To give wide publicity to the Code and seek adherence to it of as many as
possible of those engaged in advertising.
5. To print and publish pamphlets, leaflets, circulars or other literature or
material, that may be considered desirable for the promotion of or
carrying out of the objects of the Company and disseminate it through any
medium of communication.
Source: ascoline (www.ascionline.org.)
It is important to note that the ASCI does not have any statutory powers. In case of non-
compliance by advertisers or agencies, details of the same are published in mass media and
the matter forwarded to statutory bodies i.e. the court of law for further action. Also, these
regulations are not applicable on foreign advertisements.
23
To know more about the functioning of the ASCI and your rights as
a consumer you can visit the ASCI website, www.ascionline.org.
Among the legal regulations on advertising are those which are referred to as Unfair Trade
practices. These were incorporated within the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practice Act
of India on 1 August 1984. Some of the unfair trade practices include false representation of
the following:
 Standard, quality, grade or model: claiming without actual tests that a product has
optimum levels and quality of ingredients such as sugar content, colouring agents,
quantities of fat, etc.
 Usefulness, guarantee of performance and length of life of a product: claiming a product
will last a particular duration or give a particular result.
 Government certification: claiming a product/service is Government approved/ certified/
sponsored without actual documentation or certification
 Endorsement by eminent personalities and professional bodies: claiming that the product
is used or promoted without actual testimonies.
Local municipalities too have the authority to check and regulate ads in public spaces if they
are indecent or vulgar. They can remove/confiscate the material and initiate action against
advertisers. Prior permission is also needed from municipal authorities before fixing posters,
banners and signage.
Acts applicable to Advertising
Form research groups of 4 and record how the following acts help regulate
Advertising. You can use resources like your college library, the internet and
newspapers.
 Names and Emblems Act, 1950
 Drugs and Magic Remedies Objectionable Advertisement Act, 1954
 Copyright Act, 1975
 Standard of Weights and Measures Act, 1976
 Indecent Representation of Women Act, 1986
 Consumer Protection Act, 1986
 Securities Exchange Board of India Act, 1992
 Trademarks Act, 1999 and Trademarks Rules, 2003
Are you aware that the Government of India has banned advertisements of alcohol and
related products? If you observe carefully you will not find ads on these products on TV and
radio or even in print. However, the supply and demand of these products remains. How is
24
this possible without the use of advertisements that reinforce and create desire? The answer
lies in creative manipulation. Advertisers promote other products and services under the
parent label and use such ads to remain in their consumers’ memory. For example: Bagpiper
is a brand name for alcoholic beverages and the ads broadcast by the company are usually
about soda water. ‘McDowell’s No. 1 Soda’ and ‘Bacardi Blast’ are other prime examples.
This process of embedding a product or brand in a message which is seemingly for another
product (usually banned or disallowed by law) is known as surrogate advertising.
A similar strategy was adopted by tobacco companies and cigarette manufacturers as
well. You must be familiar with the title ‘Red and White Bravery Awards’? Currently, these
awards have a new sponsor. This is because with effect from May 2004 tobacco
advertisements and related surrogate placements in ads, functions and sporting events etc
were banned in India. The enforcement has been so stringent that even the sponsors of the
celebrated Filmfare awards have changed from the Manik-Chand group (Gutka
manufacturers) to Idea (cellular services)!
2.9 Let’s Sum Up
In this Unit, we have learnt that–
 An advertisement can be defined as a selling message for the mass from an identified
sponsor whose objective is to sell a product or a service or an idea to the mass. It is
one of the most persuasive of all messages which provokes people to become
prospective customer of a product or service. Marshall McLuhan is of the opinion that
“advertising is the greatest art form of the twentieth century.”
 The term advertising is derived from a Latin word advertere, which means, “turning
attention towards a specific thing.”
 Advertisement is one of the strongest mass communication mediums in the present
day of high capitalism when we are bombarded with advertisements all the times –
whether it be the audio-visual ads in TV or audio ads in FM radio, or the printed ads
in Newspapers, magazines, etc. or Bill boards, or Kiosks, or Metro train walls or
exteriors of buses or T-shirt or SMSes or Whatapps or Facebook or Emails or
different internet sites that we visit.
 According to the traditional model of advertising, the aim of any advertising
campaign should be to achieve AIDA, i.e. gain Attention, hold Interest, arouse Desire
and then obtain Action from the Target Audience (TA).
 The process of embedding a product or brand in a message which is seemingly for
another product (usually banned or disallowed by law) is known as surrogate
advertising.
1. What is an advertisement? What are the purposes of advertisement?

2. What are the functions of advertisement?
3. What is surrogate advertisement?
4. What are the ethical issues involved in advertisement?
25
 Chauhan, Meenakshi R. (2001) Advertising: The Social Ad Challenge. New Delhi:
Anmol Publications
 Judith Williamson. (1978) Decoding Advertisements: Ideology and Meaning in
Advertising. London: Marion Boyars Publishers Ltd.
 McLuhan, Marshall (2002). The Mechanical Bride: The Folklore of Industrial Man.
1st Edition Vangko Press. CA: Reissue Gingko Press.
 Cushion, Stephen. Television Journalism. Sage Publications, 2012.
 Macquail, Denis. Mass Communication. New Delhi: Om Books, 2000.
Publishers, 2007.
26
Unit-3
Cyber Media and Social Media
3.1 Introduction
All of you are aware about the changes that Internet has brought to your lives. If not, then talk
to your parents and grandparents about what they did when they were children. Do you hear a
completely different story from what you do now? One of the primary reasons of such a
difference is because technology has advanced so much in the past three decades that it has
provided us with many technological tools which has made a great difference in the way we
live. One such reason of a revolutionary change is the Internet which has facilitated our lives
in more than one way. In this Unit, the cyber media and social media is being discussed
which will provide you the information and knowledge about how one should use these
mediums effectively and with precaution and safety. This unit has been modelled from the
chapter on “New Media” from the book Mass Communication: A Handbook, written by Hari
Prasad and Deb Dulal Halder, published by Book Age Publications, New Delhi. For details
on Cyber Media and Social Media, you can consult the book.
In this chapter, you will learn about
 A brief history of the Internet.
 Internet, Intranet and world wide web (www).
 Internet utilities, such as Web Browsing, Electronic Mail, Online Broadcasting,
Social networking, Gaming, Blogging, File Transfer protocols (FTP), Online
banking, E-commerce, Video conferencing and Digital marketing, etc.
Activity
Think of yourself being marooned in a small island where there is no
internet. You are asked to spend the day in such a place. How will
you spend the day without internet?
Now enumerate the ways in which, you feel, you felt uncomfortable
and dissatisfied because of the lack of internet. Or if you felt
otherwise, talk about it.
Based on the above Activity, probably you can easily gauge the ways in which internet has
been a boon in our lives –
(a) It is the means though which we feel connected with the world all the time at the click
of a button in your hand-held devices and laptops. It is thus a great medium of
communicating with the rest of the world.
27
(b) Internet has marred the physical distance between individuals as we can talk and
communicate with people who are afar and can establish a relationship.
(c) It is a provider of easy access to information – whenever you are in need of some
information, you Google it and the information is there right in front of you at any
given moment. (Though it is to be kept in mind here that Information is not
knowledge – for gaining knowledge you need to interpret and fathom that information
in the right sense of the term)
(d) The world has become a smaller place, because of the internet as things happening in
one corner of the world are being known by us in another corner within a few
seconds.
Thus, there are various other benefits of internet which has changed the way in which people
used to think and act. In other words, internet has influenced and changed our lives to such an
extent that in the present context, it can be called to be the most significant game-changer in
our lives. We can term the age therefore as an age of Digital Revolution or Cyber Revolution.
3.3 New Media
In such a situation when our lives are being taken over by the internet facilities it is evident
that the ways we communicated with the mass has also changed. The traditional means of
communication such as print media as well as audio-visual media had to go through immense
changes and readjust and modify themselves because of the advent of media which is
internet-based. The Media which uses the Internet facilities to transmit and view information
and messages can be termed as the New Media.
People prefer New Media as it is one of the most cost-effective and flexible one and also
because people are not merely passive recipients of mass communication in Cyber Media, but
they are also participants to transmitting information, messages and even audio-visual
materials. It is because of this, that cyber media has become the most popular media these
days and is also making other media think and evolve innovative ways to reach the mass.
In print or electronic media, common people merely get to know about things and
entertaining stuff and they passively accept whatever is shown to them. In most cases, even if
you disagree to something that is being informed or reported in print media or electronic
media, we are in no position to give our feedback. And even if there is a feedback
mechanism, we usually find it to be too cumbersome. While watching a television show, even
if you disagree with what is shown in the show, you may in most cases not voice your
opinion against the show to the makers of the show. But if the same show is uploaded in
YouTube and you watch the show there, you may choose to comment on the show there
instantaneously which is the best way to reach the maker of the show about what you or other
people think about it. These days, whatever is represented and telecast in print and audio-
visual media is also put up on the cyber media, because that is an easier medium of getting a
28
feedback. And without feedback no communication is complete. Thus, Internet has
revolutionized the way we act and think.
Thus, with the advent of the cyber media, it has provided us with the opportunity to be
creative and much more critical of the different mass communicative practices going on
around us. It is also true at the same time, that that as there is less of gatekeeping in the Cyber
Media therefore often a lot of spurious contents and uploaded in the internet which may often
cause hardship to the recipient of those contents. One needs to be very cautious therefore
about the way one deals with Cyber Media.
3.4 A Brief History of Internet
The Internet has revolutionized the computer and communications world like nothing before.
The invention of the telegraph, telephone, radio, and computer set the stage for this
unprecedented integration of capabilities. It was in the year 1957, the USSR launched the first
satellite, Sputnik. To compete against the USSR's success at launching the first satellite, the
United States Department of Defense creates the Advanced Research Projects Agency
(ARPA). ARPA is responsible for the development of new technology for use by the military.
One must remember here that it was an era of Cold War and therefore Russia and America
were in a tussle with each other to prove themselves technologically advanced than the other.
In the year 1969, the first host-to-host Advanced Research Projects Agency Network
(ARPANET) connection is made on October 25, 1969, between the University of California
at Los Angeles, and the Stanford Research Institute, Inc. (SRI) in Menlo Park, California.
ARPANET is the world's first operational packet switching network and the core network of
a set that came to compose the global Internet. Consequently, in 1972, ARPANET begins to
be used for communicating by email. The term “Internet” begins to be used for the first time
in 1973. In 1976, Comet, the first commercial email software, is offered by the Computer
Corporation of America for $40,000. In 1981, Al Gore coins the term for the Internet “The
Information Superhighway.” It was in 1990, that the phrase “World Wide Web” was coined
by Tim Berners-Lee. From 1992 onwards, Internet registration begins for .com, .net. .org,
.edu, and .gov and in 1993, the Internet takes off as part of the world’s fastest growing
information network and the MOSAIC Web Browser is born on the University of Illinois at
Urbana–Champaign campus, The World Wide Web is developed in CERN, the Institute for
Particle Physics in Switzerland. In the year 1995, the independent programming language,
JAVA, is created by Jim Gosling at Sun Microsystems. And, Yahoo! is founded in Santa
Clara, California, and provides a web search engine, email service, mapping and more. It was
in the year 2001 that Wikipedia was launched; followed by Facebook which was founded in
Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2004. In 2005, YouTube was launched and in 2006, Twitter
was founded in San Francisco, California.
3.5 Defining New Media
New media can be defined as interactive forms of communication that use the Internet,
including podcasts, blogs, vlogs, social networks, text messaging, wikis, virtual worlds and
29
all other computer aided communication formats available online. New media makes it
possible for anyone to create, modify, and share content and share it with others, using
relatively simple tools that are often free or inexpensive. New media requires a computer or
mobile device with Internet access.
New media tools can:
• Connect people with information and services.
• Collaborate with other people—including those within their organization or
community.
• Create new content, services, communities, and channels of communication
that help people deliver information and services.
3.6 Features of New Media
The New Media has many advantages over the traditional media like newspapers, television
and radio:
• New Media does not suffer from the problems of time and space like the traditional
media. A newspaper reaches its readers at a particular time and then only the reader
can read it. A television news or a programme can be viewed only at a specific hour
when it is telecast. The New Media does not have any such problems associated with
it. It can be accessed at any time and hour of the day from any place provided there is
a device available for accessing it and there is internet connection and the server
capacity and downloading capacity are good enough to access. Thus, news or any
other content in the new Media can be accessed anywhere, any time. Thus, New
Media has apparent advantages over the traditional media.
• New media is flexible in holding its content. A Newspaper can only show things
through words and pictures; a television can present audio-visual things, whereas the
New Media can handle variety of forms for the information it presents – words,
pictures, audio, video, graphics, etc.
• New Media can deliver messages and information instantly provided one has a device
which can be connected to the internet and has good internet connectivity facility. The
immediacy of the New Media makes it have advantage over other traditional media.
• Hypertextuality of the New Media is another significant feature of it which makes it
much more advantageous over other media. New media can connect one format of
information with other formats and sources of information through hyperlinks.
• Interactivity: New media have human-machine communication system.
• Multimediality: Unlike traditional media, new media can contain various types of
media format on a single platform. We can watch television and listen to radio and
read newspapers on a webpage.
30
• Cost effective. Compared to other media, webpage production is cost effective and
environment friendly.
• Extended Access: We can get access to the web or new media sources wherever we
are.
3.7 Basics of Web Writing
When writing for the Web it is good to essentially follow the norms of good writing which is
to write in a simple and straightforward way which is easy for the readers to understand. You
are not available before the recipient always to give clarifications to whatever you have
written; therefore, it is necessary that one writes in such a manner which does not need an
explanation for what is being written. Writing should be simple and self-explanatory.
Some of the points that need to be kept in mind while writing for the web are –
 The special characteristic of the web readers is that in most cases, the web readers do
not read the whole document carefully, but merely scan through the document so as to
get the summary or gist of the things in short time. Therefore, it is important that one
writes in such a way that it is easy to read / scan. To write in points form is one way in
which the writer of a web content can help the web reader.
 It is also to be kept in mind that a web reader has a lot of options to choose from the
web on a single topic, so the writing has to be such that the reader is not bored while
reading the content and also not write anything which will offend the reader. In other
words, web writing is reader-oriented writing where the writer always has to put
himself or herself in the shoes of the reader and judge whether the writing is
something that is apt for a web-reader.
 Text Should be concise: If websites are too wordy, it's hard to read a lot of text on the
screen. It is better to have condensed information that's no bigger than one screen.
 Text should be scannable: We ensure the elements that enhance scanning include
headings, large type, bold text, highlighted text, bulleted lists, graphics, captions,
topic sentences, and tables of contents.
 Bulleted items: Using bulleted items will help readers to easily locate the facts they
search for.
 Users Like Summaries and the Inverted Pyramid Style: Every reader tends to read a
summary and then go to the article if s/he is interested.
 Hypertext is well-liked: Hyper texts and links help users to navigate from one page to
other and one site to the other. Creative use of hyperlinks the crux of the success of
the web. While writing for the web, writer should keep the hypertextual nature of the
content.
 Graphics and text should complement one another: Graphics that add nothing to the
31
text are a distraction and waste of time. A graphic is good when it relates to the
content, but many are just trying to be flashy.
 Users want to get their Information quickly. So, the content should be clear and well
organized with a logical transition.
 Credible content creation: Credibility is an important issue on the web. Accurate and
fair good content with no grammatical errors increase believability of the content.
External links, fresh materials rather than the older ones, can increase credibility.
People tend to trust web sites that are more usable. Trust is especially critical for web
sites that sell products and services
 Humor should be used with caution
3.8 Internet, Intranet and World Wide Web
The Internet is a computer network consisting of a worldwide network of computer networks
and cables that use the TCP/IP network protocols to facilitate data transmission and
exchange. The World Wide Web is a computer network consisting of a collection of internet
sites that offer text, graphics, sound and animation resources through the hypertext transfer
protocol. The internet is fundamentally a tool to allow people around the globe to
communicate with each other. Until the early 1990s, the Internet was simply a network of
computers used to transmit government data and enable academic research and conversations.
With the advent of the World Wide Web by Tim Berners Lee in early 1990s and online
subscription service providers such as America Online (AOL), CompuServe and Prodigy, the
Internet traffic began its exponential upswing.
3.9 Web Browsing

If you want to view web pages on different websites, you will need to use a program called a
‘browser’. This acts as your door to the internet. Browsers are all slightly different, but they
all allow you to ‘surf’ the internet and access different websites. If you have a Windows
device, you’ll have a browser program called Internet Explorer. If you have an Apple
product, then you’ll use a browser called Safari. There are also other browsers available, such
as Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. To access the internet, you’ll firstly need to click or
tap on your browser program’s icon. A browser window will open. There are several different
functions within this window that allow you to do different things. Web address (or URL)To
load a web page you want to view, just type in its web address - also known as its ‘URL’ -
into the address bar (the space at the top of the window) and then press the ‘Enter’ button. As
a shortcut, you can copy and paste a URL into the address bar.
A homepage is a bit like the front page of a newspaper. It is an entry point for a website
and has links to lots of other web pages on the same site. Make sure you get all of the words,
numbers and punctuation in a web address exactly correct, otherwise it won’t load. If you
don’t know the exact address, you can use a search engine (such as Google or Yahoo!) to
help you look for it. Links (or hyperlinks) On any page of a website, you will see text links
32
which may be underlined. An image on a web page may also contain a link. By clicking or
tapping on a link, you might be taken to a different place on the same web page, a different
page on the same website, or another website altogether. You can tell if a piece of text or an
image is an active link as your cursor arrow will change in appearance as you hover over the
link – for example, the cursor arrow might turn into the shape of a pointing hand.
3.10 Electronic Mail
Email is the modern way to send letters – you can send a message to the other side of the
world and get a reply in minutes. Email is short for electronic mail. An email is a letter that is
sent over a computer network instead of being sent through the post. You can attach
documents and photos to emails, just like you can include a photo or a document with a letter.
You can also attach computer files, such as programs and spreadsheets. Sending and
receiving email is generally free, and you can actually send an email to as many people as
you like. Each person on email has a unique email address, which is how you direct an email
address to a specific person. You can even send emails to yourself. This sounds kind of silly,
but people do this to send themselves reminders and also to transfer files from one place to
another. All your emails come into your Inbox, which is like your virtual letter box.
3.11 Online Broadcasting
Internet broadcasting, referred to as webcasting, is coming of age. In addition to reprocessed
audio or video that’s transferred from radio or TV to the Internet, webcasting now also means
broad-casting new, original content—sometimes live—on the Web. Taking advantage of
streaming audio and video technology, site producers can bring real-time sound and vision to
the Web.
3.12 Social Media
Social Media has been a trendy thing in today’s lifestyle as more and more people are using it
for various purposes – connecting to friends, chatting, photo sharing, for news, for blogging,
for various other purposes. It is unfounded to argue that people spend more time in social
media than with friends and relatives. This may be true but often social media interactions
can also lead to developing relationships which are truly satisfying for an individual. Social
media is also a great platform for advertisement and business. So, one can even develop
business relations apart from friends in social media.
Status messages and photo sharing on social media is often good for one’s security.
Though Status messages and photo sharing is being critiqued as it seems nothing is private;
but often such sharing of status and photos can make people know one’s location and be of
help during emergency. It can also make one’s well-wishers and friends feel happy.
It is untrue to say that social media is a distraction. It is a distraction for those who do not
know how to draw their limits. It is not a problem with social media, but with the characters
of the people who do so. If not distracted in social media, they would be distracted
somewhere else.
33
Social Media is a world of fake news is also another belief which is baseless. Fake news
can be there in any media platform and one should know to crosscheck and verify news. With
the use of social media, one can easily figure out which one is fake news. Moreover, more
than fake news, social media can be a means for quick information and a great means of
sharing opinions and thoughts (often in form of blogs as Kara Woodridge has done). It is not
an end of journalism but opening of new frontiers of journalism where one can express one’s
opinion more freely without the biased editorial checks.
Social media is unsafe only to careless. Social media is thought to be unsafe as use of
social media during driving can lead to accidents and consequent deaths. Social media can
also be a breach to privacy. But these arguments against social media again are for those who
are irresponsible by nature and do not know where to draw limits.
One should understand that technology is not just for work and professional needs, but
should also be put to use in daily life to ease things and work, to connect with friends and
world and also for the sake of entertainment without which life can be boring. Social media
thus is turning to be a great ally, a supportive platform to enhance one’s visibility and
information-sharing.
3.13 Social networking
Andreas Kaplan and Michael Haenlein define social media as “a group of Internet-based
applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0, and that
allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.” Kietzmann says that “social
media employ mobile and web-based technologies to create highly interactive platforms via
which individuals and communities share, create, discuss, and modify user-generated content.
It introduces substantial and pervasive changes to communication between organizations,
communities and individuals.” Different types of social media include collaborative projects
such as Wikipedia, blogs such as Blogger, social networking sites like Facebook, content
communities like Youtube, and virtual worlds like Second Life. As of 2012, social media has
become one of the most powerful sources for news updates through platforms such as
Facebook, Blogger, Twitter, Word Press, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google+. Tumblr, My Space
and Wikia.
Social media technologies take on many different forms including magazines, Internet
forums, weblogs, social blogs, microblogging, wikis, social networks, podcasts, photographs
or pictures, video, rating and social bookmarking. Kaplan and Haenlein created a
classification scheme with six different types of social media: collaborative projects (for
example, Wikipedia), blogs and micro-blogs (for example, Twitter), content communities (for
example, YouTube), social networking sites (for example, Facebook), virtual game worlds
(e.g., World of Warcraft), and virtual social worlds (e.g. Second Life). Technologies include
blogs, picture-sharing, vlogs, wall postings, email, instant messaging, music-sharing,
crowdsourcing and voice over IP, to name a few. Many of these services can be integrated via
34
social network aggregation platforms. Social media network websites include sites like
Facebook, Twitter, Bebo and MySpace.
3.14 Gaming
Gaming is a “system in which players engage in artificial conflict, defined by rules, that
results in a quantifiable outcome.” A digital game refines the definition by requiring the game
system to incorporate technology. Digital games are the largest and fastest growing market
segment of the multibillion-dollar entertainment industry.
3.15 Blogging
A blog is basically a journal that is available on the web. It is derived from the term ‘Web
Log’. The activity of updating a blog is ‘blogging’ and someone who keeps a blog is a
‘blogger.’ Blogs are typically updated daily using software that allows people with little or no
technical background to update and maintain the blog. www.blogspot.com,
www.wordpress.org are some of the free blog hosting sites.
Vlogs
A video blog or video log, sometimes shortened to vlog, is a form of
blog for which the medium is video and is a form of web television. The
word derived from the term Video Web Log. On January 2, 2000, Adam
Kontras posted a video alongside a blog entry aimed at informing his
friends and family of his cross-country move to Los Angeles in pursuit
of show business, marking the first post on what would later become the
longest-running video blog in history.
3.16 File Transfer protocols (FTP)

FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. It is a protocol used to transfer files between an FTP
host/server and an FTP client computer on the Internet. FTP is most commonly used to
download files from the World Wide Web. It is an alternative choice to HTTP protocol for
downloading and uploading files to FTP servers.
3.17 Online banking
Online or Internet banking is a way for customers of a bank to conduct a range of financial
transactions through their online banking channel. Online banking gives you the freedom to
bank where and when you want and is a very convenient way to stay on top of your finances.
In other words, Internet Banking is a type of banking which allowed customers to access their
financial and banking services via internet world wide web. It’s called Internet Banking
because Internet bank has no boundaries of brick and mortar and can exists only on the
internet. Internet Banking is a development of computer banking format that is rapidly
growing in popularity. It is not restricted to a specific computer, as there is no need for the
customer to have any financial software program installed on the computer in order to
35
conduct banking over the internet. Instead of establishing a direct link between the
customer’s own pc and the bank via a modem, the World Wide Web is used as a distribution
and communication channel to the bank. This implies that Internet Banking may be cost-
efficient and a convenient banking format for many customers. Nearly, all the nationalized
banks in India are going for information technology-based solutions. The application of IT in
Banks has reduced the scope of traditional or conventional banking with manual operations.
Nowadays banks have moved from disbursed to a centralized environment, which shows the
impact of IT on banks. Banks are using new tools and techniques to find out their customers
need and offer them tailor made products and services.
3.18 E-commerce
E-commerce is buying and selling goods and services over the Internet. E-commerce is part
of e-business. E-business is a structure that includes not only those transactions that center on
buying and selling goods and services to generate revenue, but also those transactions that
support revenue generation. These activities include generating demand for goods and
services, offering sales support and customer service, or facilitating communications between
business partners. Airline and travel tickets, banking services, books, clothing, computer
hardware, software, and other electronics, flowers and gifts are some popular products and
services that can be purchased online. Several successful e-businesses have established their
business models around selling these products and services. E-commerce has the potential to
generate revenue and reduce costs for businesses and entities. Marketing, retailers, banks,
insurance, government, training, online publishing, travel industries are some of the main
recipients of e-commerce.
3.19 Digital marketing
Digital Marketing is a well-targeted, conversion-oriented, quantifiable, and interactive
marketing of products or services by utilizing digital means. The aim is to get the attention of
the customers and transform them into clients. Traditional marketing on print media, radio
and TV commercials, billboards, business cards are already there, but digital marketing has
provided a much wider platform and audience for promoting products and services. Digital
Marketing achieves the targets of marketing through various Digital Marketing Channels.
3.20 Video conferencing
Videoconferencing is a method of communicating between two or more locations in which
sound, vision and data signals are conveyed electronically to enable simultaneous interactive
communication. A Video conference can be between two sites, i.e. locations which are
connected to each other via the video conference, or the conference can connect multiple
locations. The communication can take place in a special video conferencing studio, or on a
normal home computer equipped with a webcam or even a video calls on a modern 3rd
generation mobile phone falls into this scope.
36
3.21 News portals
A web portal is a web site that brings information together from diverse sources in a uniform
way. A news portal is a web portal dedicated to disseminating news and related information.
Normally, news portals are managed by media organizations and media professionals.
3.22 Podcast
A podcast is a type of digital media consisting of an episodic series of audio radio, video,
PDF, or ePub files subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication or streamed online
to a computer or mobile device. The word is derived from ‘broadcast’ and ‘pod’ from the
success of the iPod, as podcasts are often listened to on portable media players.
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast)
3.23 Let’s Sum Up
In this Unit, we have learnt that–
 The traditional means of communication such as print media as well as audio-visual
media had to go through immense changes and readjust and modify themselves
because of the advent of media which is internet-based. The Media which uses the
Internet facilities to transmit and view information and messages can be termed as the
New Media.
 People prefer New Media as it is one of the most cost-effective and flexible one and
also because people are not merely passive recipients of mass communication in
Cyber Media, but they are also participants to transmitting information, messages and
even audio-visual materials.
1. What is New Media? How has New Media challenged the supremacy of traditional
media?
2. What is Cyber media? Elaborate on some of the means used to communicate via
cybernetics?
3. What is Social Media? Is it a bane or a boon? Give a reasoned answer.
4. In what ways has Cyber Media changed the ways of the world?
37
Unit-4
Writing for the Media
4.1 Introduction
Media Writing is a special kind of writing and one should equip oneself with the norms and
process of writing for the media to make oneself effective. This unit will delve deeper into
the norms of specific writing for the media. It is true that crisp, concise, cohesive, coherent
and comprehensive writing is a need for every good writing, but apart from these writing for
the media has more specific needs which will be discussed in this unit. This unit has been
modelled from the chapter on “Writing for the Media” from the book Mass Communication:
A Handbook, written by Hari Prasad and Deb Dulal Halder, published by Book Age
Publications, New Delhi. For details on Media writing, you can consult the book.
In this Unit, we will learn about –
 The essentials of good writing skills
 The specific needs of writing for the media
 The norms and forms of writing for the media.
4.3 5 W and 1 H Questions

Why does one read newspaper or listen to news? His or her basic objective is to know. He or
she is trying to figure out the happenings around the world. As a news story is introduced to
the reader or viewer, she or he has few questions in mind. It is thought that these questions
can be of six kinds. Depending on the questions that readers or viewers might want to know,
the reporter writes the news. 5 W and I H are the questions that the readers or the viewers are
looking forward to whenever they have any interest in any news items. The 5 W and I H
questions are – Who, What, When, Where, Why and How.
 Who – denotes the people who are related to the concerned news story
 What – refers to the major action or event of the news story
 When – refers to the time that the event or the action has happened that the news
story is concerned with
 Where – refers to the place of the action or the event
 Why – refers to the explanation why it happened
 How – the way things have progressed during the incident or event.
4.4 News Writing Style: Inverted Pyramid, Hourglass, etc.

Once the reporter or a journalist has gone through the stage of gathering the required
information for a news story, he or she must decide on the structure of the story. Often it is
38
suggested that it is how people tell a story which is more significant than the story itself. It is
the style of presenting those facts which assumes significance in news writing. The most
commonly followed style of news writing is the Inverted Pyramid. Let us first discuss the
Inverted Pyramid style of News writing.
4.4.1. The Inverted Pyramid Style
Graphic Presentation of INVERTED PYRAMID Style of News Writing
The phrase “Inverted Pyramid” and the picture above tell you that an inverted pyramid is a
top-heavy thing where the most significant information is given in the beginning of the story.
A reader of news story wants to know six things – answers to WHO, WHAT, WHERE,
WHEN, WHY and HOW (the 5 W and 1 H Questions) and the moment these six queries are
answered it makes the readers a bit satisfied. Therefore, in the Inverted Pyramid style of news
writing these questions are dealt with in the very beginning, that is, the lead. After these
queries are answered, the news writer provides more information in the next few paragraphs
where he or she expands on the lead and add more information which supports or upholds the
lead. As the news writer carries on progressing, he or she keeps on adding information which
is of diminishing importance.
4.4.2. The Narrative Style
The most significant thing about a narrative style of writing is that the story is told from a
definite point of view. It is not merely a description of things or events (which is descriptive
Writing) but a style of writing which focuses on telling things from a particular perspective.
39
Moreover, in such a kind of writing the climax is often postponed so as to keep the readers
engaged with the write up.
4.4.3. The Chronological Style
In some cases, some journalists or reporters also prefer to write news stories in a
chronological fashion providing the news story to the readers in the same sequence of time as
it has happened. Chronological Stories are often good as backgrounders where the readers are
made to get things / information/ facts in a sequential order to have a historical perspective of
something, but most people will not like the chronological details as it is time consuming and
often works only for certain sections of people.
4.4.4. The Hourglass Style
The Hourglass is a style of writing which evolved out of combining elements both of Inverted
Pyramid Style and Narrative Style. In Hourglass Style of News Story Writing, there is a lead
which quickly tells the highlights of the news story in short followed by a transition from
where the reporters go into a chronological narration of events so as to provide the readers
with the details of the event as it had happened. Mostly the issues and events which need a
chronological retelling are written in the Hourglass style. Examples include Courtroom
proceedings which needs to be told to the readers or police stories which needs to be
sequentially told to be readers to make them have a proper sense of the events.
Thus, there are various styles of writing news stories, but still the most preferred way is
the inverted Pyramid Style as it has the most reader friendly approach to news stories and
reporters also find it easier to write in such a style.
4.5 Leads
A news story has two main elements – the lead and the body. The lead or the introduction is
usually the initial paragraph(s) of the news story which contains the main information or
facts. In other words, the highlights of the story are presented in the lead, whereas the
additional information is provided in the body of the news story. In an Inverted Pyramid
style, the most significant details are given in the beginning and then the story continues to
provide additional facts in the descending order of importance. Thus, while writing the lead,
the reporter should keep following things in mind –
a. Lead should be concise, sharp and interesting
b. Should be direct, unambiguous and uncluttered.
c. Lead should be self-contained in the sense that the details in the lead should be self-
explanatory and the readers do not necessarily need to read the following paragraphs to
understand the lead.
4.6 Writing the Body of News

Whatever comes after lead in a news story can be termed as the body. The body is the major
portion of a news story, but as most of the news stories are written in the Inverted Pyramid
Style, therefore the most significant news goes in the Lead. The body of the news story
40
provides additional information, that too in diminishing order of significance. Therefore,
planning is the key to writing a good body for a news story. In other words, the reporter needs
to plan how he or she should sequence the information. Moreover, as the body provides the
details therefore descriptions, quotations, explanations, data, background, viewpoints, etc.
come in the body and the reporter needs to therefore put them in the order in which the reader
may like to know about it. Moreover, it is to be kept in mind while writing the news story that
as a news story does not have any conclusion, therefore the body should end with the least
significant information and not with the reporter’s viewpoint.
4.7 Copy Editing
As soon as a News writer has written a new story, he or she forwards it to the sub editor or
editor for it to be modified and made better and finally to be chosen as a news item whether
for publication or for broadcasting. Editors and sub-editors not only choose what will go for
news in terms of which news story will get priority and which will become the main
headlines and which will get subsidiary status; but also looks at all the news stories and
modifies them to suit the readers and viewers. One must remember here that the news writers
are under tremendous pressure to gather stories and other necessary information regarding
stories, to figure out their accuracy and authenticity as well as their immediacy and the put
them together as news stories. The luxury of time is not on their side and therefore they work
under a lot of pressure. In such situations, it is quite normal that there can be some mistakes
or some errors in their news story and some organizational problems in terms of structure in
the news story that they quickly write. The copy editors, sub-editors and editors’ role is to
thus go through the rough draft of the news story and modify and polish it further so as to
make it proper for publication or airing. Moreover, what kind of space a news story will get
depends on the other news stories of the day. Sometimes, because of a big news story, some
other stories need to be cut short. The copy editor does the job of cutting short a news story to
fit in the available space. Apparently, it may seem that the copy editor therefore does a job
which is subsidiary as it does not deal with actual process of writing, but mere modification
of a story to suit the purpose of presenting it to the readers. But in reality, it is not so; the
copy editor does a very significant role as he or she is the one who makes it a proper story.
Copy editing is about the process of eliminating the unwanted details of a copy of news
story for smooth reading and quick understanding. Thus, copy editing involves –
 correcting the language in terms of eliminating all kinds of errors,
 improving on the style of the original copy,
 checking for and removing all kinds of typing and other errors,
 ensuring that the copies are in accord with the editorial policy of the organization,
 re-writing the copy when necessary without changing its message/ content,
sometimes even summarizing and paraphrasing
41
 writing down its length when necessary to fit into available space,
 writing titles and headlines for each copy or story,
 editing/scaling or cropping photographs and illustrations to fit into space allocated to
the story,
 indicating the required type sizes and typefaces,
 writing the captions or cut-lines for the photographs,
 to look for facts and things which might lead to legal or other disputes and to
eliminate them,
 removing or editing illegalities and vulgarities from the copies so that it does not
offend anyone’s taste or legal rights.
 In short, doing everything that will help the printer to give you a near-perfect printed
story.
4.8 Editorial
Newspapers not only provide us information about the significant happenings around the
world, but at the same time help the readers in opinion making about various issues
concerning everyday things, social issues, political things as well as economic issues, etc.
News stories, features are the regular informative pieces of a newspaper, but connoisseurs
and wise men feel that a good newspaper is judged by its editorial page as it is this page
which reflects the true quality of its editorial staff.
An editorial can be said to be a journalistic essay which tries to do one or more of the
following–
 To inform and / or to explain
 To persuade and / to convince
 To stimulate insight in a humourous and entertaining manner.
Normally, the editorial writing follows the structure given below–
 The statement of the subject;
 The expansion of the subject by means of comment; and
 An application or conclusion drawn from the comment.
4.9 Writing Script for Radio: Radio News
Whereas simplicity is a characteristic of any good writing, similar holds true for radio where
the language should be so that the common people, even the illiterate also does not have any
problems in comprehending the language. Therefore, news should be broadcasted in simple,
easily understood words which make sense to people. In other words, the language of every
42
day conversation should be the medium of communication in radio. One needs to remember
here that radio bulletins are usually short and mostly does not last longer than ten to fifteen
minutes and an average news reader can read at most a little over one thousand five hundred
words in fifteen minutes duration. Therefore, the role of the editors in the newsroom is very
hectic as they have to present the news of the major happenings around the world within a
span of about one thousand and five hundred words for a news bulletin of fifteen minutes
duration. So how many words will be given to each item and how much information can to
given within those words always needs to well thought-out. Brevity is the key to radio news
as many stories need to be presented in a short duration. General rule is that a news reader
can read about one hundred words in a minute. So, depending on the duration of the bulletin,
the editor should write that many words. For example, if the news bulletin is for ten minutes
then, words in the bulletin should be somewhere between one thousand to one thousand one
hundred words and not more than that in any way (including headlines, etc.). Language
should be clear, precise and to the point, without any ambiguity. So, all ambiguous words
needs to be eliminated from bulletins and be substituted with words that general listeners can
easily understand. In other words, words chosen for the bulletin should be so simple that even
an illiterate person is able to comprehend it. Sentences in news bulletins should be short and
direct, and if possible, without any sub-clauses. Long sentences have too many thoughts
within it which may be difficult for the listeners to catch. As while listening to news, there is
no option of rewinding the news and listen to it again, therefore it is essential that each idea is
presented in a sentence and it is better to avoid long sentences. Words and phrases should be
used which help the readers to visualize things. As radio cannot show images or videos
therefore it is important to choose a language which would evoke the visuals in the minds of
the listeners. Words should be used in such a way that the listeners are able to create a mental
image of the thing that they are listening. It is important as the only medium through which
radio transmits information is sound and therefore sound should be used in the most effective
way to create a mental picture of the given things. The news stories should be written in
present tense. Any news in the past tense loses its immediacy and therefore will not interest
the listeners. Do you think you will be interested to know about things which are already a
thing of the past? Usually in news, you will not. Therefore, it is essential that the news writer
or the editor writes in present tense. For example, instead of saying “The Prime Minister of
India said yesterday that ….” one can say that “the Prime Minister of India says that …”
When the news is related to figures and numbers, then the general rule that is followed in
radio news is that one should round it off. For example, “298977975” can be termed as
“about 30 crores” If the figure is given as “298977975” it may create confusion among the
listeners, therefore rounded off figures are always better to radio news. As radio news usually
follows the norms of spoken language therefore similar to the use of rounded off figures in
spoken language, figures in radio should be rounded off. (Moreover, the rounded off figures
are not only for the listeners, but also for the news reader as she or he should not hesitate in
figuring out the number while reading the news)
43
4.10 Newsreaders
Even if the news writers, the editors and others related to the process of news writing do their
job in the correct and justified way, it does not ensure that the news bulletin will be proper as
the proper rendition of the news to the readers depends on the Newsreaders. The news reader
thus also has an important role to play in rendering the news properly to the listeners. A
greatly edited news bulletin can have the least effect if the news reader does not do justice to
the news. Generally, a good newsreader is one who is neither slow, nor fast. If he or she is
slow then all the significant news will not reach the listeners, and if he or she is too fast that
there will be chances that the listeners will miss something from the bulletin. Normally it is
thought that a news reader can read up to one hundred to one hundred and twenty words in a
minute. Moreover, his or her voice should be clear and pronunciation which the people can
easily understand. Diction and pauses at the right points also are necessary things that the
news readers should also follow while reading news. It is to be kept in mind that a good news
reader can even make a badly edited news bulletin good to listen to with his or her good
reading capabilities.
4.11 Writing for Television News
In television news bulletins, usually visuals and sound bites are used as it is the visual
elements which stand out in television news, otherwise it would be no different than the radio
news. Visuals can be of different kinds – Video, Photograph, Chart, Map, Graph, etc. But in
some cases, it is not possible to show the visuals for various reasons – maybe there is some
technical snag which may not allow the visuals to be broadcasted or that the news story has
happened so recently, that the footage is not yet available or that the news story has happened
in such distant location that it would take time for the television reporter to reach there. In
such cases, the news casters read the news story to the camera and the viewers just listen to
the story. In today’s context of faster communication, it does not take much time for the
visuals to come in, therefore most of the news stories have visuals / videos. Visuals and
videos not only provide authenticity to the news story, but at the same time the visuals speak
for itself and the news readers role thus becomes that of supplementing the visuals. When the
visuals are present the role of writing the news becomes very different than when there are no
visuals. While writing with no visuals, the news writer needs to describe things in detail,
whereas while the video footage is available, the news writer comments on the video and let
the video or the visual speak for itself. Sometimes, soundbites are also used in television, but
not that often. Sound bites are when there is no video, but merely the voice. It is used when
someone is not available on video but the on telephone and the sound of that person (either a
reporter or an interviewee) appears on the news bulletin.
Television News - A Balance between Words and Visuals
Visuals speak for themselves, but do not always speak what it should intend to
show. Therefore, narration along with videos is what the television news consists
of. The success of any visual in television news depends on the narration done
44
along with it. Poorly written story or narration can mar the visual. There are three
basic rules that the television reporter should follow while writing narration for the
visuals –
 There is no need to describe everything that the visuals have as the visuals
speak for themselves to some extent,
 One needs to relate the words to the visuals to make it sound and look
better. In other words, the narration and the visual should go hand in hand,
that is, the words have to go with what appears on screen. Therefore,
timing is very significant.
 The news reader may provide a lead to the story and then as the visuals
come in, he or she should tell the story as it has happened.
4.12 Live Presentation for Radio and Television

In the age of technology, when news is just a click away, if news is not delivered the moment
it is happening then it does not sell. No one wants to listen to what happened long back, as
people have got accustomed to live reporting. It is not just live reporting of news stories
which have become the fashion of almost all television channels, but many other events are
covered live – festivals, speeches, concerts, etc. In some cases, live presentations or
commentaries are also done such as National festivals such as Independence Day and
Republic Day Celebrations, Sporting events, etc. Whether in radio or in television, a live
presenter or a commentator has a great role to perform as it is the words of the commentator
which helps us in building the image in our mind – in case of radio it is only the
commentators’ voice and in case of television, it is both the commentator’s voice as well as
the visuals. In a live presentation, it is the commentator’s voice, diction, inflection, tone,
speed, accent, stress on the right syllables, pauses at the correct junctures – all assume
significance. Let us first focus on a radio commentator’s job. A radio commentator needs to
bring about a mental image of the event that he or she is presenting live and therefore his or
her words should have the power to create the picture. A commentator therefore needs firstly
two powers –
 The power to see things in detail and describe them
 The power to narrate.
Both description and narration are necessary in a commentary. Moreover, depending on the
mood of the occasion, the commentator needs to tune in his or her voice as well as tone. If the
commentator is presenting live a cricket match or an Independence Day celebration, then the
tone and pitch of the voice will not be similar to when he or she is presenting live the funeral
ceremony of a state leader. In both cases, the temper of the presentation would be different
and the mood of the same needs to be created by the commentator with his or her choice of
words. Somberness of a funeral procession of a state leader needs to be put forward through
45
the choice of words or that of the tone. Similarly, if it is World Cup Cricket Final and India is
in a winning position, the jubilant mood should also come in commentator’s voice. It is to be
remembered that a commentator needs to be objective in his or her use of words; but at the
same time through his or her tone and pitch of voice, he or she can say more things than the
words can emote. It is this quality of a commentator which makes him or her be successful in
the world of live presentation.
4.13 Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that radio and television journalism is something which is very
different from newspaper or print journalism. Though the way the information is collected
from various sources for the news remains the same, but the way things are presented in a
different manner. In case of Print, one needs to catch the attention of readers, by headlines, by
attaching photographs, graphs, backgrounders, etc. so that the readers is provoked by these to
read the news, in case of radio, one needs to write attractive headlines and for television, the
news should be presented in a fashion where there should be a symmetry between the visuals
and the narration on the visuals. In case of newspapers, nothing can be presented live, so the
journalist has some time in looking at the news and presenting it in a structure which suits the
information better, but in case of radio and more so in television, live reporting, live
presentations, commentaries make it necessary that the television reporters and
correspondents are always ready with the news. Though the news readers read news which
are written, where journalists can take time to write, but in most cases of live reporting it is
not possible to write the script. The correspondents or reporters need to mentally make a
framework of the given information and present it instantaneously. It makes reporting for
television more challenging.
4.14 Let’s Sum Up
In this unit, we have learnt that–
 The most commonly followed style of news writing is the Inverted Pyramid.
 A reader of news story wants to know six things – answers to WHO, WHAT,
WHERE, WHEN, WHY and HOW (the 5 W and 1 H Questions) and the moment
these six queries are answered it makes the readers a bit satisfied. Therefore, in the
Inverted Pyramid style of news writing these questions are dealt with in the very
beginning, that is, the lead.
 A news story has two main elements – the lead and the body. The lead or the
introduction is usually the initial paragraph(s) of the news story which contains the
main information or facts.
 The body of a News story provides the details therefore descriptions, quotations,
explanations, data, background, viewpoints, etc. come in the body and the reporter
needs to therefore put them in the order in which the reader may like to know about it.
46
 Whereas simplicity is a characteristic of any good writing, similar holds true for radio
where the language should be so that the common people, even the illiterate also does
not have any problems in comprehending the language.
 Brevity is the key to radio news as many stories need to be presented in a short
duration. General rule is that a news reader can read about one hundred words in a
minute. So, depending on the duration of the bulletin, the editor should write that
many words.
1. What are the norms of writing for the radio?
2. How is writing for the radio different from writing for television.
3. Write a Facebook post on any recent issue.
4. Write a blog on Child Labour.
 Boyd, Andrew. Broadcast Journalism: Techniques of Radio and Television News
2000 Burlington: Focal Press 6 edition, 2009.
Publishers, 2007.
47
Unit-5
Some Significant Issues in Mass Communication
5.1 Introduction
Mass Communication is a very broad area and needs to be delved deeper into, to understand
its significance in our lives. Mass communication devices have penetrated our lives in such a
manner that one can find its presence in every aspect of our lives. What this unit intends to do
is to introduce some significant areas of mass communication which are important as students
of the subject. It starts with the notion of the evolution of human communication and goes to
to historically trace the ways in which mass communication means have evolved over the
centuries. It deals with some of the significant constitutional and legal provisions dealing
with Mass communication and then deals with the most significant aspect of the Fake News
that has engulfed our lives in present day of overuse of social media. Thus, the chapter deals
with multiple topics which may seem unrelated to each other, but when understood
holistically, then help us in understanding mass communication in a far better fashion.
 Evolution of Human Communication with specific reference to Mass Communication.
 The Constitutional and other legal provisions dealing with Mass Communication
 The History of Print Media in India
 Fake News, etc.
5.3 Evolution of Human Communication with Specific reference to Mass
Communication
Human beings have a long history of evolution; and as we progressed into sophisticated
human creatures we developed communication in such a way that we are able to understand
each other, spend time with each other chatting and as well as leave some communication for
our future generations. It is interesting to note that it is communication which makes us
distinct from other animals as our communication system is not only much developed from
other animals, but at the same time speaks a lot of our culture and civilization.
It is essential to know about the history of the human communication in short so as to
understand how human culture evolved over the ages. If one studies the history of
communication one is studying the way culture has developed in humankind. Pre-historic
men developed the ability to interact with their five sensory channels. They used signs,
symbols and body language to communicate. This system is called nonverbal
communication. Ancient men slowly developed language giving particular meaning to the
sounds they produced on various occasions. It was a very crude form of oral
communication. To make their verbal interactions effective, sounds were blended with
48
gestures and postures. Even today body language accompanies many of our verbal
interactions in the form of pitch variations of sound, gestures, dress codes, use of space and
so on.
The social life required systematic and permanent forms of communication. The idea of
preservation gave birth to carvings and paintings on cave walls. They are called petroglyphs.
Around 7000 BC, the mode of communication further developed into pictographics. It was
the method of conveying an idea by drawing a series of pictures. Pictographics could be read
as text matters. A more efficient way of communication was essential as the collective life
needed recording of cultural activities, values, habits and code of conduct.
Symbols used in ideographic stages slowly paved the way for the origin of individual
letters. Simultaneously, grammar system was by1000 B C people started to use symbols for
interaction. This is called the ideographic stage. Different symbol systems were used in
different civilizations. Hieroglyphs were a formal writing system practiced by the ancient
Egyptians.
Papyrus, a plant that grew on the banks of the River Nile was used for recording
hieroglyphs. The word paper is derived from “papyrus”. Cuneiform script emerged in the
Sumerian civilization, is the earliest known writing system in the world. They were written in
clay tablets. They had permanence but lacked portability. Thus, paper as a durable and
portable material was preferred over clay tablets.
At the same time, the techniques of paper and pulp making developed in China were
introduced into the other parts of the world by the Arabs. Invention of printing press using
movable types revolutionized communication paving the way for full-fledged mass
communication systems.
The history of modern communication began with the invention of printing press with
movable types. Following this, many other technological advancements like telegraph,
telephone, radio, television and the Internet revolutionized communication. The evolution of
modern communication has five stages based on the developments in communication
technology. These stages are called five waves of communication technology.
 First Wave: The Age of Print: It was in 1456 that Johannes Guttenberg of Mainz,
Germany invented movable types from an alloy of lead, tin and antimony. These
types were light weight, strong and durable. He developed a method of printing with
mass producing movable types, oil-based ink and wooden printing press. The first
book he published using his machine is the famous "42-line Bible". Technological
advance increased the possibilities of printing and publishing. Printing presses started
by religious centers and educational institutions published and distributed books far
and wide. Industrial revolution resulted in mass production and mass distribution.
Communication in mass scale became essential to support mass distribution. So the
development of newspapers was more important for the industrialists to introduce
new things to the public.
49
 Second Wave: The Age of Signals: The next stage in communication technology
starts with the invention of telegraph by Samuel F. B. Morse. Telegraph is defined as
any system that allows the transmission of enclosed information by signals across a
distance. That is why this stage is called the age of signals. Other major advances
during this stage were telephone, photography, radio, cinema and television.
Alexander Graham Bell of Scotland invented the first practical telephone. The first bi-
directional transmission of speech by Bell and his friend Watson was made on March
10, 1876. Bell said over telephone: "Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you". First
photograph was produced in 1826 by a French inventor Joseph Nicephor Niepce.
Edison's Kinetoscope was an early motion picture exhibition device, developed by the
U.S. inventor Thomas Alva Edison in 1888. In 1895, the French inventors Lumiere
Brothers (Auguste Lumiere and Louis Lumiere) developed a camera- cum - projector
called Cinematographe.
 Lee Dee Forest had interest in wireless telegraphy and invented audion tube in 1906.
Edison's phonograph was the record player or gramophone. It was most commonly
used in 1870's. Radio was invented by Guglielmo Marconi in 1901. In 1884, Paul
Nipkov, a Russian, developed a rotating scanning disc for generating electrical signals
for the transmission of a scene with 4000 pixels per second. Later a device called
iconoscope was invented by Vladimir in 1923. John L. Baird is credited with the
invention of a practical television system. But it was Philo Marnworth who made the
first public demonstration of an electronic television system in 1927.
 Third Wave: The Age of Man and Machine: Invention of computer, as a machine
capable of storing, retrieving and transmitting data, led to machine based human
communication. Charles Babbage, a professor of Mathematics at Cambridge
University, is considered the Father of Computers. He first developed a mechanical
computer called the 'Difference Engine' in 1822. Later he developed a more complex
machine 'Analytical Engine'. ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer)
was the first electronic general-purpose computer. Developments in computer
technology increased the rate of data transmission, reduced manual effort, saved time
and improved printing quality.
 Fourth Wave: The Age of Satellite Networks: The age of satellites began with the
launch of Sputnik, the first artificial satellite by the erstwhile Soviet Union on October
4, 1957. After that many countries launched satellites, including communication
satellite, which offer microwave radio relay of messages for radio and television
broadcasting. Approximately 2,000 artificial satellites orbiting the Earth relay analog
and digital signals carrying voice, video, and data to and from one or many locations
worldwide. The first satellite television signal was relayed from Europe to the Telstar
satellite over North America in 1962. A typical satellite link involves the transmission
or uplinking of a signal from an Earth station to a satellite. The satellite then receives
and amplifies the signal and retransmits it back to Earth, where it is received and re-
50
amplified by Earth stations and terminals. Satellite receivers on the ground include
direct-to-home (DTH) satellite equipment, mobile reception equipment in aircraft,
satellite telephones, and handheld devices. EDUSAT is India's first communication
satellite dedicated exclusively for educational services. It relays messages through
audio visual medium, employing multi-media multi-centric system, to create
interactive classrooms. It also provides classes through one- way broadcast,
interactive television, video conferencing, computer conferencing and web-based
instructions.
 Fifth Wave: The Age of Network of Networks: The fifth wave, the age of networks,
began with the introduction of the Internet. The Internet is the network of networks
that connects billions of computers worldwide. Pentagon, a defence research wing of
the USA, built the first computer network called Advanced Research Projects Agency
Network – ARPANET during the 1960s to transfer data among their departments. The
popular use of the Internet is materialized by Tim Berners Lee, a British computer
scientist, with his introduction of World Wide Web. Advancement in information and
communication technology now offers real time, interactive, multimedia experiences
and social networking opportunities even through simple devices like mobile phones
at your hands.
5.4 Constitutional Provisions – the Freedom of the Press and its Control
As Indian citizens, we are governed by the Constitution of India, which was adopted by the
Constituent Assembly on 26th November 1949 and came into force on 26th January 1950.
The Constitution has no separate provision for the freedom of the press or the media, but
Article 19 (i) gives the following rights:
Article 19 (i) of the Indian Constitution: Right to Freedom

19. (1) All citizens shall have the right—
(a) to freedom of speech and expression;
(b) to assemble peaceably and without arms;
(c) to form associations or unions;
(d) to move freely throughout the territory of India;
(e) to reside and settle in any part of the territory of India;
(g) to practice any profession, or to carry on any occupation, trade or business.
Source: http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf
The freedom of the press is guaranteed in India by this article of the Constitution, though the
Constitution also places certain restrictions on the freedom of speech and expression which
are also applicable to the freedom of the press and media. These restrictions have been
imposed in order to ensure that there is no threat to the following:
51
 The sovereignty and integrity of the nation
 The security of the state
 Friendly relations with foreign states
 Public order
 Decency and morality
 The restrictions are also meant to prevent the following:
 Contempt of the court
 Defamation and incitement to an offence
Moreover, during emergencies, the provisions of Article 19 get suspended (Article 358) and
even the fundamental rights of the Indian Constitution are suspended during emergencies
(Article 359).
5.5 Right to Privacy

The term ‘privacy’ is usually used to describe as the rightful claim of an individual to define
the degree to which he or she wishes to share of himself or herself with others and his or her
control over the time, place and circumstances to communicate with others. The term also
suggests the individual’s right to withdraw or to participate as he or she sees appropriate. It
also signifies the individual’s right to control dissemination of information about himself or
herself: it is his or her own personal possession. In India, the Constitution does not have any
direct provision for the right to privacy, though it is there implicitly in Article 21 of the
Constitution which is about the Right to Life.
Right to Protection of Life and Personal Liberty
Article 21 “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except
according to procedure established by law.”
Source: http://lawmin.nic.in/coi/coiason29july08.pdf
There can be possibly four different, though overlapping ways, in which invasion of privacy
of a person can be done by the media. They are –
 intrusion upon a person’s seclusion or solitude;
 appropriation of a person’s name or likeness;
 public disclosures of embarrassing private facts; and
 publicity which places a person in a false light.
One needs to keep in mind that the media has no right to intrude upon the privacy of a
person, except when the matter is of public interest.
As the Indian Constitution does not talk about the right to privacy directly, therefore in
different circumstances people have taken recourse to judiciary when they thought that their
52
privacy has been encroached upon. Below are some of the famous cases which justified the
right to privacy in India.
5.6 The Right to Information
The Right to Information is one of the basic human rights in a democratic society and is
indispensable for free flow of information. If a democratic society has to function in a proper
manner, then it is essential that it has informed citizens. But in India, there was a massive
barrier to the right to information in terms of the Official Secrets Act.
The factors which impaired free flow of information
“The free flow of information in India remains severely restricted by three factors:
a. The legislative framework includes several pieces of restrictive legislation, such
as the Official Secrets Act, 1923;
b. The pervasive culture of secrecy and arrogance within the bureaucracy; and
c. The low levels of literacy and rights awareness amongst Indian people.
The primary power of RTI is the fact that it empowers individual Citizens to
requisition information. Hence without necessarily forming pressure groups or
associations, it puts power directly into the hands of the foundation of democracy -
the citizen.”
Source: http://www.legalserviceindia.com/articles/rti_dh.htm
A demand for the right to information gained momentum in India in the last three
decades as it was not only necessary for the proper functioning of the democracy, but also for
the much-needed transparency in the system and for removing corruption from public life.
The Right to Information Act was introduced in the Parliament in July 2000 and finally the
Right to Information Act was enacted in October 2005. It came into effect on 12th October
2005. According to the Right to Information Act, information has become a fundamental
right of the citizen and all government bodies or government-funded agencies need to
designate a Public Information Officer (PIO) whose duty is to ensure that information sought
by the petitioner is disclosed to him or her within thirty days.
The Right to Information Act provides for citizens’ access to information which is under
the control of public authorities. The objective of the act is to promote transparency and
accountability in the working of the public authority. Informed citizenry is a must for any
healthy democracy and for the citizens to be informed it is required that there is transparency
of information. Therefore, Right to Information is essential for the media as it gives the
media information (barring some which are official secrets for various reasons) that can be
published to keep the citizens informed about the workings of the public authority.
53
Salient features of the Right to Information Act
“Information’ means any material in any form, including records, documents,
memos, e-mails, opinions, advices, press releases, circulars, orders, logbooks,
contracts, reports, papers, samples, models, data material held in any electronic
form and information relating to any private body which can be accessed by a
public authority under any other law for the time being in force;…”
“Public authority’ means any authority or body or institution of self- government
established or constituted –
(a) by or under the constitution;
(b) by any other law made by parliament;
(c) by any other law made by State Legislature;
(d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government.
and includes any –
(i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed,
(ii) non-Government organization substantially financed. …”
" ‘record’ includes—
(a) any document, manuscript and file;
(b) any microfilm, microfiche and facsimile copy of a document;
(c) any reproduction of image or images embodied in such microfilm (whether
enlarged or not); and
(d) any other material produced by a computer or any other device; …”
" ‘right to information’ means the right to information accessible under this Act
which is held by or under the control of any public authority and includes the
right to—
(i) the inspection of work, documents, records;
(ii) take notes, extracts or certified copies of documents or records;
(iii) take certified samples of material;
(iv) obtaining information in the form of diskettes, floppies, tapes, video cassettes or
in any other electronic mode or through printouts where such information is
stored in a computer or in any other device. …”
Source: http://rti.gov.in/rti-act.pdf
With the Right to Information Act becoming operative, it has become very easy for the
media to gather information from the public authority by filing an RTI application. The
54
information gathered through RTI act helps the media be a better watchdog of the
governmental processes. For example Vishnu Rajgadia, (Co-ordinating Editor, Prabhat
Khabar, Dhanbad and Deoghar Edition, Convener, Jharkhand RTI Forum) in “Right to
Information: Is Media Playing its Role?” points out how because of the use of the RTI, the
government was compelled to withdraw its resolution of privatizing the Delhi Jal Board.
To Read the article “Right to Information: Is Media Playing its Role?”
by Vishnu Rajgadia
Visit: http://www.cic.gov.in/Best%20Practices/rti_is_media_playing_its_role.htm
5.7 The Press Council of India
The Press Council of India was set up with the idea that a democratic society needs free and
responsible press. If the Press in particular and media in general are “to function effectively
as the watchdog of public interest” then it should have the freedom of expression which is
“unfettered and unhindered by any authority.” (presscouncil.nic.in) But this kind on
unhindered freedom of expression is only possible when the Press exercises its power with a
due sense of responsibility. For that the Press must follow the laws of the land and the norms
of journalistic ethics and at the same time uphold great principles of professional conduct.
Therefore, it was thought a self-regulatory body can be created which will regulate the press.
Hence, the birth of the Press Council.
Basic Duties of a Press Council
The main duties of a press council are:

 To accept complaints;
 To verify that they (complaints) fall within the remit of the code of ethics;
 To review them (complaints) thoroughly from each angle;
 To serve as mediator between the complainant and the media;
 To take decisions on complaints based on rules and regulations with fairness;
 To single out the media for breaching ethics guidelines;
 To secure transparency and publicity of all decisions taken;
 To analyze and comment on media trends and provide guidance about the code’s
requirements;
 To suggest amendments to the code of ethics (if mandated to do so);
 To set journalistic professional standards;
 To defend press freedom.
Source: The Media Self-Regulation Guidebook, 2008, Office of the Representative on
Freedom of the Media, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE),
Vienna, Austria. www.osce.org/fom/31497
55
5.8 Copyright Act 1957
The objective of the Copyright Act is to safeguard the interests of the writer or the creator of
a work of art, literature, etc. In case of literary, dramatic or musical work, “the Copyright act
does not authorize the doing of any of the following acts; namely:
 To reproduce the work in any material form
 To publish the work
 To perform the work in public
 To produce, reproduce, perform or publish any translation of the work
 To make any cinematograph film or a record in respect of the work
 To communicate the work by radio transmission or to communicate to the public by
loudspeaker or any other similar instrument the radio-transmission of the work
 To do in relation to a translation or an adaptation of the work any of the acts specified
in relation to the work in the first four clauses.”
(http://copyright.gov.in/Documents/CopyrightRules1957.pdf )
In India, before the enactment of Copyright Act in 1957, British Common Law was used
as the law to settle the disputes relating to copyright. The British Copyright Act, 1911 was
endorsed in India, by a proclamation in the Gazette of India on the 30th October 1912. After
two years, the Indian Copyright Act 1914 was passed. This act was more or less similar to the
British Copyright Act 1911, with slight modifications. At last, it is only in 1957 that the
Indian Copyright Act was enacted.
Infringement of Copyright
Article 51 of the Copyright Act 1957 deals with the infringement of Copyright. Copyright of
a work is thought to be infringed:
 “When any person, without a license granted by the owner of the Copyright or the
Registrar of the Copyrights under this Act or in contravention of the conditions of a
license so granted or of any condition imposed by a competent authority under this
Act does anything the exclusive right to do which is by this Act conferred upon the
owner of the copyright.”
 Copyright is also thought to be infringed when any person:
 “Makes for sale or hire or sells or
 Distributes either for the purpose of trade or to such an extent as to affect prejudicially
the owner of the Copyright or
 By way of trade exhibition in public, or
56
 Imports (except for the private and domestic use of the importer) into India, any
infringing copies of the work.”
(http://copyright.gov.in/Documents/CopyrightRules1957.pdf )
5.9 FM and Privatization of Radio
With the popularity of television as well as it is becoming cheaper, the significance of radio
had gone down significantly as people preferred to switch on their television sets instead of
radio as audio-visual media appealed to anyone more than just the audio media. But radio
reinvented itself in a newer form of FM transmissions. The privatization of radio led to its
revival to some extent amongst the youth as we see that FM during travels in our cars is a
very popular choice amongst younger generations. Not just youth, slowly, the variety of FM
channels has attracted diverse population to FM Channels. It is not that just the music lovers
are given a necessary entertainment in these FM Channels; but they also provide news,
information on roadblocks and traffic as well as weather reports. Some people may argue that
Privatization has many negative elements associated with it. For example, privatization
would mean commercialization. But if Commercialization brings in benefits for the common
people and if it also does not exclude the downtrodden and the underprivileged from the
developmental concerns, then it is no bad. Privatization of radio has led to no harm; but to a
revival of the importance of radio in our everyday life.
5.10 A Brief History of Print Media in India
The evolution of Newspapers in India is with the introduction of Bengal Gazette started by
James Augustus Hicky in 1780 from Calcutta. Very soon other Newspapers such as Calcutta
Chronicle, Madras Courier, and Bombay Herald, Bombay Courier, Bombay Gazette entered
into the scene and the Newspapers in Hindi and other regional languages also started
flourishing in the various parts of the nation.
Bengal was the birthplace of Journalism in India and the language press. ‘Samachar
Darpan’ was the first Indian language Newspaper which was a Bengali weekly newspaper
introduced in 1818 and the first periodical of India in Indian language was ‘Dig Darshan’ in
Bangla language started in the same year. ‘Eenadu’ was a Telugu daily which was started by
Ramoji Rao, first Gujarati Newspaper was ‘Bombay Samachar’ which still exists and is
considered as the oldest living Indian Newspaper of India.
Raja Rammohan Roy, who is considered as the founder of revolutionary Indian Press,
recognized the power of Newspapers and used it as a vehicle for propagating his liberal ideas
and eradicating the social evils prevailing in the Indian society. He introduced ‘Sambad
Kaumudi’ in Bengali in 1821 and published the articles promoting women education, social
betterment and awakening and development of scientific outlook. His other publications
include ‘Mirat-ul-Akhbar’ in Persian and ‘Brahmanical Magazine’ in English.
The era of Hindi Journalism started in 1826 with ‘UddantaMartanda’ from Kolkata, then
Bangdoot, Banaras Akhbaar, Gyandeepak, Malwa Akhbaar, Gwalior Gazette, Payam-e-
57
Azadi, Samachar SudhaVarshan, Lokhit, Marwaad Gazette, Jodhpur Government Gazette etc.
were introduced with the mission of independence, self-rule and social reforms. 1860’s
witnessed a boom in the Indian Language Press in the country. Several Newspapers made
their appearance in this period. Also, many English Newspapers which evolved at that time
are flourishing even today like The Times of India (1861), The Pioneer (1861), The
Statesman (1875) and The Hindu (1878).
The social reformers and freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak,
Aurbindo Ghosh, Annie Beasant, Surendra Nath Banerjee, Lala Lajpat Rai, Ganesh Shankar
Vidyarthi and many others recognized the power of pen and used it as a tool for propagating
the feeling of nationalism and brotherhood. They also used their Newspapers to remove the
socio-religious evils of the society. Thus, the history of Journalism in India is inseparably
linked with the development of social awareness, national consciousness and the progress of
freedom movement. Also, the Newspapers like Kesari, Pratap, Maratha, Yugantar,
Sudarshan, Samalochak, Maryada, Swadesh, Abhyudaya, Karmaveer, Karmyogi, Gadar etc.
brought revolution in the Hindi Journalism of India. Mahatma Gandhi, who was considered
as the greatest Journalist of his times used his Newspapers- Indian Opinion, Young India,
Navjivan, Satyagrah and Harijan, to expose the flaws of the society and to stimulate social
awakening.
Even the first Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, called the Newspapers a tool of
national reconstruction and social reformation. He supported the liberty of Press and
considered it as a vital part of democracy. Thus, the Print Media nurtured during the post-
independence era too.
In 1950s around 214 Newspapers were there, the number of which increased to 2,856 in
1990s, 35,595 by 1993, and the number reached to 46,655 in 1999 with 5,157 daily
newspapers. Indian Print Media is the largest Print Media and Newspaper market in the world
with over 100 million copies sold each day and is over 230 years old. Indian printing houses
print maximum Daily Newspapers than any other country in Asia. The total number of
registered publications as per the Registrar of Newspaper for India by 31st March 2012 is
more than 80,000 and the circulation of Newspapers is 37, 38, 39,764.
5.11 Fake News and the Future of Journalism
Fake News impacts the readers vociferously as they feel cheated and are not able to trust the
ways news is being disseminated. There are primarily three effects of fake news on the
people in general. They are –
 People feel ambivalent towards the “information structure” as they feel that their
voices will never be heard in such an atmosphere where false news is being
propagated and disseminated.
 People feel that the editorial team of the news industry are not up to their job in
verifying the facts and figures and moreover proliferates news which increases
58
their visibility.
 The cultural authority of the news industry is being questioned which not only
affects journalism, but also the other key institutions such as science, medicine
and education.
It is often felt that the news industry has lost its glamour and has become a pawn in the
hands of commercial interests and algorithmic editing. It is true that Google and Facebook
have changed the way things used to be as far as news is concerned. It has led to
dissemination of much fake and false news with the objective of gaining certain momentum
and profit in the short term; but social media, at the same time, has got other benefits. Social
media has led to the decentralization of the news industry where people realize the ways in
which fake news is being manufactured and then there will emerge “a more decentralized and
effective everyday culture of critique and argumentation” which will be beneficial for the
society at large.
The effect of fake news in the society is that it has created a mistrust in the minds of the
people against the political order as people feel that the political order often misuses the news
industry to gain some advantage by proliferating fake news. The false accounts of social
media are used to circulate these fake news which needs policing; but at the same time it is
also true that people’s realization of the ways of the fake news industry has made them
perceptive and aware that before believing in any news from the social media they should use
their judgment as well as check the sources of news to find out its truth factor.
Google, Facebook and other social media has been misappropriated to propagate the fake
news and thus the credibility of the digital media has been on a decline temporarily, but that
does not mean that the digital media itself is prone to such problems. Digital media has also
led to decentralization of news industry and has made it possible for every citizen to voice
their concerns and views leading to a much more democratic set up. Policing this democratic,
decentralized cyber media would mean stifling the voices of the common people. Instead
what is needed is that people are made aware how certain sections of the society are misusing
digital media to further their own ends.
When people realize that they need not believe in every piece of information that they
get in digital media and that they need to cross check and verify the information they receive,
then a time will come when the agents of propagation of fake news will fall apart and digital
media will become much more useful and resourceful.
Usually, these days we depend upon the social media to keep ourselves abreast of the
current issues and events around the world. The traditional media, especially newspapers and
magazines, are not so much in demand as far as news is concerned; but often having a look at
them keeps one grounded to the realities of this world and makes us understand that we need
to also keep them alive to keep a balance between the two worlds – the traditional as well as
the modern digital ones. The traditional media can be good way to keep a track of the
credible information and thus can be a focal point in our understanding of the ways of the
59
world, not only through the news in them, but also through the editorials, articles and features
that they carry.
5.12 Let’s Sum Up
In this unit, we have learnt that–
 The evolution of modern communication has five stages based on the developments in
communication technology. These stages are called five waves of communication
technology.
o First Wave: The Age of Print
o Second Wave: The Age of Signals
o Third Wave: The Age of Man and Machine
o Fourth Wave: The Age of Satellite Networks
o Fifth Wave: The Age of Network of Networks
 In India, the Constitution does not have any direct provision for the right to privacy,
though it is there implicitly in Article 21 of the Constitution which is about the Right
to Life.
 The Right to Information is one of the basic human rights in a democratic society and
is indispensable for free flow of information. If a democratic society has to function in
a proper manner, then it is essential that it has informed citizens.
 The Press Council of India was set up with the idea that a democratic society needs
free and responsible press. If the Press in particular and media in general are “to
function effectively as the watchdog of public interest” then it should have the
freedom of expression which is “unfettered and unhindered by any authority.”
(presscouncil.nic.in)
 Google, Facebook and other social media has been misappropriated to propagate the
fake news and thus the credibility of the digital media has been on a decline
temporarily, but that does not mean that the digital media itself is prone to such
problems. Digital media has also led to decentralization of news industry and has
made it possible for every citizen to voice their concerns and views leading to a much
more democratic set up. Policing this democratic, decentralized cyber media would
mean stifling the voices of the common people. Instead what is needed is that people
are made aware how certain sections of the society are misusing digital media to
further their own ends.

1. Discuss the Constitutional provisions of freedom of media.
2. Write short notes on
(a) Copy Right Act
60
(b) Right to Information
(c) Right to Privacy
(d) Fake News
(e) Social Media and Fake News
(f) History of Print Journalism in India
(g) The different ages of Mass Communication.
 B. N. Ahuja (1980) Theory and Practice of Journalism, Surjeet Publications, Delhi.

 Basu, Durga Das: (1996), Constitution of India, Prentice Hall of India Pvt. Ltd. New
Delhi.
 Guha Thakurta, Paranjoy, (2009): Media Ethics: Truth, fairness and Objectiviuty–
Making and Breaking News, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
 http://copyright.gov.in/Documents/CopyrightRules1957.pdf
 http://presscouncil.nic.in/act.htm
 http://rti.gov.in/rti-act.pdf
 Kamnath, M.V. (1980), Professional Journalism, New Delhi, Vikas Publishing
House.
 Kamnath, M.V. (2009), The Journalist’s Handbook, New Delhi, Vikas Publishing
House.
 Kumar, Keval J. (2007) Mass Communication in India, Third Edition, Jaico
Publishing House, Delhi
 Many Voices, One World (MacBride Report) (1980): UNESCO, New York.
 Media Problems and Prospects (1983), National Media Centre.
 Neelamalar, M., (2010): Media Law and Ethics, New Delhi, PHI Learning Pvt, Ltd.
 Norms of Journalistic Conduct, 2010 Edition, Press Council of India.
61

Media and Communication Skills - Unit I-V

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

Media and Communication Skills - Unit I-V

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Media and Communication Skills - Unit I-V

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

B.Com(H)/B.A.

(H) Political Science Semester-I/II/III

GENERIC ELECTIVE (ENGLISH)

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

Unit-1 : Mass Communication: An Introduction

SCHOOL OF OPEN LEARNING

Mass Communication: An Introduction

A Brief Look at the major achievements of Television in India

1.7.3 New Media

2.1 Advertising: Introduction

2.3 What is an Advertisement?

The Definition of Advertisement according to the

Broadcast Television and Radio

2.4 Publicity and Advertising

MISSION i.e. advertising objectives

M MONEY i.e. budget

MESSAGE i.e. core content aim

M MEDIA i.e. platform

MEASUREMENT i.e. evaluating impact

Moving beyond the AIDA Model

2.6 How to create an effective advertisement?

2.8 Advertising and Laws

The idea of Caveat Emptor

1. What is an advertisement? What are the purposes of advertisement?

Cyber Media and Social Media

3.9 Web Browsing

3.16 File Transfer protocols (FTP)

Writing for the Media

4.3 5 W and 1 H Questions

4.4 News Writing Style: Inverted Pyramid, Hourglass, etc.

Graphic Presentation of INVERTED PYRAMID Style of News Writing

4.6 Writing the Body of News

4.12 Live Presentation for Radio and Television

Some Significant Issues in Mass Communication

Article 19 (i) of the Indian Constitution: Right to Freedom

5.5 Right to Privacy

The factors which impaired free flow of information

5.7 The Press Council of India

Basic Duties of a Press Council

The main duties of a press council are:

5.13 University Questions

 B. N. Ahuja (1980) Theory and Practice of Journalism, Surjeet Publications, Delhi.

You might also like