NCERT Textbook - Mass Media and Communications | Sociology Class 12 - Humanities/Arts PDF Download

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Mass Media and 
Communications
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Page 2


Mass Media and 
Communications
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Chapter 7.indd   89 14 September 2022   12:04:52
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The mass media include a wide variety of forms, including television, 
newspapers, films, magazines, radio, advertisements, video games and CDs. They 
are referred to as ‘mass’ media because they reach mass audiences – audiences 
comprise very large numbers of people. They are also sometimes referred to 
as mass communications. For many in your generation, it is probably difficult 
to imagine a world without some form of mass media and communications.
Mass media is a part of our 
everyday life. In many middle class 
households across the country 
people wake up only to put on the 
radio, switch on the television, 
look for the morning newspaper. 
The younger children of the same 
households may first glance at 
their mobile phones to check their missed 
calls. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters and sundry 
other service providers in many urban centres have a mobile telephone where 
they can be easily contacted. Many shops in cities increasingly have a small 
television set. Customers who come in may exchange bits of conversation about 
the cricket match being telecasted or the film being shown. Indians abroad 
keep regular touch with friends and families back home over the Internet and 
telephone. Migrants from working class population in the cities are regularly 
in touch with their families in the villages over the phone. Have you seen the 
range of advertisements of mobile phones? Have you noticed the diverse social 
@ R. K. Laxman
 ¾ Imagine a world where there is no 
television, no cinema, no newspapers, no 
magazines, no internet, no telephones, 
no mobile phones. 
 ¾ Write down your daily activities in a day. 
Identify the occasions when you used the 
media in some way or the other.
 ¾ Find out from an older generation what 
life was like without any of these forms 
of communication. Compare it with your 
life.
 ¾ Discuss the ways work and leisure 
have changed with the developments in 
communication technologies.
Activity 7.1
Social Change and Development in India
90
Chapter 7.indd   90 14 September 2022   12:04:52
Reprint 2024-25
Page 3


Mass Media and 
Communications
7
Chapter 7.indd   89 14 September 2022   12:04:52
Reprint 2024-25
The mass media include a wide variety of forms, including television, 
newspapers, films, magazines, radio, advertisements, video games and CDs. They 
are referred to as ‘mass’ media because they reach mass audiences – audiences 
comprise very large numbers of people. They are also sometimes referred to 
as mass communications. For many in your generation, it is probably difficult 
to imagine a world without some form of mass media and communications.
Mass media is a part of our 
everyday life. In many middle class 
households across the country 
people wake up only to put on the 
radio, switch on the television, 
look for the morning newspaper. 
The younger children of the same 
households may first glance at 
their mobile phones to check their missed 
calls. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters and sundry 
other service providers in many urban centres have a mobile telephone where 
they can be easily contacted. Many shops in cities increasingly have a small 
television set. Customers who come in may exchange bits of conversation about 
the cricket match being telecasted or the film being shown. Indians abroad 
keep regular touch with friends and families back home over the Internet and 
telephone. Migrants from working class population in the cities are regularly 
in touch with their families in the villages over the phone. Have you seen the 
range of advertisements of mobile phones? Have you noticed the diverse social 
@ R. K. Laxman
 ¾ Imagine a world where there is no 
television, no cinema, no newspapers, no 
magazines, no internet, no telephones, 
no mobile phones. 
 ¾ Write down your daily activities in a day. 
Identify the occasions when you used the 
media in some way or the other.
 ¾ Find out from an older generation what 
life was like without any of these forms 
of communication. Compare it with your 
life.
 ¾ Discuss the ways work and leisure 
have changed with the developments in 
communication technologies.
Activity 7.1
Social Change and Development in India
90
Chapter 7.indd   90 14 September 2022   12:04:52
Reprint 2024-25
groups that they are catering to? The CBSE Board results are available on both 
the Internet and over the mobile phone. Indeed this very book is available on 
the Internet.
It is obvious that there 
has been a phenomenal 
expansion of mass 
communication of all 
kinds in recent years. 
As students of sociology, 
there are many aspects 
to this growth which 
is of great interest to 
us. First, while we 
recognise the specificity 
of the current comm-
unication revolution, it 
is important to go back 
a little and sketch out 
the growth of modern 
mass media in the 
world and in India. 
This helps us realise 
that like any other 
social institution the 
structure and content 
of mass media is 
shaped by changes in 
the economic, political and socio-cultural contexts. For instance, we see how 
central the state and its vision of development influenced the media in the first 
decades after independence. And how in the post 1990 period of globalisation, 
the market has a key role to play. Second, this help us better appreciate 
how the relationship between mass media and communication with society 
is dialectical. Both influence each other. The nature and role of mass media 
is influenced by the society in which it is located. At the same time the far 
reaching influence of mass media on society cannot be over-emphasised. We 
shall see this dialectical relationship when we discuss in this chapter—(a) the 
role of media in colonial India, (b) in the first decades after independence and 
(c) and finally in the context of globalisation. Third, mass communication is 
different from other means of communication as it requires a formal structural 
organisation to meet large-scale capital, production and management demands. 
You will find, therefore, that the state and/or the market have a major role in 
the structure and functioning of mass media. Mass media functions through 
very large organisations with major investments and large body of employees. 
Fourth, there are sharp differences between how easily different sections of 
people can use mass media. You will recall the concept of digital divide from 
the last chapter.
Mass Media and Communications
91
Chapter 7.indd   91 14 September 2022   12:04:52
Reprint 2024-25
Page 4


Mass Media and 
Communications
7
Chapter 7.indd   89 14 September 2022   12:04:52
Reprint 2024-25
The mass media include a wide variety of forms, including television, 
newspapers, films, magazines, radio, advertisements, video games and CDs. They 
are referred to as ‘mass’ media because they reach mass audiences – audiences 
comprise very large numbers of people. They are also sometimes referred to 
as mass communications. For many in your generation, it is probably difficult 
to imagine a world without some form of mass media and communications.
Mass media is a part of our 
everyday life. In many middle class 
households across the country 
people wake up only to put on the 
radio, switch on the television, 
look for the morning newspaper. 
The younger children of the same 
households may first glance at 
their mobile phones to check their missed 
calls. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters and sundry 
other service providers in many urban centres have a mobile telephone where 
they can be easily contacted. Many shops in cities increasingly have a small 
television set. Customers who come in may exchange bits of conversation about 
the cricket match being telecasted or the film being shown. Indians abroad 
keep regular touch with friends and families back home over the Internet and 
telephone. Migrants from working class population in the cities are regularly 
in touch with their families in the villages over the phone. Have you seen the 
range of advertisements of mobile phones? Have you noticed the diverse social 
@ R. K. Laxman
 ¾ Imagine a world where there is no 
television, no cinema, no newspapers, no 
magazines, no internet, no telephones, 
no mobile phones. 
 ¾ Write down your daily activities in a day. 
Identify the occasions when you used the 
media in some way or the other.
 ¾ Find out from an older generation what 
life was like without any of these forms 
of communication. Compare it with your 
life.
 ¾ Discuss the ways work and leisure 
have changed with the developments in 
communication technologies.
Activity 7.1
Social Change and Development in India
90
Chapter 7.indd   90 14 September 2022   12:04:52
Reprint 2024-25
groups that they are catering to? The CBSE Board results are available on both 
the Internet and over the mobile phone. Indeed this very book is available on 
the Internet.
It is obvious that there 
has been a phenomenal 
expansion of mass 
communication of all 
kinds in recent years. 
As students of sociology, 
there are many aspects 
to this growth which 
is of great interest to 
us. First, while we 
recognise the specificity 
of the current comm-
unication revolution, it 
is important to go back 
a little and sketch out 
the growth of modern 
mass media in the 
world and in India. 
This helps us realise 
that like any other 
social institution the 
structure and content 
of mass media is 
shaped by changes in 
the economic, political and socio-cultural contexts. For instance, we see how 
central the state and its vision of development influenced the media in the first 
decades after independence. And how in the post 1990 period of globalisation, 
the market has a key role to play. Second, this help us better appreciate 
how the relationship between mass media and communication with society 
is dialectical. Both influence each other. The nature and role of mass media 
is influenced by the society in which it is located. At the same time the far 
reaching influence of mass media on society cannot be over-emphasised. We 
shall see this dialectical relationship when we discuss in this chapter—(a) the 
role of media in colonial India, (b) in the first decades after independence and 
(c) and finally in the context of globalisation. Third, mass communication is 
different from other means of communication as it requires a formal structural 
organisation to meet large-scale capital, production and management demands. 
You will find, therefore, that the state and/or the market have a major role in 
the structure and functioning of mass media. Mass media functions through 
very large organisations with major investments and large body of employees. 
Fourth, there are sharp differences between how easily different sections of 
people can use mass media. You will recall the concept of digital divide from 
the last chapter.
Mass Media and Communications
91
Chapter 7.indd   91 14 September 2022   12:04:52
Reprint 2024-25
7.1 The Beginnings of Modern Mass Media 
The first modern mass media institution began with the development of the 
printing press. Although the history of print in certain societies dates back to 
many centuries, the first attempts at printing books using modern technologies 
began in Europe. This technique was first developed by Johann Gutenberg in 
1440. Initial attempts at printing were restricted to religious books. 
With the Industrial Revolution, the 
print industry also grew. The first products 
of the press were restricted to an audience 
of literate elites. It was only in the mid 
19
th
 century, with further development in 
technologies, transportation and literacy 
that newspapers began to reach out to a 
mass audience. People living in different 
corners of the country found themselves 
reading or hearing the same news. It has 
been suggested that this was in many ways 
responsible for people across a country to 
feel connected and develop 
a sense of belonging or ‘we 
feeling’. The well known 
scholar Benedict Anderson 
has thus argued that 
this helped the growth of 
nationalism, the feeling 
that people who did not 
even know of each other’s 
existence feel like members of a family. It gave people who would never meet 
each other a sense of togetherness. Anderson thus suggested that we could 
think of the nation as an ‘imagined community’. 
You will recall how 19
th
 century social reformers often wrote and debated in 
newspapers and journals. The growth of Indian nationalism was closely linked 
to its struggle against colonialism. It emerged in the wake of the institutional 
changes brought about by the British rule in India. Anti-colonial public opinion 
was nurtured and channelised by the nationalist press, which was vocal in 
its opposition to the oppressive measures of the colonial state. This led the 
colonial government to clamp down on the nationalist press and impose 
censorship, for instance during the Ilbert Bill agitation in 1883. Association 
Visuals of a Printing Press and a TV Newsroom 
in 21st Century, India
Social Change and Development in India
92
Chapter 7.indd   92 14 September 2022   12:04:53
Reprint 2024-25
Page 5


Mass Media and 
Communications
7
Chapter 7.indd   89 14 September 2022   12:04:52
Reprint 2024-25
The mass media include a wide variety of forms, including television, 
newspapers, films, magazines, radio, advertisements, video games and CDs. They 
are referred to as ‘mass’ media because they reach mass audiences – audiences 
comprise very large numbers of people. They are also sometimes referred to 
as mass communications. For many in your generation, it is probably difficult 
to imagine a world without some form of mass media and communications.
Mass media is a part of our 
everyday life. In many middle class 
households across the country 
people wake up only to put on the 
radio, switch on the television, 
look for the morning newspaper. 
The younger children of the same 
households may first glance at 
their mobile phones to check their missed 
calls. Plumbers, electricians, carpenters, painters and sundry 
other service providers in many urban centres have a mobile telephone where 
they can be easily contacted. Many shops in cities increasingly have a small 
television set. Customers who come in may exchange bits of conversation about 
the cricket match being telecasted or the film being shown. Indians abroad 
keep regular touch with friends and families back home over the Internet and 
telephone. Migrants from working class population in the cities are regularly 
in touch with their families in the villages over the phone. Have you seen the 
range of advertisements of mobile phones? Have you noticed the diverse social 
@ R. K. Laxman
 ¾ Imagine a world where there is no 
television, no cinema, no newspapers, no 
magazines, no internet, no telephones, 
no mobile phones. 
 ¾ Write down your daily activities in a day. 
Identify the occasions when you used the 
media in some way or the other.
 ¾ Find out from an older generation what 
life was like without any of these forms 
of communication. Compare it with your 
life.
 ¾ Discuss the ways work and leisure 
have changed with the developments in 
communication technologies.
Activity 7.1
Social Change and Development in India
90
Chapter 7.indd   90 14 September 2022   12:04:52
Reprint 2024-25
groups that they are catering to? The CBSE Board results are available on both 
the Internet and over the mobile phone. Indeed this very book is available on 
the Internet.
It is obvious that there 
has been a phenomenal 
expansion of mass 
communication of all 
kinds in recent years. 
As students of sociology, 
there are many aspects 
to this growth which 
is of great interest to 
us. First, while we 
recognise the specificity 
of the current comm-
unication revolution, it 
is important to go back 
a little and sketch out 
the growth of modern 
mass media in the 
world and in India. 
This helps us realise 
that like any other 
social institution the 
structure and content 
of mass media is 
shaped by changes in 
the economic, political and socio-cultural contexts. For instance, we see how 
central the state and its vision of development influenced the media in the first 
decades after independence. And how in the post 1990 period of globalisation, 
the market has a key role to play. Second, this help us better appreciate 
how the relationship between mass media and communication with society 
is dialectical. Both influence each other. The nature and role of mass media 
is influenced by the society in which it is located. At the same time the far 
reaching influence of mass media on society cannot be over-emphasised. We 
shall see this dialectical relationship when we discuss in this chapter—(a) the 
role of media in colonial India, (b) in the first decades after independence and 
(c) and finally in the context of globalisation. Third, mass communication is 
different from other means of communication as it requires a formal structural 
organisation to meet large-scale capital, production and management demands. 
You will find, therefore, that the state and/or the market have a major role in 
the structure and functioning of mass media. Mass media functions through 
very large organisations with major investments and large body of employees. 
Fourth, there are sharp differences between how easily different sections of 
people can use mass media. You will recall the concept of digital divide from 
the last chapter.
Mass Media and Communications
91
Chapter 7.indd   91 14 September 2022   12:04:52
Reprint 2024-25
7.1 The Beginnings of Modern Mass Media 
The first modern mass media institution began with the development of the 
printing press. Although the history of print in certain societies dates back to 
many centuries, the first attempts at printing books using modern technologies 
began in Europe. This technique was first developed by Johann Gutenberg in 
1440. Initial attempts at printing were restricted to religious books. 
With the Industrial Revolution, the 
print industry also grew. The first products 
of the press were restricted to an audience 
of literate elites. It was only in the mid 
19
th
 century, with further development in 
technologies, transportation and literacy 
that newspapers began to reach out to a 
mass audience. People living in different 
corners of the country found themselves 
reading or hearing the same news. It has 
been suggested that this was in many ways 
responsible for people across a country to 
feel connected and develop 
a sense of belonging or ‘we 
feeling’. The well known 
scholar Benedict Anderson 
has thus argued that 
this helped the growth of 
nationalism, the feeling 
that people who did not 
even know of each other’s 
existence feel like members of a family. It gave people who would never meet 
each other a sense of togetherness. Anderson thus suggested that we could 
think of the nation as an ‘imagined community’. 
You will recall how 19
th
 century social reformers often wrote and debated in 
newspapers and journals. The growth of Indian nationalism was closely linked 
to its struggle against colonialism. It emerged in the wake of the institutional 
changes brought about by the British rule in India. Anti-colonial public opinion 
was nurtured and channelised by the nationalist press, which was vocal in 
its opposition to the oppressive measures of the colonial state. This led the 
colonial government to clamp down on the nationalist press and impose 
censorship, for instance during the Ilbert Bill agitation in 1883. Association 
Visuals of a Printing Press and a TV Newsroom 
in 21st Century, India
Social Change and Development in India
92
Chapter 7.indd   92 14 September 2022   12:04:53
Reprint 2024-25
Under British rule newspapers 
and magazines, films and radio 
comprised the range of mass 
media. Radio was wholly owned 
by the state. National views could 
not be, therefore, expressed. 
Newspapers and films though 
autonomous from the state were 
strictly monitored by the Raj. 
Newspapers and magazines either 
in English or vernacular were 
not very widely circulated as the 
literate public was limited. Yet 
their influence far out stripped 
their circulation as news and 
information was read and spread 
by word of mouth from commercial 
and administrative hubs, like 
markets and trading centres, as 
well as courts and towns. The 
print media carried a range of 
opinions, which expressed their 
ideas of a ‘free India’. These 
variations were carried over to 
independent India.
with the national movement led some of the nationalist newspapers like Kesari 
(Marathi), Mathrubhumi (Malayalam), Amrita Bazar Patrika (English) to suffer the 
displeasure of the colonial state. But that did not prevent them from advocating 
the nationalist cause and demand an end to the colonial rule. 
 ¾ Though a few newspapers had been started by people before Raja Rammohun 
Roy, his Sambad-Kaumudi in Bengali published in 1821, and Mirat-Ul-Akbar 
in Persian published in 1822, were the first publications in India with a distinct 
nationalist and democratic approach.  
 ¾ Fardoonji Murzban was the pioneer of the Gujarati Press in Bombay. It was as early as 
1822 that he started the Bombay Samachar as a daily.
 ¾ Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar started the Shome Prakash in Bengali in 1858.  
 ¾ The Times of India was founded in Bombay in 1861.
 ¾ The Pioneer in Allahabad in 1865. 
 ¾ The Madras Mail in 1868. 
 ¾ The Statesman in Calcutta in 1875.
 ¾ The Civil and Military Gazette in Lahore in 1876.
(Desai 1948)
Box 7.1
Mass Media and Communications
93 93
Chapter 7.indd   93 14 September 2022   12:04:53
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