The
simplest definition of mass communication is “public communication transmitted
electronically or mechanically.”In Mass communication messages are
transmitted or sent to large, perhaps millions or billions of people spread
across the world. They are different forms of mass media such as newspapers, magazines,
films, radio, television and internet. Media is the plural for the word medium
or ‘means of communication’. Means of
communication is also called channel of communication.
Definition
Mass
communication can therefore also be defined as ‘who’, ‘says what’, ‘in which
channel’, ‘to whom’, ‘with what effect’.
Who’ : refers to the
communicator sender or encoder.
‘what’ means the
message. What the communicator has written, spoken or shown is the message.
‘In what channel’:
The channels are the means through which messages are sent. These may
be newspapers, films,
radio, television or the internet.This refers to the medium or channel like the
newspaper, radio, or television.
‘To whom’ : This
refers to the person receiving the message or the receiver.
“With what effect”:
This refers to the impact or effect r feedback of a message on a channel or
medium.
Elements of Mass
Communication
Mass communication is
characterized by the transmission of complex messages to large and
diverse audiences, using sophisticated technology of
communication. Mass media refers to the institutions that provide such
messages such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, film
and Internet.
Here are some
distinguishing characteristics of mass communication.
1. The source of mass communication message generally is a person
or group operating within an organizational setting. Examples of these
sources are news reporters, television producers and magazine editors.
Likewise, the source generally is a multiple entity, For example, producers,
writers, actors, directors and video editors copyeditors, typesetters,
graphic designers and photographers together produce a magazine article.
ƒ2. Mass media
messages are sophisticated and complex. Mass media messages are quite
elaborate. Examples of mass media message are a news report, a novel, a
movie, a television program, a magazine article, newspaper columns, a music
video, and a billboard advertisement.
ƒ
3. Channels of mass
media, involve one or more aspects of technology. for example, Radi involves
tape machines, microphones, devices that digitize sound
waves, transmitters that disseminate them, and receiving units that decode
the sound waves and render.
4. Audiences generally are self-selected, people who tune in to a particular television
or who read a particular magazine. Mass audiences also are
heterogeneous, meaning that they are both large and diverse. They actually are
made up of groups of people with dissimilar background, demographics, and
socio-political characteristics; they are spread over a vast geographic
area.
5. Feedback is minimal in mass media, and
no real give-and-take is practically possible. Message flow typically is
one-way, from source to receiver. Traditionally, feedback has been minimal
and generally delayed. A newspaper reader could write a letter to the
editor; a television viewer might respond to a survey. With the Internet,
new possibility are being found to increase feedback, but it remains
limited.
6. Noise exists in the mass context. Noise
may be semantic, environmental or mechanical.
ORIGIN OF MASS COMMUNICATION
There was a
time when men on horseback travelled long distances to convey news , Pigeons
were used as postmen to deliver messages. We may heard of Kalidasa
who was one of the greatest Sanskrit poets describe in his poem ‘Meghdoot’, a
Yaksha (celestial singer) sends messages to his beloved through the clouds.
The invention of
paper and printing, and later newspapers, were the first steps towards mass
communication. Before the invention of paper, writing was done on rocks,
leather, palm leaves etc. The Chinese are credited with the use of some sort of
paper in 105 AD, the word ‘paper’ is derived from the name of a plant Papyrus,
that grows on the banks of river Nile in Egypt.
It is believed that Johannes Gutenberg of Germany was the
first to develop printing around 1439. With printing, there was a revolution in
the way communication developed. The printing process that Gutenberg developed
later underwent much changes and mechanization. Computers have further improved
printing operations. You will learn more about printing in your next module on
‘print media’.
History of Mass Communication
The first
communication revolution came with the invention of writing. This allowed people
to communicate over time and distance. ƒ
The second major
communication
revolution came with the invention of mass writing by the printing press.
This allowed people to communicate in larger numbers. The printing press
spurred the transition from medieval to modern society and the
concurrent growth of education and discovery.
The third
communication revolution was led by the invention of the telegraph in the 1830s.
Prior to that time, people could communicate only if they could see or hear a
message presentation – read a book, hear a speech, observe smoke
signals, receive a message by horse or carrier pigeon. The telegraph made
possible two-way communication at the speed of light (186,000 miles per
second) in real time. It also made possible communication that was
not bound by distance, quickly spreading across continents and oceans. The telephone enhanced
this technology, and both inventions brought not only new communication
opportunities.
The fourth
communication revolution involved what today can be categories as
electronic media devices such as radio, photography, film, television and
sound recordings. These communication devices had major social
consequences, creating new opportunities for learning, sharing and discovery,
as well as new patterns of entertainment and information.
ƒThe fifth communication revolution was twofold. It involves the
invention of both the computer and the communication satellite. Computers serve
as the storehouses and transmitters of vast amount of information, virtually the sum
of all human knowledge. Satellites make possible the instantaneous
transmission of messages throughout the world. Features associated with
both include wireless technology, fiber optics, digitization, miniaturization,
data compression and interactivity.
Role of Mass
Media
Historians identify four basic roles for the mass
media: surveillance, interpretation, socialization and
entertainment. .
Surveillanceƒ
Surveillance refers to the news
and information role of mass media. This role can be subdivided into warning
surveillance associated with the news media information about such as
floods, military attack, and depressed economic conditions and instrumental surveillance associated
with transmission of useful information about news products, entertainment
guides, stock market prices, etc.
Information
The most important
function of mass communication is dissemination of information to the public
primary through news media-electronic and print. Information diffused through
these channels (media) is about new events, products, changes in policies,
ideas, philosophies and so forth. Mass media are particularly effective to
spread current information having news values.
Interpretation is the function
of mass media that provides a context for new information and commentary
about its significance and meaning. Traditionally, newspapers provided
such interpretation in their editorial and commentary
sections. Reporting was said to be objective; that is, free from
comment and interpretation. The idea was that reporters would offer
factual information untainted by commentary, and readers would decide for themselves
the significance and meaning of that information. Such a quest for
objectivity is vast amount of television reporting seems to have blended
the news-reporting and commentary functions.
SocializationƒThe
media also have a role in socialization, the transmission of values within a
society, particularly the modeling of appropriate behavior and
attitudes. This in turn helps create a stable society with common
social values. In its simplest form, the socialization role of the media
gives people a common discussion topic. Television and film have the
greatest potential for socialization because they seem to be the most
realistic. They can be quite influential, particularly on young people;
and images or role models of social behavior as well as fashion, grooming
styles, and other aspects of social interaction can be presented through
television and film.
Entertainment: . Entertainment
is the most common function of mass communication, sometimes called the
diversion function because it diverts us from the real world. Entertainment
always has been part of society. Through sound recordings,
film, radio and television, entertainers have been able to attract audiences
around the globe. Painters, sculptors and poets reach mass audiences
through books and magazines.
The entertainment
function of the media has been
subdivided into three categories: stimulation, relaxation, and release
express anger, hostility or fear. When used for entertainment, the mass
media publicize such programs as are pleasurable to the consumers or at least
they provide the audience with some sort of escape of diversion from anxieties
of daily life. For example, Newspapers for this purpose may include comics,
crossword puzzles and the like. Televisions may show situation comedies, drama,
variety shows, etc. Radio entertainment primarily consists of music, talk
shows, etc
Persuading: Persuasion is
another function of mass media. Because of its having persuasive potential,
both electronic and print media are used for advertising products, services,
business, charities, or for political campaign.
THE MASS
COMMUNICATION-Mass Media Classifications
Communication
scholars have approached media studies from several different perspectives,
each focusing on a different aspect of the media. This variety is helpful
to gain a fuller understanding of mass media. Canadian theorist
Marshall McLuhan identified hot media and cool media on the basis of how
much they engage the user and the intensity of a user’s connection with
the medium. This distinction also deals with the duration of the
relationship between the audience and the medium, and the level
of audience participation needed to access information.
ƒ
Hot media require a high degree
of thinking from media users, who have to fill in missing information from
their own imagination. Examples of hot media are books and to a lesser
extent magazines and newspapers. Among electronic media, radio is a hot
medium when it engages listeners’ imaginations, such as in radio
drama.
ƒCool
media allow
audiences to be passive spectators because others have made the
creative decisions. Television requires little intellectual involvement;
radio played simply for background music also is cool. McLuhan saw movies
seen in movie theaters as hotter than television because movies have huge
screens and darkened screens that serve to engage the audience. But
movies seen on home VCRs lack the heat of theatrical presentations.
Likewise, while live theater is quite hot, a video-recording of concert
falls into the cool category. Another way of categorizing media is through
their intended use. Entertainment media such as books, magazines and
television dramas are significantly different than information media such
as newspapers and television news programs. They appeal to different
audiences and serve different functions.
Still another
categorization of media is in the elitist-populist model.
ƒ
Elitist media are those
that serve to uplift society and contribute to culture. Examples
are serious-minded magazines, television programs focusing on art or
history, recordings of classical music or contemporary jazz.
Populist media are those that
satisfy the baser expectations of the marketplace.
Sensationalistic tabloid newspapers, reality television shows and music
videos are examples of this. Pornography is the ultimate example of
populist media.
Different form of
Mass communication Media:
Media which are used
for sending messages to a huge number of audiences at home and abroad are known
as mass media. These media are so large in number that it will not be an
exaggeration to comment that we are a media society. But we will notice here
some important media only:
Print Media: Print media are
most suitably applied to the literate section of our human society. These media
usually carry the message of commercial, economic or political interest to the
readers or consumers at home and abroad. The print media may be of different
forms such as dailies. Weeklies, periodicals, leaflets, etc.
Audio Media: Radio is the best
audio medium. Through these medium advertisements, government messages,
circulars, etc. are widely spread for public consumption. Besides, microphones
and record players also act as audio media. When messages are sent through
these media, audiences receive them by the ear. So these media are particularly
important for illiterate messes.
Audio Visual Media: Messages sent
through these media are seen as well as heard simultaneously. A television, one
of the audiovisual media, is the most powerful and influential mass medium.
Varieties of programs such as documentaries, news, educational shows, adventure
series, sports spectaculars, movies, cartoons and so forth, are presented
through a television to meet the needs of all viewers. The other media in this
group are movies, video cassettes, etc.
Traditional Media: In addition to
these above-mentioned modern media, some authors have mentioned a few
traditional media for mass communication. Important traditional media are
‘Jattra stage’. Theater stage, drama stage, drumming, etc.
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