Mass Media and Communications

Written and reviewed by Subhra Gupta, Humanities faculty at UniDrill (M.A. Sociology, University of Delhi · 7 years teaching Humanities). Based on NCERT Sociology Class XII (Social Change and Development in India), Chapter 7.

What was the first thing you did with media today?

Many people wake up and switch on the radio or television, or reach for the morning newspaper. Younger family members may check their mobile phones for missed calls. A plumber carries a mobile so customers can reach him, a shop keeps a small television that makes customers talk about the cricket match, and a migrant worker calls home to the village. Even board results can be checked on the Internet or by phone. Mass media is part of everyday life. This chapter explains how it grew, who controlled it at each stage, and what it did to society.

Four big ideas

Mass media includes television, newspapers, films, magazines, radio, advertisements, video games and CDs. They are called "mass" because they reach audiences of very large numbers, and are also called mass communications.

The beginnings of modern mass media

The printing press was the first modern mass media institution. Modern printing was developed in Europe by Johann Gutenberg in 1440, and early printing was limited to religious books. With the Industrial Revolution the print industry grew, but its products reached only a literate elite. It was only in the mid 19th century, with better technology, transport and literacy, that newspapers reached a mass audience. People in different corners of a country found themselves reading the same news.

Benedict Anderson argued that this gave people who would never meet each other a sense of belonging, a "we feeling", which helped nationalism grow. He suggested that the nation can be thought of as an imagined community.

Beyond the textbook. For the exam: the nation is an "imagined community" (Benedict Anderson), and newspapers helped create it. In reality: "imagined" does not mean fake. It means members never meet most of the other members, yet feel connected to them. Today a cricket final watched live by millions works in a similar way. Why it matters: the idea explains how a medium that carries the same news to everyone can build shared feeling.

Media in colonial India

Nineteenth century reformers wrote and debated in newspapers and journals. Indian nationalism emerged in the wake of the institutional changes of British rule, and the nationalist press nurtured and channelled anti-colonial public opinion. The colonial government clamped down with censorship, for instance during the Ilbert Bill agitation of 1883. Newspapers such as Kesari (Marathi), Mathrubhumi (Malayalam) and Amrita Bazar Patrika (English) faced the displeasure of the colonial state, yet kept advocating the nationalist cause.

Under British rule the media were newspapers and magazines, films and radio. Radio was wholly owned by the state, so national views could not be expressed on it. Newspapers and films, though autonomous, were strictly monitored. Circulation was small because few people were literate, yet influence far exceeded circulation, since news spread by word of mouth from markets, trading centres, courts and towns.

Mass media in independent India

Jawaharlal Nehru called on the media to function as the watchdog of democracy. It was expected to spread the spirit of self-reliance and national development, to inform people about development efforts, to fight oppressive social practices such as untouchability, child marriage, ostracism of widows, and beliefs in witchcraft and faith healing, and to promote a rational, scientific outlook for building a modern industrial society. The government's Films Division made newsreels and documentaries that were shown before films in every cinema hall.

Wars and national tragedies pushed AIR to grow. The 1962 war with China led to a daily "talks" unit. In August 1971, as the Bangladesh crisis loomed, the News Service Division began hourly news from 6 in the morning to midnight, and a national tragedy in 1991 led to bulletins round the clock.

Television. Television began experimentally in 1959 to promote rural development. The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) broadcast directly to community viewers in rural areas of six states from August 1975 to July 1976, to 2,400 sets, four hours a day. Doordarshan stations were set up in four cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Srinagar, Amritsar) by 1975, and three more (Kolkata, Chennai, Jalandhar) within a year.

As programmes were commercialised and sponsors' advertisements allowed, the target audience shifted. Entertainment grew and was aimed at the urban consuming class. Colour broadcasting arrived with the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi, and the network expanded rapidly. Indigenous soap operas, Hum Log (1984 to 85) and Buniyaad (1986 to 87), drew large advertising revenue, as did serials based on the epics, the Ramayana (1987 to 88) and the Mahabharata (1988 to 90).

Hum Log: a turning point. India's first long running soap opera had 156 episodes in Hindi over 17 months in 1984 to 85. It used an entertainment-education strategy, placing educational content in an entertaining story on gender equality, small family size and national integration. Each 22 minute episode ended with a short epilogue by a famous actor, who connected the story to everyday life. A study found a high degree of parasocial interaction: viewers adjusted schedules to "meet" favourite characters and even talked to them through the television. It drew ratings of 65 to 90 per cent in North India and 20 to 45 per cent in South India, and over 400,000 letters. Its advertising promoted a new packaged consumer product, and advertisers then lined up for airtime, which began the commercialisation of Doordarshan.

Print after Independence. The press continued to see itself as a partner in nation building, taking up developmental issues and giving voice to the widest section of people. Journalism was once regarded as a "calling", often underpaid and drawing talent through patriotic and reforming idealism. Over a long period the calling became a profession, and newspapers became business enterprises framed by a social mission. The gravest challenge was the declaration of Emergency in 1975, with censorship of the media. Democracy was restored in 1977.

Pause and predict: why was radio under colonial rule not a platform for nationalists?

Check your answer: Because radio was wholly owned by the state, so national views could not be expressed on it. Newspapers and films were autonomous but closely watched.

State, market and the media

Globalisation and the media

Media have always had international dimensions, such as gathering news and distributing mainly western films overseas. But until the 1970s most media companies worked in domestic markets under national rules, and cinema, print, radio and television operated separately. In the last three decades, national markets have given way to a fluid global market, and new technology has led to the fusion of forms of media once distinct.

Music shows this well. It is the form that lends itself most to globalisation because it reaches people who do not know the written or spoken language, and stereo systems, music television and the compact disc spread it. Yet the Internet allows downloading, which threatens the chain of factories, distributors and shops.

Print media. People feared that television and the Internet would sideline print. In India circulation grew instead, helped by new technology, and many glossy magazines entered the market.

The textbook gives several reasons for the Indian language newspaper revolution.

Newspapers also changed how they were made. From the late 1980s and early 1990s production became fully automatic from the reporter's desk to the page proof, through networked PCs and newsmaking software. The reporter's notebook, typewriter and plain telephone gave way to digital recorders, laptops, mobile or satellite phones and modems. Deadlines moved to dawn, and the number of editions multiplied.

Two views. For the exam: the rise of electronic media did not reduce print. It expanded, and that is a key point about Indian media. Another reading: growth came with price cuts and growing dependence on advertisers, who have a larger say in content. Younger readers often go straight to sports or entertainment pages, so papers carry "infotainment", a mix of information and entertainment. The textbook suggests newspapers have become consumer products, which raises doubts about the older commitment to values.

Television after globalisation. In 1991 there was one state controlled channel, Doordarshan. By 1998 there were almost 70 channels. Today Doordarshan broadcasts over 35 channels, and about 900 private networks were broadcasting in 2020. Satellite television viewers rose from 134 million in 2002 to 190 million in 2005, homes with satellite TV from 40 million to 61 million, and satellite subscription reached 56 per cent of TV homes.

People worried that transnational channels (Star TV, MTV, Channel V, Sony) would harm Indian youth and cultural identity. But the channels found through research that the familiar works better. One began by showing ten Hindi films a week and later made its own Hindi content. Others added Hindi segments or full Hindi channels, regional channels in languages such as Bengali, Punjabi, Marathi and Gujarati, or dual commentary for sport. The most dramatic case was a channel that began a Hindi belt of programming between 7 and 9 PM in October 1996 and became wholly Hindi by February 1999, with the slogan "Aapki Boli. Aapka Plus Point". Foreign programmes are also dubbed, especially for children.

Television is on 24 by 7. News is lively, informal, immediate, democratic and intimate, and it has fostered public debate, but there is a question whether serious political and economic issues are neglected. Entertainment television has produced new superstars and many shows modelled on western programmes. One example discussed in the textbook is round the clock live coverage of a child's rescue from a borewell shaft in Haryana, which prompts debate on whether channels' competition for viewers intrudes on private lives or highlights the plight of the rural poor.

Radio after globalisation. Private FM stations started in 2002, giving a boost to entertainment. Private FM channels are not permitted to broadcast political news bulletins, so many specialise in particular kinds of popular music. Many belong to media conglomerates. Independent public broadcasters like those in the USA or the UK are missing from India. Demand for local news is growing, and community owned radio would add more stations. The textbook gives the example of a village youth in Bihar who built a home made FM station with a transmission kit costing 50 rupees and became popular among thousands of listeners within a 20 kilometre radius, though he did not know that a government licence is required.

Two views. For the exam: the entry of transnational channels led to localisation, using familiar languages and content. Another reading: some people worried about the likely impact on Indian youth and cultural identity. Both views are in the textbook, and the evidence it presents is that channels adapted to Indian audiences.

Pause and predict: a private FM channel wants to attract young listeners but cannot broadcast political news bulletins. What will it do?

Check your answer: It specialises in popular music and entertainment, with slogans like "All hits all day". That is the pattern the textbook describes.

Timeline

Key terms and people

Exam traps

60-second revision

Where this chapter connects

• Previous: Globalisation and Social Change calls the change in media the most visible effect of globalisation.
• Next: Social Movements shows how movements use the press, television and the Internet to reach the public.
• Related: Cultural Change explains how new communication technologies shape culture.