Contemporary Media Scenario

Contemporary Media Scenario
CONTEMPORARY MEDIA SCENARIO

UNIT 1
Indian Media consist of several different types of communications: television,
radio, cinema, newspapers, magazines, and Internet-based
Websites/portals. Indian media was active since the late 18th century with
print media started in 1780, radio broadcasting initiated in 1927, and the
screening of Auguste and Louis Lumière moving pictures in Bombay
initiated during the July of 1895. It is among the oldest and largest media of
the world. Media in India has been free and independent throughout most of
its history.
Emperor Asoka’s pillar inscriptions & rock edicts in different parts of the
Mauryan Empire during 3rd century BC are considered examples of imperial
political communication to the informed & literate section of the population.
Ashoka used the Prakrit language in his communication on ethics & morals
as evidence by his inscriptions. The learning languages were confined to
high casts – Writing was done on palm leaves using a style, but the written
documents were considered too sacred to be touched or used by the lower
classes. According to historians of journalism, news was collected in a well-
organized manner under Akbar the Great – The Bengal Gazette founded by
James Augustus Hickey (surname) or Hickey It was a weekly newspaper,
and was founded in 1779, in Calcutta.
Pioneers of Journalism are a particular group of professionals who

incorporate new organizational forms and experimental practice in pursuit
of redefining the field and its structural foundations. Some of the prominent
pioneers in Indian Journalism, include:
 James Augustus Hickey, an English man, started and edited the first
newspaper in India. On 29th January 1780, in Calcutta, Bengal
Gazette or the Calcutta General Advertiser (popularly known as
Hickey’s Journal) began with two sheets as a weekly.
 James Silk Buckingham was a Cornish-born British author,
journalist and traveller. He contributed to Indian journalism by being
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the Editor of Calcutta Chronicle during the 19th century. He is the

first real journalist and was a pioneer among the Europeans who
fought for a liberal press in India. The first issue of Calcutta Chronicle
was published in October 2, 1818, which comprised a chronicle of
political, commercial and literary news and views.
 Raja Ram Mohan Roy was basically a social reformer who
contributed significantly for the elimination of the Sati System and for
the spread of Women Education in the country. He is truly said to be
the ‘Father of the Indian Journalism’. He brought out journals in some
major languages including Bengali, Persian and Hindi in order to
create socio-cultural and political awareness among the people of
India. Some of the newspapers he brought forth include:
o Sambad Kaumudi (Bengali);
o Mirat-ut Akhbar (Persian);
o Brahminicial Magazine (English)
 Bal Gangadar Tilak or Lokmaya Tilak, popularly known as “The
Father of Indian Unrest.” His purpose of bringing awareness within
the people and took them into a new era, creating hopes between
them and their implantation started taking root in his mind. Tilak
decided to publish two newspapers “Kesari” in Marathi and “Maratha”
in English language. Tilak believed in journalism as a right to form
public opinion and it is the duty of a newspaper to bring to the notice
of the Government the nature of powers created in the political life of a
country and warn against such powers.
 G Subramaniam Iyer, was a social reformer and freedom fighter who
chose to fight his battle of freedom by establishing two prominent
newspapers, one being The Hindu, which is still considered as most
respectable newspaper and the other was one of the first Tamil
newspaper Swadesamitran. Subramaniam Iyer tried to use his
newspaper as a vehicle to reform the society. He served as editor for
the publication in 1908; he was prosecuted and sentenced for sedition
by British government. While Subramaniam Iyer was more
comfortable in writing in English he started Tamil newspaper
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Swadesamitran four years after the Hindu was established. He

inspired Tamil people to join the freedom movement through his
writings.
The print medium has been replaced by the e-paper and the m-paper.
Televisions shows are now available on different apps like Hotstar. Video-on
demand, video games, new media, internet have all transformed traditional
viewing pattern and had given rise to a new paradigm of communication.
So content providers are increasingly integrating terrestrial transmission

with satellite, cable, broadband and telephony.
A new digital communication technology has emerged with an E-

superhighway beginning to girdle the globe as voice, video and data
converge. New technologies are gaining wide acceptance due to several
advantages like—
a. Interactivity& Immediacy
b. Demassification & narrowcasting (customization, segmentation, and

individualization leading to narrowcasting.
c. Asynchrony (the exchange of data, figures, and conversation takes

place on a real time basis, without the presence of all the participants.
Example videoconferencing).
d. User friendly and Ease of updating
e. Time saving and Cost Effective
Convergence is today a reality and India is fast waking up to the digital era,
re-shaping the way the individuals and organizations produce, process,
market, collaborate and share information.
Whilst we are living in an increasingly digital world, print media is still an

incredibly important part of the marketing mix. Investing in print media can
help businesses to extend their reach to potential customers, gain exposure
and engage their target audiences with campaigns. Here are five reasons
why printed material is effective:
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1. It can be targeted
Printed media can be tailored to your target market, both in terms of the
style of design as well as in how you distribute the material. This means you
can focus your marketing budget on reaching the audience you want and
make the material relevant and appealing to them.
2. It can create credibility
Another reason why print media is important is because it creates

credibility. Investing in printed material signals to customers that you are
serious about your business and that you offer a worthwhile product or
service.
3. It can create engagement
Printed materials can also create engagement between the customer and the
brand. By providing interesting articles to read, special offers or amusing
copy there is the opportunity to provide a connection between the reader
and the product that can lead to brand awareness and sales.
4. It can be kept
Unlike webpages, print media has a longer lifespan. Rather than spending a
few seconds on a site and then moving on, brochures and leaflets can be
picked up and put down and referred back to. They can also be passed onto
friends or colleagues, maximising the reach of your campaign.
5. It can link to digital campaigns
Finally, print media offers the chance to link paper with online content.
Examples here include the use of a QR code or referral to a website for more
information or to make an online order.
Newspapers and magazines are print publications issued at regular intervals

over time. The purpose of a newspaper is to convey, as efficiently as
possible, current information, or "news" What constitutes "news" depends in
part on the intended audience. Newspapers aimed at a general audience will
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carry news about politics, crime, wars, economics--just about anything that
could interest a general reader.
Newspaper, as you know, is a daily publication covering variety of content

for general as well as specialised audiences. The presentation of the content
also varies as per the needs and requirements of the format followed.
However, the basic functions remain the same - to inform, educate and
entertain.
Hard news Soft news

Hard news describes the accounts News which doesn’t depend much
of event that has happened or are on the time element is often called
about to happen, impacting large soft news
part of the society
It deals with breaking news and up- It primarily focusses on
to-the-minute news about serious, entertainment.
timely, or hard-hitting topics that
are timely and urgent.
It is usually based on facts and Soft news deals with more emphasis
rigorous research. on human interest, novelty and
colourful writing
Political journalism, business Soft news includes sports
journalism, and watchdog journalism, entertainment
journalism are forms of hard news journalism, and celebrity coverage
Hard news present the facts in a While hard stories focus on 5W and
straight forward manner, focusing 1H; soft news gives a wider
on the basic rules of news writing - perspectives on the facts and gives
who, what, where, when, why and overall observations.
how (5W&1H).
TYPES OF NEWSPAPERS
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Newspapers can be Broadsheet (23.5 × 29.5 in.) or Tabloid (11 × 16.9 in.)
Broadsheet:
In-depth, wide-ranging and informative featuring more political and wide

ranging stories
Tabloid:
Shorter stories with simple vocabulary Entertainment-based lots of celebrity

coverage, amazing or quirky stories, bigger photos, more opinionated and
judgmental
What is a feature?
A feature resembles a news story in some respects but also differs from it in
some ways. Like a news story, a feature deals with facts. But it differs from
a news story in that it may be longer than its news value justifies and it
need not follow the standard form of news presentation. A news story has
two main components – the lead and the body. A feature also has a third
component– the conclusion. The lead consists of a summary of the subject
matter, the body elaborates on it and the conclusion sums it up or draws a
moral from it. The feature writer has far greater flexibility than a news
reporter
EDITORIAL
A conventional editorial may be defined as a critical interpretation of

significant, usually contemporary, events so that the publication’s typical
reader will be informed, influenced or entertained. The world ‘critical’ is used
as evaluating and not exclusively as fault-finding. In other word it usually is
a considered statement of opinion. An editorial may also be defined as a
journalistic essay which either attempts (1) to inform or explain, (2) to
persuade or convince, or (3) to stimulate insight in an entertaining or
humourous manner.
Purposes of Editorials
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The newspaper editorial is often referred to as the voice of the paper.

Editorials try to persuade people to think in a particular way. Editorials are
meant to influence public opinion and encourage critical thinking.
1. Inform: The writer gives careful explanations about a complicated

issue.
2. Promote: The writer tries to promote a worthy activity. Get the reader
involved.
3. Praise: The writer praises a person or an event.
4. Entertain: The writer encourages or entertains the reader about an
important issue.
The editorial page provide a platform for readers to give their opinion in
order to:
 Provoke thought and discussion

 Influence the public officials
 Suggest action to be taken
 Provide background and analyses events
Typography of Newspaper and Magazine
Newspaper Magazine
Newspapers audience is the public. Magazines have a targeted audience
This is for anyone to read. They do who their content is geared toward.
not have a specific audience that
they target their stories to.
Newspapers are known for having a Magazines have much more visual
simple layout and design. Subjected expression and not subject to one
to a consistent template consistent layout.
Newspaper are mostly in black and Magazines use lots of color, different
white, and the style and font is types and sizes of fonts, and tons of
fairly consistent throughout. colored images.
Newspapers follow a multi lingual Most of the magazines follow
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typography Comparison of stroke expressive typography. A magazine

width, x-height and counter space is designer use creativity for
an important activity in multilingual expressing various emotions. One
typography can select a font which can convey
an emotion or you can play around
with the way you use letters.
Layout of newspaper have only a The visual strength of magazine is
white background enhanced with the effective use of
colour backgrounds in combination
with white in magazines
A newspaper article must follow the A magazine can have more flexibility
grid structure and keep its images on the design layout. That is it can
and text in the column structure. break the grid layout and create a
more design layout.
Image quality of newspaper can be Image quality of magazine can be
200 dpi 300 dpi
Newspaper concentrates more on Magazine can have a flexible
news stories and figures related to balance of text and graphics.
the particular news story.
NEWSPAPERS MAGAZINE
Written in a more elevated prose Magazine is topic oriented and it
style, and will usually offer more in- doesn’t cover news rather explain
depth coverage of news facts regarding the background of
current happenings
Newspaper attempts to inform. Magazine attempts to enlighten and
entertain.
A newspaper, typically does not Magazines and periodicals usually
have a cover, but a nameplate have covers, often bearing an
running across the top of its front illustration or photograph.
page, the rest of the page being
filled with news-stories.
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Newspapers will simply identify the Magazines have detailed tables of

principal sections (i.e. national contents
news, local news, sports, society
news, classifieds, business news,
etc.).
Organizational Structure of a newspaper department
Editorial Department
The editorial department is the key section of a newspaper. The news,

features, comments, columns, editorials, cartoons, letters to the editor are
handled by this section under the leadership of the editor or editor-in-chief.
A host of assistant editors, news editors, sub-editors, special correspondents
and reporters work under the editor. The chief reporter along with a team of
reporters collects news from various places. These reports are edited by a
team of sub editors under the supervision of a news editor. Most
newspapers have separate desks for local, regional, national and foreign
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news. Presently, most of the newspapers have online editions. A team of

journalists will edit, design and present the content for the internet editions.
The desk people are highly skilled in carrying out this specific job of editing.
They sit at the desk or in the office and work in shifts. Their role is very
specialized and demands immense creativity and concentration. It is
because of their contribution that news becomes worthy of publication. They
scan through all the news items, select the ones that are newsworthy and
relevant for their readers, look for factual and qualitative errors, correct
them, cut them to fit into the limited space without tampering the actual
meaning of the news and finally give the news the shape and style that is
followed by their newspaper. Therefore, the newsroom is the hub of the
entire activities, and the Editorial Desk (also known as the Editorial
Department or Copy Desk or News Desk) is the nerve centre of a newsroom.
Structure of Editorial Department
The editorial department is described as the soul of a newspaper. The

department has two important sections namely reporting and editing.
Reporters gather news from different parts of the country and also from
abroad. Photographers provide photos and cartoonists supply sketches of
personalities and events. Editorial writers and special writers contribute
editorials, features, articles, middles, columns etc. All the news collected
including the photographs, cartoons, special stories, columns, middles etc.
are edited and arranged by the editorial department. The organisational
structure of the reporting and editing section is given below.
Editor
Reporting Section Editing Section

1. Bureau Chief 1. News Editor
2. Chief Reporter 2. Chief Sub-editor
3. Senior Reporters 3. Senior Sub-editors
4. Special Correspondents 4. Special/Magazine Editor
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5. Reporters 5. Sub-editors
6. Trainee Reporters 6. Trainee Sub-editors
1. Editor
The editor takes all important decisions connected with the publication of
news and expression of opinion on vital national and international issues
and events.
He/she coordinates the editorial department (editing & reporting). Every

newspaper in India is required under the law to print the name of the editor
on every issue. This pins responsibility on the editor for what goes to print.
If a newspaper violates the laws of the land the person responsible can
easily be identified, located and booked.
The editor is appointed by the proprietor. The relationship between an editor

and a proprietor need not be a smooth one always. We have numerous cases
in India where the editor had to step down on account of disagreements with
the proprietors. In some cases the proprietors have unceremoniously kicked
out the editors. Legendary Malayalam editor Swadeshabhimani
Ramakrishna Pilla had left the editorship of many newspapers on account of
disagreements with the proprietors.
Some people hold the view that an editor is responsible solely to his/her
conscience and to the readers. Interference on the editorial policy or on the
discharge of the duties of an editor is considered an assault on the freedom
of the press and it should be resisted at any cost. But there are few takers
for this view.
Some newspapers such as The Times of India have done away with the post
of chief editor. Some others such as The Hindu, and Malayala Manorama
choose the editor from the family memebers of the proprietors so that they
can avoid possible differences of opinion in the editorial matters.
2. News Editor
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News editor is in charge of the newsroom and his major responsibility is in

the selection of news stories. He/she allocates tasks to news team and
instructs reporters on the news angles which are to be highlighted in
reports. News editor is directly answerable to the chief editor.
The news editor in consultation with the chief reporter will decide what news
stories should be covered and in what detail. As the final authority on the
news, he has the power to stop the printing of a newspaper in order to
accommodate an important fast-breaking news story. He/she must scan all
incoming news and issue directions for appropriate editing. Dummy for the
first page is finalised by the news editor. He/she should know the pressure,
stress, ordeals and joys of working in the late night as well as the strain of
competitive journalism and news operations.
3. Chief sub-editor
The senior sub-editor or the chief sub-editor is the captain of the editorial
section of the news desk. It is his/her responsibility to see that copies are
distributed among the sub-editors and to ensure that copies are edited
properly, attractive and meaningful headlines are given and copies are free
from libels. The edited copies are handed over to the printing section before
the cut-off time.
4. Sub-editor/copy editor
The sub-editor also known as copy editor has been described as the midwife
to the story and the unsung hero of a newspaper. He/she should have a
lawyer’s analytical approach and quick-mindedness which enables him/her
to understand a story quickly and come to the core of the matter.
A sub-editor has to give appropriate headlines and, where necessary, revise

and condense the material to suit the available space. These tasks call for a
flair for writing and mastery over the language. He/she has to check and
recheck facts, style, grammar etc. while editing a story in a newspaper.
Sub editing is the process by which an editor makes formatting changes and
other improvements to text. The sub editor's job may be summarized in the
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5 Cs: To make the copy clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and

consistent.
The sub editor is also expected to ensure the text flows, i.e., reads well. The
job of a sub editor is to produce copy that makes sense and is fair and
accurate, and that it will cause no legal problems for the publisher or editor.
Newspaper sub editors are sometimes responsible for choosing which news
agency copy the newspaper will use, and for rewriting it according to their
house style.
A sub editor may abridge or shorten text, which is also called "cutting" or
"trimming." This means reducing the length of a news story or article, either
to fit publishing limits, or to improve the material. A good sub editor should
have sound judgment, scholarliness, varied exposure and experience,
memory, motivation, curiosity, imagination and skepticism. The sub editor
adds life and movement to the piece by substituting active verbs for passive
verbs. He highlights the specifics and underplays the generalities. A sub
editor adds colour to copy by using words creatively. He maintains both
brevity (shortness) and simplicity so that readers can grasp the information
and ideas more easily without reading long prose.
The sub editor looks for ways and means to incorporate the cannons of
effective communication- clarity, cohesiveness, completeness, conciseness,
comprehensiveness, continuity, etc., into the copy. Sub editors also have
many other responsibilities including: ensuring accuracy, cutting down
unnecessary words, protecting and polishing the language, correcting
inconsistencies, making the story conform to the newspaper's style,
eliminating scandalous and libelous statements, making sure the story is
readable and complete.
A sub-editor’s working hours are more regular than that of a reporter.

Unlike a reporter who can be called to duty at any time, a sub-editor’s duty
is fixed like any other office worker’s. The only difference is that a sub-editor
has to work in shifts and his/her work begins in the late afternoon and goes
up to 2 to 3 in the week hours of the morning.
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Press Council of India
The Press Council of India is a statutory body created by the Press Council
Act of 1978. It is the apex body for the regulation of the Press in India. It
enjoys independence from the government.
The mandate of the Press Council of India, is to specifically promote the

standards of the media by building up for it a code of conduct.
The Press Council of India has a chairman nominated by a committee, apart

from the chairman there will be 28 members.
The Composition of 28 Members include: 2 Rajya Sabha Members, 3 Lok

Sabha Members, 7 Working Journalists (other than editors of newspapers),
6 Editors of Newspapers, 3 people with specialized knowledge on public life,
1 person who manages news agencies and 6 persons in the business of
managing newspapers.
 Press Council of India has the ability to warn, admonish and censure
any editor or realist who floats the journalistic standards.
 Press Council of India has the power as per the civil court with
authority to summon witness, inspect documents and receive
evidence.
 PCI is established not only to help newspapers but also to maintain
independence.
 PCI help in building up principles for maintenance of high standards
of journalistic profession with a stress on public taste.
 To take penal action against defaulting newspaper and news agencies.
 To preserve the freedom of the press and of maintaining and
improving the standards of the press in India.
 PCI acts as the regulator that defines and discharge professional
standards for the print media in India.
 Press Council of India is considered as the most important body that
sustains democracy and ensure that freedom of speech is protected.
 PCI arbitrates the complaints against and by the press for violation of
ethics and for violation of the freedom of the press.
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Functional Structure of Press Council of India
 Making sure that newspapers are able to maintain their

independence.
 Maintain high standards of news for public consumption.
 Keep a track on the developments that might obstruct the flow of
information or news freely.
 Build a code of conduct for the journalists for high professional
standards.
 Build a code of conduct for news agencies to maintain high
professional standards.
 Provide training to new journalists.
 It works to promote technical and other research areas related to
news.
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First Press Commission
There was a need to map the status of the press in order to check the
malpractices and to keep the professional standards high. The first Press
Commission was appointed in 1952 with these objectives. Justice G. S.
Rajadhyakhsa was the Chairman of the first Press Commission. It was
constituted on 23rd September 1952 by the Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting (MIB). Some of the other members of the 10 member working
group were Dr. C. P. Ramaswamy Aiyer, Acharya NarendraDeo,
Dr.ZakirHussain, and Dr. V.K.V. Rao. After considering the
recommendations of the Press Commission and the note submitted by the
MIB, the Union Cabinet adopted a Resolution on 13 September, 1955, which
became the basic policy document in regard to the Press in India.
Need of the First Press Commission:
The objectives of the first press commission were as following:
1) to secure freedom of speech and expression
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2) to curb-yellow journalism, sensationalism, malicious attacks on

public men, indecency and vulgarity, bias in presentation of news and
lack of responsibility in comment
3) to inquire the control, management and ownership, the financial
structure as well as other important aspects of the newspaper
industry in the country.
Recommendations of the First Press Commission:
The recommendation of the first press commission for the first time provides
idea of what a responsible press should be.
 To protect the freedom of the press and to maintain high standards of

journalism, a Press Council should be established.
 To prepare the account of the press and the position of every year,
there should be appointment of the Registrar of Newspaper for India
(RNI).
 Price-page schedule should be introduced to protect the small
newspapers from the fierce competition.
 For maintaining a cordial relationship between the government and
the Press, a Press Consultative Committee should be constituted.
 Working Journalists Act should be implemented.
 It recommended establishment of a fact-finding Committee to evaluate
the financial position of the newspapers and news agencies.
 For protecting the main principles of the freedom of the press and to
help the newspapers against monopolistic tendencies, a Newspaper
Financial Corporation should be constituted.
 It had also recommended the conversion of the PTI into a public
corporation.
 There should be indigenisation of both capital and the staff especially
at the higher levels and it was highly desirable that proprietarily
interests in publication should vest predominantly in Indian hands.
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Magazine (Etymology & Typology) /Characteristics What is a magazine?
Magazines are one of the oldest of media forms, arguably ‘the most
successful media format ever to have existed’.
Harper (2001) has, and trace the word magazine back to the 1580s, as a
‘place for storing goods, especially military ammunition’ A magazine is a
publication that is issued periodically. It generally contains essays, stories,
poems, articles, fiction, recipes, images etc.
Magazines are directed at general and special audience, often published on

a weekly or monthly basis. We know that the word "magazine" is derived
from Arabic word makhazin or "storehouse," which contains a collection of
facts and fiction, all bundled together in one package. Gentlemen's
Magazine, founded in 1731 is considered as the world's first magazine.
A book is a storehouse of information. So is a newspaper for that matter.

The storehouse however does direct us to the miscellany – ‘a form marked
by variety of tone and constituent parts’ (Beetham 1996: 1) – and the first
magazines did indeed display miscellaneous content that distinguished
them from newspapers or books (although books can be a miscellany too).
Historians disagree as to which was the first magazine.
Characteristics of magazines
 While popular magazines provide broad overviews of topics, scholarly

journals provide in-depth analysis of topics and report the findings of
research, and trade magazines report on industry trends, new
products or techniques.
 A popular magazine which caters to the general public uses non-
technical language.
 The contents of these magazines include interviews, general interest
articles and various types of features. They usually cover a wide range
of topics based on research, source comments and generalizations.
 Articles are usually written by a staff writer or a journalist; in some
cases, interesting articles of freelancers are also encouraged. They
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generally contain many interesting and sometimes sensuous

photographs to attract readers.
 In general, magazine articles are easy to read, fairly brief in length,
and may include illustrations or photographs.
 Magazines don't necessarily follow a specific format or structure in
writing the articles. Its attractive appearance, eye-catching cover
pictures and illustrations on quality paper make it more appealing to
the reading public.
 Magazines also contain many colourful and impressive
advertisements.
 Magazines have an editorial philosophy. Magazines have editors.
 Magazines have readers and containers for the curated content of
words, images and design, where each of these elements is as
important as the other and the entire content is filtered through an
editor via an editorial philosophy that speaks and responds to the
specific needs of a niche readership.
 Magazines are serial in nature and finite in execution. Each issue is
almost always produced and consumed in a mid-temporal media
space, allowing time for contemplation and desire.
TYPES OF MAGAZINES
Consumer magazines like Women’s magazines, Men’s magazines, hobby and

human interest magazines, Business magazines, contact and community
magazines.
Community magazines: based on a particular community or special interest

groups.
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RADIO
Radio is a fascinating medium among the various mass communication

media because of its special characteristics. It continues to be as relevant
and potent as it was in the early years despite the emergence of more
glamourous media. It is a truism that in the first phase of broadcasting
spanning three decades from the early twenties, radio reigned alone or was
the dominant player.
Since it is a blind or sightless medium, the performer (announcer,

newsreader, discussant, narrator, etc.) has to creatively conjure up images
of listener listeners. The listeners too have to imagine the performance
creatively. But the performer must spark off the imagination of the listeners
with expressive performance or communication. Here are some important
characteristics of radio:
Medium of Sound and Voice It is an exclusive medium of the sound. It is an

aural or auditory medium, a medium of the ear. There are three major
elements of a radio broadcast: spoken-word, music and sound effects. They
are all sounds carried on the air waves to the listener. To be acceptable, all
these sounds must be pleasant and expressive for the ears. They must be
artistically integrated or mixed to provoke the imagination of the listener,
otherwise, the intention of the broadcast would be defeated.
Link between Speaker and Listeners
Microphone is the instrument through which a radio broadcaster speaks to

the listeners. And, microphone is a devilish precision instrument. It is a hi-fi
(high fidelity or faithful) instrument that catches the softest sigh, the
minutest shade of the voice, the tiniest rustle of the paper. It exposes all
vocal lies or untruthful expressions. It amplifies even the feeblest hiss or a
sob. Microphone will tell all, the truth from a lie hence only truthful vocal
expressions can go well with the ear of the listeners. Because of these
characteristics of the microphone, broadcaster must speak into the mike as
if the listeners are sitting by histher side. Sthe must not speak like a stage
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performer who has to reach out to the last man in the last row. The stage
performer has to project oneself because the auditormum diminishes the
voice and body. But the radio performer must project 'inwards' because the
micr~phone amplifies or magnifies the voice.
Intimate Medium
Radio is an intimate medium. The broadcaster must imagine the listeners

sitting by histher side, shoulder to shoulder. To the listeners, it sounds as if
the broadcaster is speaking from within the sound box, the radio se't or the
transistor for each listener individually. Radio being an intimate medium,
the best subjects for radio broadcasts are those which intimately concern
the listener like the personal, the private and the innermost feelings.
Intimate subjects are especially relevant to good radio drama and intimate
style of acting is especially relevant to the radio. The manner of expressing
or articulating the words must also be intimate because the condition in
which broadcasts are received are very informal. May be one or two or three
listeners are sitting by the fireside or in bed or moving about the house, or
engaged in some activities. The communication must be informal and
intimate.
Mobile Medium:
Radio is a mobile medium. You can have it at home, take it to the picnic
resort, listen to it while driving, have it on land or under the sea, in public
or in private, hence, it is a convenient medium. It can accompany you and
entertain you anywhere as a never-failing companion.
Quick and Inexpensive Medium
Radio is a medium of immediacy. It can report the events almost instantly,

as they are happening, hence, it is a medium of the "here and now". It is the
radio which can be the first to report the happenings while TV crew would
take some time to reach the spot.
Medium with Limitations
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Radio has a plethora of limitations as well. The foremost limitation of radio

is that it entirely depends on the sense of hearing. Broadcast is not
reinforced by the powerful medium of sight. Comprehension and
assimilation, therefore, require more efforts
The role of the mass media is to provide the audience information, education
or entertainment or all the three balanced in different proportions. The role
of radio, as a medium of mass communication varies from country to
country. There are radio networks which devote themselves exclusively to
entertainment. They are commercial enterprises which are run with profit
motive serving trade interests.
Five strengths of radio are: It is an intimate and personal medium; It is a

convenient medium which can be carried anywhere; It is relatively
inexpensive; It can overcome the barrier of literacy; It can reach remote rural
and tribal areas thus overcoming geographical barriers.
Five limitations of radio are: It is a sound only medium, as such, can only
be heard and not seen; It cannot provide finer details; Listener has to use
imagination, it may lead to a gap between reality and imagmation. It is an
ephemeral medium, i.e. the message once broadcast cannot be retraced
unless earlier recorded; and Radio is not useful for the hearing-challenged.
Radio is an ambiguous term. It is most often understood as a means of

mass communication using electromagnetic waves, by means of which
verbal content and music reaches the receptive apparatus of the listener.
Radio is the instrument allowing the transmission and reception of a
message, and also a telecommunication tool. Radio is a system of
transferring sound signals into the form of electromagnetic waves. For
Bertolt Brecht, it is an apparatus of communication. Radio can also be
understood as an organization with specific goals and means of achieving
them, creating and distributing messages (radio broadcasts). Its activity
presents itself in a sequence of repeatable actions. As a broadcasting
institution, the radio designs, creates, compares and distributes radio
messages (programmes) or distributes messages created by other
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broadcasters or radio producers, in the form of wireless broadcasting, thus

with the possibility of simultaneous widespread reception of the signal, or by
inserting it into a cable or internet network. Radio organizations (companies)
create goods (programmes, broadcasts, internet sites) and provide media
services (selling air time, marketing services).. The radio product is both a
transmission in the form of a broadcast or a programme of a certain use-
value and market-value, but it also has an audience, which the radio
broadcaster can offer to sell the advertiser.
Radio organizations create cultural goods and services, understood as

market goods. Their value comes from the function of carriers of meaning
through symbols, signs and sounds. By selling these goods, radio
organizations claim profit. Radio – particularly commercial – is both a
business activity (industry, trade) and a pillar of the entertainment, culture,
information, creative and advertising industries. A radio organization,
contrary to the typical manufacturing and service company, works
simultaneously on two markets: the audiences (of media messages) and the
advertiser’s. On the audience market, the radio organization offers the
listeners a media product (radio programme), where the basic exchange
relation is the following:
 content (radio programme)
 time (interest, paying attention).
On the advertising market, the radio organization offers the advertiser

intermediary service in contacting listeners, who sometimes consist of the
advertiser’s target group. It sells the advertiser access to the radio’s
audience. A radio organization can also function on the ownership right
market. Owners of commercial radio stations can buy stock of other media
companies as business entities. The radio organization is a special kind of
media organization. The term “media organization” refers to all types of
organizations with activities connected to designing, creating, setting and
distributing media messages (products). We address media organizations
when they are present in an institutional form. Media organizations (media
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companies) are radio stations, television stations, publishing houses (press

offices) and website publishers.
Radio programming
The introduction of Frequency Modulation (channels in metro cities is

another development which has brought in a breath of fresh air in their
content and style and presentation
The Gyan Vani network allotted to IGNOU has started broadcasting

programmes on education and development from several cities. The number
of such channels is bound to increase in the years to come. Under a scheme
devised by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, educational
institutions can get licences to operate radio stations for educational
purposes.
development in radio broadcasting all over the world is the concept of

Community radio. It has come to be known as the 'narrow casting' as
opposed to 'broadcasting'. The introduction of the community radio is a
milestone not only in reaching out to the remotest area but also persuading
the citizen to share in the vision and excitement of development.
Media ownership
Chain, Cross-media, Conglomerate, Horizontal/vertical integration

Ownership
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In chain ownership, the same media company owns numerous outlets in a

single medium, a chain of newspaper, a series of radio stations, a string of
television stations or several book publishing companies.
When an organization owns more than one type of Media Company, for
example a newspaper, a magazine and a television station it is called Cross
Media Ownership.
Conglomerate ownership means the ownership of several business

operations, one of which is a media business.
Horizontal Integration refers to a Media Company having a presence across

different media segments (print, TV, FM radio). A Media Company can own a
Magazine, Radio, Newspaper, Television and Books. Almost all Media
companies have horizontal integration. It generates more money and makes
the company more popular among readers. Vertical integration indicates
that a media company has absolute monopoly in the production of the
matter that go into the making of media products. For example a newspaper
publisher may own several hundred areas of forests where the major
components of a newspaper namely wood for newsprints cultivated.
Cross-media Ownership
Cross-ownership of media occurs when a person or company owns outlets in

more than one medium (i.e., → newspapers, → radio, and → television) in
the same geographical market
Media House Stakes in

Sun TV Newspaper, DTH, Cable, Radio,
Magazines, films, telecom
Essel Group (Zee TV) TV, Cable, Film, Newspaper, radio,
DTH, internet
STAR India TV, film, internet. Newspaper,
Cable, DTH
Enadu Films, TV, Newspaper, Magazines
Living Media (India Today Group) Radio, TV News, Magazines,
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Newspaper, internet, events

BCCL(The Times Group) Radio, TV, internet. Magazines,
Newspapers, films, events
Bhaskar Cable TV, TV, Newspaper
Dainik Jagran TV News, TV, Radio, Newspapers
Dina Thanti TV, Radio, Cable TV, Newspapers,
Magazines
Mid-Day Radio, TV, Newspapers
Programme format:
A Radio format can be split into three parts: They are:-
(a) Spoken Word or Human Voice
Announcements : These are specifically written clear messages to inform.

They can be of different types. For example station/programme
identification. These mention the station you are tuned into, the frequency,
the time and the programme/song you are going to listen to.
Radiotalk: The radio talk probably is the oldest format on radio. There has
been a tradition in India and Britain to invite experts or prominent persons
to speak for 10 or 15 minutes on a specific topic.
Radio interviews: Have you ever interviewed anyone? Probably yes. In the
media, be it the newspaper, magazine, radio or television, journalists use
this technique of asking questions to get information. There can be different
types of interviews in terms of their duration, content and purpose. Firstly,
there are full fledged interview programmes
Radio discussions :- When you have a problem in your family or with your
friends, don’t you say “let us discuss?” Yes we do. Through a discussion we
can find out a solution to problems.
Radio documentaries/features: If you see a film in a movie hall, it is

generally a feature film, which is story based and not real. But there are also
documentary films which are based on real people and issues.
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Radio drama: A Radio drama or a radio play is like any other play staged in
a theatre or a hall. The only difference is that while a stage play has actors,
stage, sets, curtains, properties movement and live action, a radio play has
only 3 components. They are the human voice, music and sound effects.
Radio of course uses its greatest strength for producing radio plays and that
is the power of imagination and suggestivity.
Running commentaries : If you can’t go to see a football or cricket match in

a stadium, you may watch it on television. But for that you have to be at
home or at some place where there is a television. But if you are travelling or
outside, then you may listen to radio for a running commentary of the
match.
A radio magazine is broadcast at a particular time on a particular day of a

week or a month. That means it has periodicity. Similarly it has plenty of
variety in contents. Some or many formats of radio are included in a radio
magazine. These may be talks, discussions, interviews, reviews, music etc.
NEWS: Among all the spoken word formats on radio, news is the most
popular. News bulletins and news programmes are broadcast every hour by
radio stations. In India, only All India Radio is allowed to broadcast news.
Duration of news bulletins vary from 5 minute to 30 minutes.
(b) Music
There are 3 types of classical music in India. They are:- z Hindustani

classical z Carnatic classical z Western classical There are also vocal and
instrumental music forms.
(c) Sound Effects
z Sound can play a major role in evoking interest. z Sound can be used for
comic effects to evoke laughter z Sound can be used to create certain moods
or enhance them.
CHARACTERISTICS OF RADIO
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A Medium of the Sound It is an exclusive medium of the sound. It is an

aural or auditory medium, a medium of the ear.
Radio is a medium of the voice. The performer can use only his voice in a
broadcast. The producer mixes his voice with music and sound effect.
'Microphone is the only instrument through which a radio broadcaster
speaks to his listeners.
Radio is an intimate medium. The broadcaster must imagine as if the

listeners are sitting by his side, shoulder to shoulder.
Radio is a medium of mass communication. Its broadcasts reach hundreds

of thousands in one go.
Radio is a boon to the poor
Radio is a mobile medium.
Radio is a medium of immediacy. It can report the events almost instantly,

as they are happening. So, it is a medium of the "here and now".
Radio listeners have no shared experience with no glamour personality.
Prasar Bharati
Prasar Bharati is India‟s largest public broadcasting agency. It consists of

Doordarshan television network and All India Radio. Earlier, both were
media units of the Ministry Of Information and Technology. During the
emergency time as well as other times, Doordarshan was used for
government propaganda. Thus, the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990 was
established. The main motive of the Act is to provide freedom to electronic
media i.e. the All India Radio and Doordarshan.
The Prasar Bharati Act provides for the establishment of a Broadcasting

Corporation, to be known as Prasar Bharati, and define its composition,
functions, and powers. The Act grants autonomy to All India Radio and to
Doordarshan, both of which were previously under government control. The
Act received the assent of the President of India on 12 September 1990 after
being unanimously passed by Parliament. It was finally implemented in
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November 1997. By the Prasar Bharati Act, all property, assets, debts,
liabilities, payments of money due, as well as all suits and legal proceedings
involving Akashvani (All India Radio) and Doordarshan were transferred to
Prasar Bharati.
The Prasar Bharati Act vests the general superintendence, direction, and
management of affairs of the Corporation in the Prasar Bharati Board which
may exercise all such powers and do all such acts and things as may be
exercised or done by the Corporation. The Prasar Bharati Board consists of:
 Chairman
 One Executive Member
 One Member (Finance)
 One Member (Personnel)
 Six Part-time Members
 Director-General (Akashvani), ex officio
 Director-General (Doordarshan), ex officio
 One representative of the Union Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting (India), to be nominated by that Ministry .
 Two representatives of the employees , of whom one shall be elected
by the engineering staff from amongst themselves and one shall be
elected by the other employee from amongst themselves.
The President of India appoints the Chairman and the other Members,
except the ex officio members, nominated member and the elected members.
Board meetings must be held at least once in every three months each year.
The major objectives of the Prasar Bharati Corporation as laid out in the
Prasar Bharati Act, 1990 are as follows:
 To provide the autonomy to Akashvani and Doordarshan, so that to

ensure the function in a fair, objective and creative manner.
 To uphold the unity and integrity of the country.
 To maintain the democratic and social values which are enshrined in
the constitution.
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 To look after the safeguarding of the citizen‟s right to be informed

freely, truthfully and objectively.
 To spread literacy, agriculture, rural development, health, family
welfare, environment, science and technology.
 To encourage healthy competition and spirit of sportsmanship by
providing adequate coverage to sports and games.
 To promote cultures and languages of the various regions by
broadcasting many programmes.
 To provide special needs of the youth always organize special
programmes.
 To remove the problems of women, pay special attention to the
upliftment of the women.
 To take special steps for the protection of the children, the aged, the
blind, the handicapped and other vulnerable section.
 To protect the rights of working classes and advancing their welfare.
 To provide the suitable programmes for the needs of the minorities
and tribal communities.
 To promote national integration that will maintain the community
language of the nation.
 To promote research and development activities of radio broadcast
and television broadcast technology.

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TELEVISION
Television is the fastest-growing media in technology and so, it is relatively

expensive media (particularly for television broadcasting stations). Television
has various entertainment packages in such a way so that it attracts and
entertains the audience. Television came of age around 1950 s but no such
book was written on its theoretical perspective
TV as a medium for mass communication
life without television is almost inconceivable. Since television means

entertainment, the latest news, or even the favorite sitcom, it became an
essential part of many people’s lives worldwide.
It is a very persuasive mass communication medium. Through its

programmes, televisions present a composite national picture and
perspective of India's rich cultural heritage and diverse thinking. They
represent various religions and cultural expressions of people, reflecting the
Indian society. elevision can be the most powerful educational medium as it
combines speaking, writing and showing.
Television has more flexibility and mobility in its coverage due to the audio-
visual presentation. Due to this reason, it has become a family medium. It
can show what happened and how.
Helps in enhancing the development process
In the 1950s, the Philips company was one of the driving forces behind the
introduction of television
In India, from the beginning i.e. 1989, television has been used more for
education and information purposes than for entertainment. It has
performed different functions as compared to the television in west.  Even
today, though commercials have entered Indian television in a big way, it's
basic purpose has not changed. It continues to perform it's function of
national integration and development.  Dr. Rajendra Prasad, while
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inaugurating India's Television Service on September 15, 1959, hoped that

television would go a long way in broadening the popular outlook in line
with scientific thinking.
Television has been able to influence the people living in remote areas of our
country as its outreach has covered the remotest villages and tribal pockets.
It is ushering information explosion.  The growth in television both in
technology and reach in the last three decades has been phenomenal. It was
basically conceived as a mass medium and a mass educator for its large
population scattered in remote and culturally diverse areas.  It is supposed
to disseminate the message of development and modernization to create
awareness for generating public participation. It is expected to support
government plans and programmes for bringing about social and economic
change and to protect national security as well as advance the cause of
national integration.
Television, being an audio-visual medium, brings us into contact with events

in an exciting and clarifying way. For example, a live telecast of a national
event such as celebration of golden jubilee year of independence, or
launching of a satellite, offers meaning to the events that no amount of
reading or still pictures or even films could match.  However, this
incomparable quality of reality and immediacy is not found in all television
programmes, especially those programmes which are prepared specifically
for education purposes.  Television is considered as a mirror of a nation's
personality. It can recall the past, dwell upon the present and peep into the
future of a society. This role of television is all the more relevant to a country
like India, having continental dimensions and innumerable diversities.
Development of television broadcasting
In 1961, Doordarshan was used as a support to middle and higher

secondary school education.
‘Krishi Darshan’ for rural viewers was inaugurated on January 26, 1967, by
the then Prime Minister, Mrs. Indira Gandhi. It was telecast on Wednesdays
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and Fridays for 20 minutes each day, and served 80 villages around Delhi
provided with community sets.
The seventies saw a major expansion of television. Doordarshan Kendra

Bombay was commissioned in October 1972 and Doordarshan Kendra
Srinagar in January 1973. Subsequently Doordarshan Kendras were set up
at Calcutta, Madras, Lucknow, Amritsar and Jalandhar. Cable Television:
With the sudden and spectacular growth of satellite and cable television
network since 1991, the most dramatic revolution on the TV screen got
underway, when India ended decades of isolation from the rest of the world.
Cable Television promised multiple channels and multiple choices for the
viewer. Its introduction had profound effects on the broadcasting situation.
Liberalization of airwaves has resulted in a proliferation of satellite channels
in India.
Characteristics of Television
Television is an audio-visual medium. We have seen that radio is a medium

of sound only. TV has both sound and sight. But TV should not be taken as
radio with sight. Radio and TV are different media with different grammar,
different vocabulary, different mechanics and dynamics. TV and radio are
uniquely different from each other all along the line. Their broadcast right
from conception down to reception is different. A “radio-broadcast” is
uniquely radio-phonic or radiogenic. And, a TV broadcast is uniquely
telegenic.
a) An Audio-Visual Medium TV is an audio-visual but predominantly

visual, proportionately much more visual than audio. A TV broadcast is
conceived and produced and received in audio-visual terms. A TV broadcast
directly affects two senses simultaneously, those of hearing and seeing. It is
more effective than the radio broadcast. Radio is a uni--sense medium,
affecting only one sense,i.e. hearing. TV broadcasts can have greater effect
or influence on the receiver of the broadcast, called the viewer. The potential
of TV to have greater effect or impact is because, according to psychologists,
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the eye absorbs much more than the ear in the same time. The eyes also
retain the seen image much longer than the ears can.
b) Wide Reach and High Credibility TV is a supreme medium of mass

communication. With the support of the satellite technology today, it can
reach all the corners of the globe. The TV camera, today, goes on to planes;
it goes under the earth and into the sea and throws light on the dark areas
of knowledge about our world, the universe, and the total environment. It
has brought about an information revolution and has turned our society
into an information society. Because of its reach, TV has widened the mental
horizons of man. It has become the supreme educator of man. It has the
potential of humanizing knowledge. TV is a credible and a believable
medium. Seeing is believing. Things that few people might believe otherwise
become believable when shown on the TV screen. They become effectively
truer than those that one reads about in the print medium or listens to on
the radio or learns through hearsay or word of mouth. Just recall the
telepictures of the upheaval in Russia after the collapse of communism, or
the visuals of the uprising in Tiananmen Square in China or those of the
Iraq war, or, the havoc caused by the earthquake in Maharashtra
c) A Glamour Medium TV is a glamour medium. You can watch glittering

personalities and events, international conferences, sports meets and
festivals, fashion shows and banquets, travel shows and interviews with
world leaders, bold and beautiful personalities as well as rich and famous
people. The great convenience of watching all this, sitting at home, adds to
its glamour. Because of its glamour, TV has also been called the magic box.
All sorts of people all sorts of times, almost magically, seem to be appearing
on the screen from within the box. It has also been called a toy, a toy with
which adults get fascinated, like the child’s toy which fascinates the child.
Incidentally, some critics have also called it an idiot box. Very few can resist
the glamour and magic of T.V. It has a habit of attracting people to the point
of addiction. Tele-addiction, in fact, has become the greatest addiction of our
times, for most people.
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d) A Medium of the Close-up TV is the medium of the close-up. Its stage is

its screen, which is small. Because of the small screen, it is not an ideal
medium for spectacles or huge pageants. It is ideal for close-up of human
faces, for long shots of scenery. It is an ideal medium for expressing reaction
and interaction between people in a tele-drama, for presenting an interview
and a discussion, etc. That is why you would find the camera catching the
reaction or expression of the man who is talking at a particular moment. If
something has happened or somebody has said something, the camera
would show the reaction of several people, one by one, in close-up.
According to artistic necessity, the camera would take full close-up or half or
quarter close-up of a character or a man
e) A Living Room Medium TV is a medium of and for the family. It is a

medium of entertainment and information at home. TV brings theatre and
the cinema auditorium to the living room. Stage drama has become a
drawing room theatre. Film drama too has become a drawing room cinema
auditorium. Fewer people now go to witness stage performances. Also, fewer
people go to the cinema theatre for a movie. The film or the theatre comes to
you in your drawing room under home conditions. Just think of street
theatre in the context of stage drama. Instead of the people going to the
theatre, the street drama takes the theatre to the people. Since TV is
watched by the young and the old members of the family sitting together,
the tele-subjects have to be in tune with the culture of the particular society.
In our country, the subjects must be treated with restraint. They must
respect our cultural heritage. They should not be very explosive or
provocative. Since young girls and boys are sharing the viewing with their
elders, parents, grand-parents and parents-in-law, the essence and ethos of
our cultural taste cannot be over looked.
f) A Democratizing Medium It is a democratizing medium. It is available to

all people. Since it is a medium of mass communication, it has to deal with
the problems of all sections of the society and democratize information and
informal education, reaching out to one and all to democratize literature by
discussing it in broadcasts or by telecasting its dramatic version. Even those
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who have not read literature or are illiterate or semi-literate come to know of
it. Since TV, a mass medium, has to cater to all sections of the society, it is
not uniformly very artistic. Highly artistic things might go over the heads of
the common viewer. As against TV, 36 Introduction to Mass Communication
the stage can afford to be highly artistic because the audience is selective.
Only those people go to the theatres that are ready to pay for the show.
Theatres like Broadway have select audiences who are ready to pay for
artistic productions as against commercial productions which can not
choose their viewers. And TV does not charge ticket money for entry into
shows. So, most TV programmes are for the common people.
g) A Medium of Immediacy TV is a medium of immediacy. It captures the

events even as they are happening much before the newspaper comes out
with information on events next morning. Yesterday’s news is no news on
TV. It will make TV look outdated. TV is a super reporter. In audio-visual
terms, it reports the events “here and now”. Remember how the CNN or BBC
report minute-by-minute Presidential election results or the Olympics or
even wars and insurgencies. h) Advertiser’s Influence TV is the great
salesman of modern times. The businessman sells his products through TV.
This medium is much more effective for him to reach out to a vast number
of potential and actual customers than the newspaper hoardings. TV
advertisements or programmes sponsored by business persons can reach
tens of millions of people. No newspaper can ever dream of reaching out to
such large numbers.
TV Studio
A Television Studio is an installation in which television or video

productions take place, either for live television, for recording live to tape, or
for the acquisition of raw footage for postproduction. The design of a studio
is similar to, and derived from, movie studios, with a few amendments for
the special requirements of television production. A professional television
studio generally has several rooms, which are kept separate for noise and
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practicality reasons. These rooms are connected via intercom, and personnel
will be divided among these workplaces.
Generally, a television studio consists of the following rooms:
The studio floor is the actual stage on which the actions that will be
recorded take place. A studio floor has the following characteristics and
installations:  decoration and/or sets  cameras on pedestals 
microphones  lighting rigs and the associated controlling equipment. 
several video monitors for visual feedback from the production control room
 a small public address system for communication  A glass window
between PCR and studio floor for direct visual contact is usually desired, but
not always possible
While a production is in progress, the following people work in the studio

floor  The on-screen "talent" themselves, and any guests - the subjects of
the show.  A floor director, who has overall charge of the studio area, and
who relays timing and other information from the director.  One or more
camera operators who operate the television cameras, though in some
instances these can also be operated from PCR using remote heads. Possibly
a teleprompter operator, especially if this is a news broadcast. The
production control room also known as the 'gallery' is the place in a
television studio in which the composition of the outgoing program takes
place.
Facilities in a PCR include:  a video monitor wall, with monitors for

program, preview, videotape machines, cameras, graphics and other video
sources  switcher a device where all video sources are controlled and taken
to air. Also known as a special effects generator  audio mixing console and
other audio equipment such as effects devices  character generator creates
the majority of the names and full screen graphics that are inserted into the
program  digital video effects and/or still frame devices if not integrated in
the vision mixer)  technical director's station, with waveform monitors,
vector scopes and the camera control units or remote control panels for the
camera control units CCUs  VTRs may also be located in the PCR, but are
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also often found in the central machine room The master control room
houses equipment that is too noisy or runs too hot for the production
control room. It also makes sure that wire lengths and installation
requirements keep within manageable lengths, since most high-quality
wiring runs only between devices in this room. This can include:  The
actual circuitry and connection boxes of the vision mixer,  DVE and
character generator devices camera control units  VTRs  patch panels for
reconfiguration of the wiring between the various pieces of equipment.
Television journalism consists of the broadcast of either packaged news or

live news. A packaged news story is one, which is explored, shot, edited and
most importantly, broadcast after the event has happened. A live news story
is one which captures and broadcasts the action of an event as it happens.
Packaged News Stories The word ‘package’ refers to a complete product. In

other words, a news package is a story, which has been carefully scripted,
shot, edited, and thus given a final shape, which contains all the elements of
a finished product.
Live News Stories: The word ‘live’ refers to the broadcast of an event which
takes place as the event happens. Thus, for example, if a political rally is
taking place and a reporter is present at the location of the rally, then he or
she can report the event and its developments as they take place. The
audience gets to witness images and hear the sounds of the location almost
as if they were present there themselves.
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Writing for TV
The word ‘live’ refers to the broadcast of an event which takes place as the
event happens. Thus, for example, if a political rally is taking place and a
reporter is present at the location of the rally, then he or she can report the
event and its developments as they take place. The audience gets to witness
images and hear the sounds of the location almost as if they were present
there themselves.
DOORDARSHAN
Doordarshan (Literally Meaning Distant Vision), the television wing of the

broadcasting corporation of India, devoted to public service broadcasting is
one of the largest terrestrial networks and one of the most extensive
television systems in the world. Doordarshan has been the sole preserve of
the Government of India and it provides television coverage to over 95% of
India’s 108+ million people.
Doordarshan is a Public broadcast terrestrial television channel run by

Prasar Bharati, a board formed by the Government of India. It is one of the
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largest broadcasting organizations in the world in terms of the

infrastructure of studios and transmitters. Doordarshan had its beginning
with the experimental telecast started in Delhi in September, 1959 with a
small transmitter and a makeshift studio. The regular daily transmission
started in 1965 as a part of All India Radio. The television service was
extended to a second city Mumbai in 1972. Till 1975, only seven cities were
covered by Doordarshan and it remained the only television channel in
India. Television services were separated from Radio in 1976. Each office of
All India Radio and Doordarshan were placed under the management of two
separate Director Generals in New Delhi. Finally, its existence came into
being when Doordarshan became a National Broadcaster. It is one of the
largest broadcasting organizations in the world in terms of the
infrastructure of studios and transmitters. The eighties was the era of
Doordarshan with soaps like Hum Log (1984), Buniyaad (1986-87) and
mythological dramas like Ramayana 91987-88) and Mahabharata (1988-89)
glued millions to Doordarshan. (Other popular programmes included Hindi
film songs based programs like Chitrahaar and Rongoli followed by the
crime thrillers like Karamchand (starring Pankaj Kapoor), Byomkesh Bakshi
and Janki Jasoos.
Social Objectives of Doordarshan:
 To act as catalyst for social change.
 To promote national integration.
 To stimulate a scientific temper in the minds of the people.
 To disseminate the message of family planning as a means of

population control and family welfare.
 To provide essential information and knowledge in order to stimulate

greater agricultural production.
 To promote and help preserve environmental and ecological balance.
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 To highlight the need for social welfare measures, including welfare of

women, children and less privileged.
 To promote interest in games and sports.
 To create values of appraisal of art and cultural heritage.
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Film
The Indian film industry completes 100 years of film production and
exhibition as an industry. From the days of the 1900s of black-and-white
and silent movies, where a small group managed the entire process of film
making, acting and exhibiting, the industry has come a long way.
Beginning with the 1900s, the industry has moved through several stages of
evolution in each decade thereafter. Moving pictures were introduced by the
French in the late 1800s, when some documentaries were produced in India.
The first full-length films were produced in the early 1900s up to the 1920s.
These were mostly family managed and driven films – right from the cast to
the production to the theatrical releases. This was the era of silent movies,
35 mm films, commercialisation with affordable ticketing and the
prominence of Madras as the hub of movie-making. There were no sound-
proof studios in those days. Post 1920s and up to the 1940s, talkies and
studios flourished after the release of the first movies with sound in the
1930s. Regional studios and films flourished; advanced sound technologies
were introduced; multi-talented casts with the ability to act, sing, compose
and produce were in vogue; and play-back singing was introduced.
Studio system versus star system
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Studio system Film producers have adopted a factory-oriented approach for

making a film because of the costs and complexities involved. Hollywood had
adopted this approach in 1910s and the firms with production facilities were
known as “studios”. The Indian film industry, influenced by Hollywood since
inception, also adopted the ‘studio system’ of film production in the 1900s.
One of the first studios formed in India was Kohinoor Film Company, which
was founded in 1918. In a few years, many studios were formed and the
number of studios had increased to over 20 by the year 1921. Studios
comprised entire teams covering all aspects of filmmaking; including acting,
technical expertise for post-production, marketing and distribution. This
approach helped studios standardise their film making style, achieve cost
efficiencies from economies of scale and develop their own brands in the film
industry thorough consistent production. Under this system, all artists and
technicians were employees of studios, who were either paid a salary or were
contracted for the long-term. Producers would get finances from film
distributors with a guarantee of screening the film in cinemas for a certain
period. Loans would be repaid in terms of box-office collections with no
further liability of the film producer. Distributors would keep the profits
earned from the film with no share for the film producer.
Star system With the growing popularity of Indian films, the importance of
films to viewers transformed into a “hero cult” phenomenon, which made
film stars the objects of admiration and imitation. Gradually, fan clubs for
film stars emerged and their idolisation reached incredible heights. Although
the star system existed even during the silent film era, it gradually grew
stronger than the studio system and eventually replaced it in 1960s. Unlike
the norm in the studio system, film actors did not have long term
contractual obligations towards film studios in the star system. They
operated as freelancers and were commanding professional fees based on
the box office performance of each film. Successful actors got paid higher
remunerations as compared to monthly salaries in the studio system.
However, this increase in professional fees led to higher costs of film
production. Emergence of the star system increased the cost of production
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and changed the financing pattern of film production. Film distributors only
paid 50 per cent of the total film cost, which forced film producers to look for
other sources of finances. Promissory note system became the most
prevalent source of financing. Producers would write an unconditional order
to financers to pay the payee. Other financiers came into prominence,
including conventional money lenders who usually charged interest rates of
up to 40 per cent per annum. The high cost of film production and these
financing structures made film production a risky profession until the
advent of corporate players in the industry.
NFDC
National Film Development Corporation Ltd., (NFDC), a Government of India

Enterprise, was established in 1975 with a view to promoting and organizing
an integrated development of the Indian Film Industry and to foster
excellence in cinema.
Functions of NFDC:
 The primary goal of the NFDC is to plan, promote and organise an

integrated and efficient development of the Indian Film Industry and
foster excellence in cinema
 NFDC participates regularly in all major film markets across the world
with a view to not only promoting its own films, but also facilitating
the expansion of global markets for Indian Cinema as a whole.
 NFDC undertakes to promote and market Indian films for exhibition
in all/any media formats in various languages.
 It also offers subtitling facilities at discounted rates on films for which
NFDC is the marketing agent.
CHARACTERISTICS OF FILM
Film or cinema is a highly mechanical medium. It uses so many mechanical

devices like cameras, microphones, dubbing machine, editing or cutting
machine, several lenses for cameras, projectors, mixers, sound tracks,
trolleys to mount the cameras, celluloid, laboratory equipment, etc. Film is a
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product of interaction between machines and artistic and technical people.

Artistic people are the actors, the directors, costumers and make-up artists.
Film is a continuous strip of exposed celluloid. Celluloid is composed of
several reels. Reels have several shots. Shots have several frames. Frames
have only images which are static and do not move. So, film is only a
sequence of static images, recorded by the camera. These images move and
come to life through projectors, running one after the other at the end of
each reel. Actually there is no real movement of images when the projectors
project them on the cinema screen. It is only an illusion of movement of
images. We have in our eyes the faculty which is called persistence of vision.
Persistence of vision has the ability of the retina of our eye to retain the
image due to the stimulus of light. So, film strips contain only static, frozen
movement and action. Fast projections of images on the screen give an
illusion of movement and action to the eye which has persistence of vision. A
motion picture is not shot as a continuous whole. It is photographed in bits
and pieces. Final scenes may be shot first and the opening scenes later.
Intervening or middle scenes may be recorded in a jumbled sequence. This
shooting process is understood completely by the director alone. Later, he
may create any effect by joining scenes in a certain sequence, through what
is called the editing or “cutting” process.
a) A Mass Medium Film is a medium of mass communication. Millions of

cine-goers watch the movie in a country. The same movie may be seen by a
very large number of people in several countries (like Richard
Attenborough’s Gandhi). Although in a cinema hall only a few hundred
people can watch a film at one time, it can be shown in many cities, towns
and villages at the same time. Any number of copies can be made of the film
for screening. Today, a film can also be transferred from the celluloid to the
CD. The CD can be played at home through the CD player or DVD. The
cable operators can transmit the film on to the TV sets of a large number of
their customers at the same time. So, a film can reach out to a very large
number of people.
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b) Mechanically Reproducible Film is a mechanically reproducible medium.

So it can be preserved. It can be seen again and again. It can be useful for
research on a relevant subject. It is very useful as a mirror of society of the
time when the film was made. It describes the political social, economic and
cultural scene of a country. It describes the customs, fashions and attitudes
of people at a particular time. It also throws light on the style of acting,
music, dance, and direction, etc. of the times. Films can be watched and
understood even by illiterate people. They may not have the fortune to go to
books for information to enrich their personalities. But they can understand
and entertain themselves with films.
c) A Collaborative Medium Film is a collaborative medium. So many people

collaborate to make the film and to send it out to the people. The producer,
director, writer, actor, art director, music director, dance director, fight
director, light-man, costume-man, makeup man, scene designer, sound
man, cameraman, clapper boy etc. work together to make a film. After a film
has been made, the financer, the distributor, the exhibitor, and others work
together, to make it available to the common people. No other medium
depends so much on so many people. The director, with his artistic and
technical skill, can make a good film out of a bad script. A bad director,
similarly, can kill a good script. A good director can, by using several devices
like different camera angles, editing, re-recording, re-processing in the
laboratory, make an average performance look great on the screen. In the
cinema, camera is very important, next only to the director. But it is the
director who ultimately gives orders to the camera too.
d) An Art Medium Film, today, has become an art medium. It was during the
last couple of decades that cinema has come to be considered as an art
form. In the beginning it was considered a medium only of cheap
entertainment, even of escaping from the harsh realties of life into the world
of fantasy and dream for two to three hours. In our times, intellectuals and
serious thinkers have associated themselves with cinema. Today, cinema is
considered the seventh art like the earlier arts of painting, sculpture,
architecture, drama, poetry and music. In fact the famous film maker
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Satyajit Ray made a passionate plea to introduce cinema as an art discipline

at the universities. It should be studied by serious scholars and developed
further. It should not be treated as a sub-culture and only as an
entertainment medium. That is how it was treated in the earlier years in
India and elsewhere.
e) A Medium for Development Film is an effective medium for development.

Development, in the broad sense, means the growth of the individual and
the growth of society in all aspects. These include political, economic, social
and cultural aspects. Films can promote national and emotional integration.
They can bring about a creative understanding between different regions
and their people. They can be a medium for educating the people against
superstitions and for promoting scientific ideas, can contribute to
modernizing the traditional society by helping to change the attitudes of
people. For example, a change in attitudes relating to work, sex, religion,
customs, communities, beliefs, etc. can be brought about through films.
f) A Medium that Demands People’s Concentration The conditions under

which a film is screened and is received by the cine-goers in a cinema
house, demand concentration of different sections of society, sitting together
in the same hall and constituting the audience. All these people tend to be
unified, so to speak. Everybody’s motive is the same, to watch the film. The
images, the words, the music, the sound effects are skillfully integrated. For
the audience, the integrated whole or the film becomes a total experience.
This demands great concentration from the audience. Sitting in the dark
silence of the hall, the audience is mysteriously affected by how the story
and scenes are presented. In a very indirect way, the director communicates
his or the camera’s point of view.
FILM DOCUMENTARY
A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture

intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of
instruction, education, or maintaining a historical record". ...
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Documentaries are very informative and are often used within schools, as a
resource to teach various principles.
Documentary can be poetic, expository, reflexive, observational,

performative, and participatory—each containing its own specific
characteristics.
Documentaries deal exclusively with facts and real-life events. The main
purpose of a documentary is to inform and educate.
Elements of a Documentary Film
1. Subjects
The subject is what your documentary is about. Documentaries focus on

something other than the general human condition. It involves individual
human actions and relationships. These elements are considered a region of
narrative fiction, and drama.
2. Purpose
The purpose is what the filmmaker is trying to say about the subjects of
their film. The film topics they consider significant. The topics inform the
audience about the people, places, events, institutions, and problems.
3. Form
The form is the formative process of the film. It includes the filmmakers’
original conception, the sights and sounds used, and the structures into
which they are fitted. Documentary forms tend to be more functional,
varied, and looser than short stories, novels, or plays. These are also more
like non-narrative literary forms, like advertisements, essays, editorials, or
poems.
4. Production method and technique
The production method and technique refer to the ways the films are put
together. It’s how the images are shot, the sounds are recorded, and how the
two are edited together.
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5. Audience experience
Ultimately, the aim of many documentary films is generally twofold: an

aesthetic experience of some sort, and to affect the attitudes, possibly
leading to action. The filmmaker must have this at the forefront of his mind
as he works on a documentary.
Documentary structure is often determined by the subject matter of the

film, but in general a documentary is made up of the beginning, the middle
and the end, sometimes referred to as the "three-act structure."
Act 1 introduction, Act 2 obstacles and set back Act 3 resolution
Not only do documentaries provide an opportunity to understand and

connect with the world, they are also a great way to gather together with
friends to watch and engage around the important issues of our times.
“Documentary films tell important, often unknown stories and bring

awareness to a wider audience, and are some of the best resources for
information, inspiration and entertainment. They have also become core
elements and prompters of social issue campaigns
Film audiences
An individual or collective group of people who read or consume any media

text
Examples: Radio listeners, Television viewers, Newspaper and magazine

readers, Web traffic on web sites.
Why are audiences important? Without audiences there would be no media.

Media organizations produce media texts to make profit – no audience = no
profit. The mass media is becoming more competitive than ever to attract
more and more audiences in different ways and stay profitable.
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Fragmented audiences: The division of audiences into smaller groups due to

the variety of media outlets.
Types of audience: Mass audience – often termed ‘broadcast audience’.

Those who consume mainstream or popular texts such as soaps or sitcoms.
Media and communication that targets a very large group of people (women,
men, children, adults etc). Examples of media with mass audience.
Niche audience – much smaller but very influential. A niche audience is a

small, select group of people with a very unique interest.
The Internet is a worldwide, publicly accessible series of interconnected

computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the
standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a “network of networks” that consists of
millions of smaller domestic, academic, business, and government networks,
which together carry various information and services, such as electronic
mail, online chat, file transfer, and the interlinked web pages and other
resources of the World Wide Web (WWW).
Blogs (Web Logs) Blogging has become a huge form of media made popular
through the internet. A Blog is a website, usually maintained by an
individual, with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or
other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in
reverse chronological order. Many blogs provide commentary or news on a
particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical
blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other
media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an
interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are
primarily textual, although some focus on art (art blog), photographs (photo
blog), sketch blog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) and
are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of
blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.
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The World Wide Web Many people use the terms Internet and World Wide
Web (or just the Web) interchangeably, but, the two terms are not
synonymous. The World Wide Web is a huge set of interlinked documents,
images and other resources, linked by hyperlinks and URLs. These
hyperlinks and URLs allow the web servers and other machines that store
originals, and cached copies, of these resources to deliver them as required
using HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol). HTTP is only one of the
communication protocols used on the Internet. Web services also use HTTP
to allow software systems to communicate in order to share and exchange
business logic and data. Through keyword-driven Internet research using
search engines like Yahoo! and Google, millions of people worldwide have
easy, instant access to a vast and diverse amount of online information.
Compared to encyclopedias and traditional libraries, the World Wide Web
has enabled a sudden and extreme decentralization of information and data.
Using the Web is also easier than ever before for individuals and
organisations to publish ideas and information to an extremely large
audience. Anyone can find ways to publish a web page or build a website for
very little initial cost. Publishing and maintaining large, professional
websites full of attractive, diverse and up-todate information is still a
difficult and expensive proposition, however. Advertising on popular web
pages can be lucrative, and e-commerce or the sale of products and services
directly via the Web continues to grow.
What is social media? Kaplan & Haenlein (2010) defined social media as "a
group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and
technological foundations of Web 2.0, which allows the creation and
exchange of user-generated content”
six different types of social media: (a) Collaborative projects, (b) blogs and
micro blogs, (c) content communities, (d) social networking sites, (e) virtual
game worlds, and (f) virtual communities.
The first type of social media is collaborative blogs or collaborative projects.

A Wiki is perhaps the most typical collaborative project site (e.g., Wikipedia).
Wiki‟s allow many participants to work together on the same project (e.g., a
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research analysis, writing a dictionary, or group work project). The project

participants can all edit the content of the project at anytime and anywhere
to make it complete. Wikis record all the actions of participants in the site.
In addition, all participants in one course can share and contribute ideas to
the course discussion forum.
The second type of social media is Blogs, Microblogs, and Internet Forums.
This second type is considered the earliest form of social media sites. Blogs,
Microblogs, and Forums are considered personal web pages where
individuals can communicate with one another through texts and other
multimedia like videos, audios, and pictures. The blog or forum owner can
post messages to the blog or can upload information to the blogs or forums
while the blog or forum followers can view, download, and give comment to
the messages. The most commons blogs and forums are Wordpress.com,
Blogger.com, and Yahoo!Groups.com.
Content Communities is the third type of social media. The main function of
Content Communities is sharing media contents (e.g., videos, pictures,
audio clips, and PowerPoint presentations) between users. Internet users
can create an account for each of the Content Communities, upload media
content to the sites, and share the media content with one another. The
simplest way to share media content is to send a link to others or to post a
link to the personal blog. Internet users can access media content by
clicking on the link that leads to the content page. Common types of the
Content Communities are Youtube (for videos), Flickr (for photos), and
Slideshare (for PowerPoint Presentations).
The fourth type of social media is Social Networking. Facebook, Ning,

LinkedIn, and MySpace are considered the most common social networking
sites. They are called Social Networking Sites because they are sites for
social communication. The site applications allow the Internet users to
create personal profiles, invite others to join the site, access the profiles of
other users, share information (text, pictures, videos, and other links from
the other sites), and send emails as well as instant messages to each other.
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The site owner controls access to the site and the online group discussions.
Specifically, Facebook can be used as a forum for classroom discussion.
Virtual Game Worlds is a fifth type of social media. They are online
platforms where users can virtually participate in games via personalized
avatars in virtual worlds. World of Warcraft is the famous virtual game
world.
The final type of social media site is Virtual Social Worlds. This type allows
Internet users to choose personalized avatars, their behaviors, their lives,
and their acts in their virtual lives that are similar to their real lives. The
users can meet each other at a certain place in the virtual world to do
certain things together as they do in real life.
Social media sites are classified based on social presence and media
richness.
Social media sites are classified based on self-presentation and self-

disclosure.
The first characteristic of social media sites is that they encourage active
students Participation.
The second characteristic of social media sites is the potential for Openness
in terms of shared information.
The next characteristic of social media sites is the availability of

Conversations. Users like having conversations that can be set up on blogs,
wikis, and forums
The fourth characteristic that social media sites have to offer is the
development of learning Communities.
The final characteristic of social media sites is Connectedness in terms of

accessing other sites. All social media sites allow their site users to imbed
links or personal website links in the sites
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CONTEMPORARY MEDIA SCENARIO

Pioneers of Journalism are a particular group of professionals who

the Editor of Calcutta Chronicle during the 19th century. He is the

Swadesamitran four years after the Hindu was established. He

So content providers are increasingly integrating terrestrial transmission

A new digital communication technology has emerged with an E-

b. Demassification & narrowcasting (customization, segmentation, and

c. Asynchrony (the exchange of data, figures, and conversation takes

d. User friendly and Ease of updating

e. Time saving and Cost Effective

Whilst we are living in an increasingly digital world, print media is still an

2. It can create credibility

Another reason why print media is important is because it creates

3. It can create engagement

5. It can link to digital campaigns

Newspapers and magazines are print publications issued at regular intervals

Newspaper, as you know, is a daily publication covering variety of content

Hard news Soft news

In-depth, wide-ranging and informative featuring more political and wide

Shorter stories with simple vocabulary Entertainment-based lots of celebrity

A conventional editorial may be defined as a critical interpretation of

The newspaper editorial is often referred to as the voice of the paper.

1. Inform: The writer gives careful explanations about a complicated

 Provoke thought and discussion

Typography of Newspaper and Magazine

typography Comparison of stroke expressive typography. A magazine

Newspapers will simply identify the Magazines have detailed tables of

Organizational Structure of a newspaper department

The editorial department is the key section of a newspaper. The news,

news. Presently, most of the newspapers have online editions. A team of

Structure of Editorial Department

The editorial department is described as the soul of a newspaper. The

Reporting Section Editing Section

He/she coordinates the editorial department (editing & reporting). Every

The editor is appointed by the proprietor. The relationship between an editor

News editor is in charge of the newsroom and his major responsibility is in

A sub-editor has to give appropriate headlines and, where necessary, revise

5 Cs: To make the copy clear, correct, concise, comprehensible, and

A sub-editor’s working hours are more regular than that of a reporter.

Press Council of India

The mandate of the Press Council of India, is to specifically promote the

The Press Council of India has a chairman nominated by a committee, apart

The Composition of 28 Members include: 2 Rajya Sabha Members, 3 Lok

Functional Structure of Press Council of India

 Making sure that newspapers are able to maintain their

First Press Commission

Need of the First Press Commission:

The objectives of the first press commission were as following:

1) to secure freedom of speech and expression

2) to curb-yellow journalism, sensationalism, malicious attacks on

Recommendations of the First Press Commission:

 To protect the freedom of the press and to maintain high standards of

Magazine (Etymology & Typology) /Characteristics What is a magazine?

Magazines are directed at general and special audience, often published on

A book is a storehouse of information. So is a newspaper for that matter.

 While popular magazines provide broad overviews of topics, scholarly

generally contain many interesting and sometimes sensuous

Consumer magazines like Women’s magazines, Men’s magazines, hobby and

Community magazines: based on a particular community or special interest