Introduction

Today the list of mass media also embraces pagers, satellites, electronic mail, internet, cell
phones, and computers. These new additions, unlike the other tools of mass media that work
as transmission technologies transmitting information from one source to many receivers, are
basically interactive; working more on the person to person formula. As the name suggests
‘mass media’ revolves around the masses-the people.
Although cinema, radio, television, and press take centre stage in mass media; the role of
books, magazines, posters, billboards, pamphlets cannot be discounted. The reach of these
tools extends to enormous varied masses of the populace living across the spread of the
country. Television, radio, cinema, press are all very expensive media and are either run by
private financial institutions, or the Government. These tools of media call for large groups of
people to keep these large services running. There is much to be done: managing, running,
controlling, manufacturing, allocating, and maintaining. They are centered on the idea of
mass production and mass distribution.
Newspapers, television, radio all cater to mass audience and as such must accommodate the
taste of the masses which might not be very refined or sophisticated. This results in mass
media often showcasing and promulgating popular culture. With the television and radio
having reached to the interiors, mass media in India today enjoys extensive coverage.
With the language of media not being restricted to Hindi and English and encompassing
regional languages as well, mass media in India today really enjoys ‘mass’ status.

Definition of Media:
Media is the plural form of medium, which (broadly speaking) describes any channel of
communication. Media simply refers to a vehicle or means of message delivery system to
carry an ad message to a targeted audience. This can include anything from printed paper to
digital data, and encompasses art, news, educational content and numerous other forms of
information. Digital media, which makes up an increasingly vast portion of modern
communications, is comprised of intricately encoded signals that are transmitted over various
forms of physical and virtual media such as fiber optic cable and computer networks. Media
can be classified into four types:
 Print Media (Newspapers, Magazines)
 Broadcast Media (TV, Radio)
 Outdoor or Out of Home (OOH)
 Media Internet

Theory
Media theory refers to the complex of social-political-philosophical principles which
organize ideas about the relationship between media and society. The theories under
consideration here offer cogent and insightful analyses of the role of the media in both culture
and society. They include the following:
 Agenda Setting Theory:
The media determines the issues that are regarded as important at a given time in a given
society. Agenda Setting Theory states that mass media organizations determine what
population considers newsworthy by deciding how much attention a news story receives. The
term salience transfer is commonly used and refers to ability of the media to transfer their
agenda onto the public. The elements involved in agenda setting include:
1. The quality or frequency of reporting
2. Prominence given to the reports headlines display, layout, timing on radio and TV set
3. The degree of conflict generated in the reports
4. Cumulative media-specific effects over time

In other words, our perception of the world is dependent not only on our personal interests,
but also on the map that is drawn for us by the media. Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw
(1972) corroborate the agenda setting theory by their research. Readers learn not only about a
given issue, but how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information
in a news story and its position.

 Main Streaming/Synchronization Theory:

This theory explains the process, especially for heavier viewers, by which television’s
symbols monopolies and dominate other sources of information and ideas about the world.
There are two aspects to mainstreaming:

Message Analysis: involves detailed content analysis of selected media content (especially
television programming) to assess recurring and consistent presentation of images, themes,
value, and portrayals.

Cultivation Analysis: observation of the effects of the messages. The assumption here is that
television creates a worldview that, although possibly inaccurate, becomes the reality because
people believe it is to be so. In other words, the more time people spend watching television,
the more their world views will be like those spread by television.

 The Knowledge Gap Theory

This theory establishes that the media systematically inform some segments of the
population; especially those in higher socio-economic groups, better than they inform others.
In other words, as the media output increases, rather than balancing the differences between
the information rich and the information poor, it enlarges the differences, because those at the
higher socio-economic levels acquire information much faster and much more easily than
those at the lower levels.
 Spiral of Silence Theory
It describes the tendency for people holding views contrary to those dominant in the media to
keep them to themselves for fear of rejection. An opinion spreads from media to people and
people are encouraged either to proclaim their views or to swallow them and keep quiet until,
in spiralling process, the one view dominates the public scene and the other disappears from
public awareness as its adherents became mute. The point in the theory is that ideas,
occurrences and persons exist in public awareness practically only if they are given sufficient
publicity by the mass media, and only in the shapes that the media ascribe to them. So, people
perceive issues as the media perceive them. And since society rewards conformity and
punishes deviance, the fear of isolation constrains people to conform to shared judgment as
guarded or judged by the mass media.
 Media Systems Dependence Theory
This theory assumes that the more an individual depends on having his/her needs gratified by
media use, the more important will be the role that media play in the person’s life; and
therefore the more influence those media will have on that person. The basis of media
influence lies in the relationship between the larger social system, the media’s role and
audience relationships in that system and audience relationship to the media. Effects occur,
not because all-powerful media or omnipotent source wills that occurrence, but because the
media operate in a given way in a given social system to meet a given audience wants and
needs.
 Cultivation Theory:
Cultivation Theory argues media shapes a person sense of reality. Because many acquire
information through mediated sources rather than direct experience, their world view
becomes influence by these sources.
Example: Cultivation Theory suggests that people who would be defined as heavy television
viewers see the world as more violent that it actually is.

Structures
In the short term, media structures are relatively “hard” constraints on individual action. Over
time, those structures are considerably more malleable. People choose media within highly
structured social and technological environments. The media environment provides the

resources necessary for people to act. It has two basic modes of delivery, each with its own
structural features. The first, a linear system has been characteristic of electronic media since
the beginning of broadcasting. Radio, and later television, programs were strung together in a
temporal sequence determined by the broadcaster. The second, a non-linear system makes
discrete items of content available to individuals as they request them. Non-linear delivery
systems, such as video ‘on-demand,’ DVRs, websites, or media downloaded over the
Internet, are much newer phenomena at least for electronic media.

Content
Content is "something that is to be expressed through some medium, as speech, writing or
any of various arts".
Example:
LinkedIn’s “We’re in It Together” Campaign Community is one of the things that makes
social media such an integral part of life today. People from around the world can connect,
share ideas, and even start a movement, without ever meeting in person.
Types of Content
 Interactive content:
Interactive content allows viewers to respond to it in more than just comments or likes. It was
as early as 2015 when Ion Interactive publisheda survey demonstrating that content is taking
more interactive forms. Ideally, this is what your internal content marketing team should be
doing; creating interactive content such as quizzes, polls, contests or Q&As for social media.
 E-Book:
Almost everyone loves an eBook when it’s something they want to learn about or that gives
them an advantage. Promote eBook across social channels and find that they are a fantastic
sources of extra leads.
 Strongly positive content:
According to research, posts that evoke strong emotions in people are more likely to succeed
on social media. Further, it’s not very surprising that it’s positive emotions such as awe,
amusement, and laughter that make people want to share. Note, for instance, best selling
American Author Jon Acuff’s tweets are hilarious and hugely popular. Brands such as
Chipotle, Charmin, Taco Bell, and Old Spice use humor to captivate their Twitter followers.
One way to find positive content to share is by subscribing to updates from research
organizations so you can share positive findings with your target audience.
 Visual content:
According to a study, 70% is the rate of understanding labels with text only. To increase
audience comprehension, visuals are necessary. Large block objects and text with arrows to
show associations work very well in crowded environments like on social media. When
creating social media content, check if one could represent something visually before
committing to text.
 User Generated Content (UGC):
User-Generated Content is highly valuable in earning impressions and engagement on social
media. Especially on platforms such as Instagram, UGC can boost interactions and reach.
Caption contests, story contests, review contests are all great examples of UGC.
Why Study Media Content:
The first reasons for studying media content in a systematic way stemmed either from an
interest in the potential effects of mass communication, whether intended or unintended, or
from a wish to understand the appeal of content for the audience. Both perspectives have a
practical basis, from the point of view of mass communicators, but they have gradually been
widened and supplemented to embrace a larger range of theoretical issues. Early studies of
content reflected a concern about social problems with which the media were linked.
Attention focused in particular on the portrayal of crime, violence and sex in popular
entertainment, the use of media as propaganda and the performance of media in respect of
racial or other kinds of prejudice. The range of purposes was gradually extended to cover
news, information and much entertainment content. Most early research was based on the
assumption that content reflected the purposes and values of its originators, more or less
directly; that ‘meaning’ could be discovered or inferred from messages; and that receivers
would understand messages more or less as intended by producers. It was even thought that
‘effects’ could be discovered by inference from the seeming ‘message’ built into content.
More plausibly, the content of mass media has often been regarded as more or less reliable
evidence about the culture and society in which it is produced. All of these assumptions,
except perhaps the last, have been called into question, and the study of content has become
correspondingly more complex and challenging. It may not go too far to say that the most
interesting aspects of media content are often not the overt messages, but the many more or
less concealed and uncertain meanings that are present in media texts.

Function of Media/ Mass Communication

The four functions of mass communications are: surveillance, correlation, cultural
transmission and entertainment. In many ways, the four functions of mass communication are
still relevant and transferable to contemporary media.
 Surveillance of the Environment:
Mass communication exists to observe and inform. Mass media keeps citizens informed of
news and events. In times of crisis, mass media announcements offer warnings and
instructions.
For example, when natural disasters occur, such as hurricanes, blizzards and tsunamis,
traditional and social media outlets are the key communication tools to relay information
about the path of an impending storm or to inform people about school and business closures,
and how to seek shelters and find evacuation routes. Media is also used as tools of
government authorities to protect citizens with important updates.
 The Correlation Function:
Traditional news outlets once were the only arbiters of what was selected as newsworthy and
of how broadcasters and journalists interpreted information. Alternatively, newspapers tapped
experts in the field. Although publishers and news stations may have had their biases, most
organizations maintained the old, hard-formed principles of journalism.
Today, social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook may indicate that often, no
middleman exists, who can correlate events in an objective, interpretative way. Users can be
fed farfetched stories that look like "real news," when, in fact, they are anything but. In
particular, Facebook, has been the site of fake news stories that has caused the platform more
than a few headaches. Although the company is an important part of mass media, it is not a
news site. The correlation function is not in the hands of Facebook executives, and Facebook
doesn't claim it to be so.
 Cultural Transmission and Influencing Societal Norms:
Although the first two functions are to provide and interpret news and information, the third
allows media to reflect and influence societal norms. The media serve as transmitters of
cultural messages, letting the masses understand what are considered acceptable forms of
behavior. Cultural transmission, however, evolves. Television programmes by and large
reflects the society in which they are broadcast and promote the understanding of a society’s
cultural heritage. What once was taboo can become the norm when enough people embrace it
and when the media report on it.
 Education and Entertainment:
Media also serves as cultural transmitters that educates and entertains. Long before the advent
of mass media, people were forced to entertain themselves. They may have participated in
activities or attended live events. The advent of mass communication enabled viewers and
listeners to see and hear and learn in real time from wherever they are. Social media
platforms take that entertainment factor even further. Theories whose roots were at the dawn
of mass communication are still relevant today, even though these forms of communication
continue to evolve.

Media Audiences
Audience is the important part of communication process. By media audience we mean the
recipients of Mass Media messages. There is the audience of newspaper, television, radio,
theatre, film and non-broadcast media. Audience of the above media re heterogeneously
scattered. They are a mixture of age, sex, profession, education and social class etc and are
strangers to one another. Audience is the ultimate source of Mass Media revenue. If there is
no audience to purchase movie tickets and recording, subscribe to newspapers and magazines
and attend to radio and TV programmes, no mass medium could stay in business. The
messages of TV newspapers and film etc. are determined according to the nature and
behaviour of the target audience.
Various Categories of Media Audiences
• The elite audience
• The mass audience
• The specialized audience
• The interactive audience
Elite Audiences: The Elite Audience comprises of highly educated people and their number
in the society in relatively small.
Mass Audiences: The Mass Audience represents the dominant majority in a society. They
are relatively average people. Mass audience represents almost all segments of the society.
Specialized Audiences: The Specialized Audience refers to the special interest groups in the
society.
Interactive Audiences: The Interactive Audience consists of those who have control over the
communication process in a society. They may be newspapers journalists or Radio or TV
broadcasters.
Target Audiences
A target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or
other message. In marketing and advertising, it is a particular group of consumers within the
predetermined target market, identified as the targets or recipients for a particular
advertisement or message.
 Fig1: Target Audiences

Relationship between audience and Media producers

To media producers, the audience is important because without an audience there would be
no media. It is important for them in order for them to be successful. Companies are set up to
carry out audience research for media producers to see how many people would be interested.
If they didn't get as much interest as they hoped then they would make some changes and
rethink what they could do to improve. Media producers spend a lot of time and money
finding
out who the audience for a programme or media product might be. They research so they can
then make something along the lines of a film or music video which would be associated with
a particular group of people.